There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
The truthful lip shall be established forever,
But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Proverbs 12:18-19
We have all had the experience of hearing those who speak like a piercing sword, whose words cut sharply, and not in the way of the Spirit. We know that the word of God is referred to in scripture as the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17 [And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;]. We also know that the word of God is living and sharper than any two-edged sword according to Hebrews 4:12 — For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The piercing sword spoken of in Proverbs 12:18 is not a discerner of anything, because the purpose is to cause pain, not to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. The words are biting and cut deep without regard to the impact on the hearers. On the other hand, there is the tongue of the wise that promotes healing. There are people in our lives, or those we encounter who speak words of wisdom that make us feel better — their words are like healing balm. Which do you aspire to be? One who pierces others, or one who heals others with your wise tongue? The tongue of the wise needs to flourish in the times in which we live. Many of us need to hear the tongue of the wise during social unrest, in the midst of a pandemic, on top of an economic recession.
Because the word of God is true, it will stand forever — Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away {Matthew 24:35}. So it is, truthful lips shall be established forever. We speak truth when the word of God is in our mouth, because the LORD watches over His word to perform it [Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”]; we can rejoice together in truth as it is written in Psalm 138:2 — I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Great is the name of the LORD, and yet He magnifies His word above His name. Our God is not a man that He should lie, and so we want to be imitators of Him.
Numbers 23:19 informs us about the absolute trustworthy nature of the God that we serve: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
When our tongue speaks the truth of God, there shall be a performance because He will make good on His word. But a lying tongue is but for a moment; in other words, a lie cannot and will not stand. If God backs up truth — who backs up lies? No one, because the father of lies uses that which is untrue as deception to oppose the word of God. In Genesis 3:1 we read: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” A lie will never be a present help in the time of trouble. In the final analysis, a lie is but for a moment, while the truth of God will stand forever.
Let us go forth with the tongue of the wise. Be a healer with your words today. May every word that proceeds from your mouth be like healing balm to the hearers. My prayer for you today is that the Lord Himself would give you occasions to lift someone up who is despondent or depressed. Someone will feel better and full of life because of your wise tongue. You are the salt of the earth so remember to — Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Maranatha
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