March 30 / Psalm 34:11-22

Psalm 34:11-22

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. (v. 13) These words are true enough. James confirms them graphically in his epistle: If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:3-10)

So yes, true enough. But what I was considering, instead, was my mind and my thoughts instead of my tongue and my lips. If I substitute thought and mind in either today’s verse or James 3, I pretty much come up with the same conclusions. The following verses from James are especially relevant: With our mind and our thoughts we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mind come blessing and cursing. (James 3:9-10) I may not be actively cursing people, but I am critical and judgmental all too often. God gave us minds to bless Him and to do good. We need (I need!) to Keep our minds from evil and our thoughts from speaking deceit.