A Word Fitly Spoken

Well, it’s turned out to be a beautiful day today and we’re thankful for the wonderful spring day that we have and I’m thankful that all of our boys are with us this weekend. It’s Gavin’s birthday weekend and he will turn 17 tomorrow and so we’ve been celebrating Gavin this weekend and it’s been, we’ve had a real good time. We’ve played a lot of disc golf and really wore ourselves out.

Well, this morning I would like for us to focus upon a very important part of our lives, and that is the words that we speak. You know, the Bible has a lot to say about our words and how we use our tongue and the way that we speak in this world to other people.

It’s a very big part of our lives. Communication and talking to other people is something that we do every single day. Almost from the time that we wake up until the time that we go to bed, we are engaged in some kind of conversation of one kind or another.

And in Proverbs 25, verse 11, the inspired writer says this, A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Now, I’ve been thinking about this verse for many years, but, you know, this with the advent of artificial intelligence And especially with the AI image generators, I could finally make an image of what I think, you know, this proverb is talking about, and I’ve done that and put it up here, and just note, this is the apples of gold and a setting of silver, you know, or a picture of silver, some translations say, and I’ve always had that image in my mind, but I’ve never been able to create one.

So I’ve created several of these throughout the lesson, but the idea is that it’s very pleasant, right? It’s lovely to look at, this wonderful picture of golden apples surrounded by a silver frame, a silver setting, and it’s just really pretty and something that we would enjoy very much to gaze at. A beautiful thing, if you will.

And when our words are fitly spoken, that is, when we use our words in an appropriate way, in a right way, in a good way, they are going to be like apples of gold and settings of silver. They’re going to be beautiful. And we want our words to be beautiful.

In addition to this verse, we can think about Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6, which says this, “…Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” And when our words are spoken in a timely, considerate, thoughtful, truth-telling, and graceful way, they are like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Beautiful indeed.

We think about having gracious words, words that reflect favor toward other people. We think about words being like salt, that is, having an influence on others. That’s what we want to talk about this morning, a word fitly spoken. We’re going to focus on four areas of speech, of our language, how we use our tongues, how we communicate.

First of all, we’re going to look at that a word fitly spoken is a tongue that’s going to speak the truth. Secondly, a word fitly spoken will be a tongue that utters praise. Third, it will be a tongue that reflects good judgment. And finally, it’s going to be a tongue that edifies. Thinking about all these things together. And look, let’s just say this up front. You know, it’s difficult to form words sometimes. It can be a challenge. It can be a real effort on our part to make sure that the words that we speak are going to be good and wholesome.

And we don’t always get it right. I don’t always get it right. There’s not a single person who does, but we need to make an effort in our language and in our words to say things that are going to be beautiful and helpful.

So let’s think about these four areas. First of all, the obedient tongue is going to utter words that are fitly spoken because it will be a tongue that speaks the truth. Speaking truth is so important in our relationships with each other. We are facing a tremendous crisis today, in fact, in our culture from many who simply don’t want to tell the truth. They want to deny what is right. They want to deny the truth.

And it starts with talking about the truth about ourselves and being honest with myself. That’s the very first place we’ve got to begin. Look at Psalm 15, and it’s not verse 102. I evidently typed, fat-fingered the verse there, but I think it’s verse 2.

But it says, Lord, one through two, I think is what it is, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness, and notice this, and speaks the truth in his heart.

We’ve got to tell the truth to ourselves first. Self-deception begins with each one of us individually in our own hearts, and we’ve got to disabuse ourselves of those wrong thoughts and those wrong thinking that we have. Proverbs 12, verse 17 says, “…He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit.”

You know, we’ve got to tell ourselves the truth, but then we’ve got to speak the truth to other people as well. And when we speak the truth, and we speak the truth in love, as Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 15 tells us to do, Then we are doing something that is righteous and good. Now, there’s a whole segment of our society today who don’t want us to tell the truth about some things. They are enamored with their own deceits. They’re enamored with their own lies. And they want to pursue those things. And they want you to support them in pursuing those things.

Let’s just state it up front. That kind of behavior is not righteous. That kind of behavior is not what God wants. We should not get involved in other people’s fantasies and other people’s deceptions in a way that is going to uphold and support their foolish and sinful thinking.

Righteousness speaks truth, and we want to speak the truth. Think about Proverbs 12 and verse 19. The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. I remember a story from my youth, and maybe you remember this story, too, about the boy who cried wolf.

You know? And it’s such a great story because it teaches us to tell the truth, because if we don’t, then people aren’t going to believe what we say. So, of course, that story is about a little boy who goes out, comes into town, and he cries wolf, and all the villagers go out to see if there’s one out there, and there’s not one out there.

But when a real wolf actually comes, what happens? No one believes him. And then that leads to a lot of problems. A lying tongue is but for a moment. But the truthful lips shall be established forever. And you think about this. When you tell the truth, you never have to worry about anything. You don’t have to keep up with all the deceits that you’ve plotted, all the manipulations that you’ve uttered, All the wrong things that you’ve intentionally said to try to convince others or sway others or whatever it is that you’re trying to do, none of those things, you don’t have to worry about that because you’re just telling the truth all the time.

And so, Ephesians 4, verse 25 says this. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. We need to tell each other the truth, because I value you, and you value me, and we value one another. We’re members of one another. We should tell each other the truth. We shouldn’t have anything to worry about when we do that.

Our relationship with one another as a Christian is secure, and we have no reason not to tell the truth. When Christians love each other, when Christians desire unity with each other, when Christians want to get along with each other, and that’s the fundamental desire, then look, we can tell each other the truth.

And not worry about things. And so, the obedient tongue is going to tell the truth. But then, words fitly spoken are going to be words that utter praise. And we’ve uttered some words of praise this morning in our song service, and Brother Jim has done a great job in leading us in those songs.

And several of those songs had to do with speaking praise and uttering words that are good and wholesome. You know, the Bible talks about praising God with our words. In Psalm 34, verse 1, we read, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

You know, this is a great thing for us to consider. Praising God at all times, letting His praise be in our mouth always. Think about Psalm 40 and verse 3. He has put a new song in my mouth. Praise to our God. Many will see it in fear and will trust in the Lord. And as the psalmist wrote those words, he thought, you know, as long as I’m praising God every day, that’s going to lead to many people coming to trust Him.

Trusting in the Lord. What a great thing. And this prayer in Psalm 71, verse 8 says, Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your glory all the day. And so at all times, we ought to be having the Lord’s praise within our mouth and thinking about praising God at every moment.

What a good way to use our words in our life. Now, as we utter these words of praise, it will be among other people. Psalm 109 and verse 30 says, I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth. Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. Now, we don’t want to show off our righteousness to other people.

Well, that’s not what we’re talking about here, but we can certainly say a prayer for our food, like if we’re in a public place among ourselves, we can, like the other day, we were down in Austin at Chick-fil-A, and there was a girl who came by and saw me in Austin, and I don’t know, it was Gavin or Eddie there together, and she interacts with the boys, She’s down there, and she knew that Austin was a good singer, and so she said, well, are y’all good singers? And I said, well, let’s just sing a song together, you know. He sung a song right there in Chick-fil-A. So, hey, we do that. We praise God all the time, in front of a multitude even.

Psalm 15, verse 23, “…whoever offers praise glorifies Me, and to him who orders his conduct aright, I will show the salvation of God.” We want to glorify God. We want to praise God with our words and the things that we say.

Psalm 145, verse 21, “…my mouth shall speak the praises of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and forever.” And think about this, we’re not just talking about on Sunday. Or on Wednesday night, right? We need to take the praises of God with us every single day.

Now, does that mean that when I’m having a conversation about fixing a machine that I’m working on that I have to insert praise God in every single phrase? No, that’s not what we’re talking about there. We do our jobs. We use our words to do our jobs. But look, when we’re doing our jobs like God wants us to do, we are glorifying Him because we’re working in the world that He made.

And we can praise God on the job as we’re doing our work. We can glorify Him through the efforts that we give. And certainly when there comes an opportunity for us to bless God and give Him the thanks and give Him the glory, we can do that every single day.

Hebrews 13, verse 15 says, “…Therefore by Him let us continually,” look at that word, continually, “…offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” And just saying on occasion, thank God. You know, when you hear good news, let’s say, thank God, praise God. Those are great times to offer thanks and praise to God.

But then, as we think about this word fitly spoken, a word fitly spoken is going to be one that reflects good judgment. Now, maybe this is where sometimes we have more trouble than others, because good judgment requires a certain amount of wisdom in our lives, and in order for us to get wisdom, we’ve got to have a little experience, and we don’t always have the The experience that we need, and sometimes we don’t always do the wisest things or the best things, and so we need to be thinking about this. We need to be wanting to reflect good judgment with our tongues, you know, not just saying anything and everything, but measuring our words. That’s something that we’ve got to really work on and focus on.

In Psalm 39, verse 1, the psalmist said, “…I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue. I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me.” And, you know, that sometimes can be the most difficult time to hold your tongue is when somebody’s giving you what for, you know.

Or, there’s a wicked person saying something that shouldn’t be said, and you really want to get in there and mix it up, you know. Well, here’s a good verse. I’m going to restrain my mouth. I’m going to guard my ways. I don’t want to sin with my tongue.

And so, hey, let me hold back a little bit, give it some thought, and think about how I’m going to approach this situation. Proverbs 10, verse 19 says, “…in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” So sometimes using our words can be a problem. We say too many words. We get too further involved in things and we talk too much.

When we really need to sit back and listen instead of flapping our gums. He who restrains his lips is wise. So if we want to be wise, we need to keep our mouths shut at times. Proverbs 17, verses 27-28 says this, He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace. When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. Now, you think about that for a moment. You think about the people around you who you consider to be the wisest. Are those people the ones who are constantly talking? Or are those the ones who measure their words and only speak at the right and appropriate times?

Well, I think we know the answer to that question, right? It’s those who hold their words back. And then, when the time comes, everybody looks to that person. And everybody is ready to listen to that person. Why? Because they hold back. They don’t just say everything that comes to their mind.

Psalm 141, verse 3 says, “…set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the doors of my lips.” And there’s a prayer asking God to help us to restrain our tongues. Proverbs 29, verse 11 is one that, you know, we really got to consider. A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. You know, all you got to do to see a fool vent all of his feelings is to turn on the news, right? And there they are, venting all their feelings, you know.

Well, God says that’s a foolish person. We don’t want to be like that. We don’t want to vent all our feelings all the time. Now, sometimes, to someone who we trust and we know, we can talk to that person and we can express some frustrations. But we don’t want to do that all the time to everyone. That’s a bad way to live. And it’s going to come back to haunt you if you do that.

A wise man holds them back. Now James says in James 1, verse 19, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. And James 1, verse 26 says, If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, Now, this one’s religion is useless. Now, that says something about a large segment of our society today, doesn’t it? If anyone among you thinks he is religious. Now, how many people out there think they’re religious? And yet, they do not bridle their tongues. James says their religion is empty. It’s vain.

Because they’re just deceiving themselves. Well, we don’t want to be like that. And so let’s bridle our tongues. Let’s have our tongues reflect good judgment. Now, we want to speak wisely. As Psalm 37, verse 30 says, the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. Proverbs 10, verse 13, wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding. James 3, verse 13, who is wise in understanding among you, let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

If we are wise, we’re going to speak wisely. We’re going to use our words wisely. We’re not going to just say anything and everything. We’re going to hold back. It’s like my mama used to tell me, you know, when I was a kid. You know, I’m still working on that lesson. Think before you speak. Think before you speak.

And that’s such a hard one to learn because sometimes you just want to get in there and say something. But we’ve got to hold back. We’ve got to display good judgment. And then finally this morning, a word fitly spoken is going to be a tongue that edifies. The word edify means to build up. We have around us an edifice, right? A building, something that was constructed, something that was built up.

And we want to build each other up with our words and with our tongues. And so the Bible talks about building each other up. And good words, a word fitly spoken, is going to edify. Think about Psalm 77, verse 12.

I will also meditate on all your work and talk of your deeds. You know, when we’re talking about God’s Word, when we’re talking about what God has done, we are building each other up. You know, Peter said build one another up in the most holy faith. We’ve got to talk to each other about the Bible. We’ve got to talk about the Gospel. We’ve got to talk about the truth and build each other up.

My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness. Psalm 119, verse 172 says, God’s commandments are righteousness. They’re truth. We want our tongues to be filled with words that are going to build each other up. The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 10, verse 11.

What is a well of life? Have you ever been thirsty before? I remember one time when I was climbing a mountain in Colorado, and this was before I really had a lot of experience hiking, and we thought we had our hydration issues covered, but we didn’t. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, we’d run out of all beverages, and now we had to Walked back down. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, we were thirsty. And there was a house down there. And we went up to the house and knocked on the door and asked the man if we could have a drink of water. And he brought out a couple of glasses of water. And we said, we really need more than that. Do you have a hose? You know? And so we turned on the hose outside and started. And that was the best water I’ve ever had. It was really good. A well of life.

Well, when we speak good words to other people, it’s like getting a good, refreshing drink of water. It can be a well of life. Proverbs 10 and verses 20 and 21 says, The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. The heart of the wicked is worth little. The lips of the righteous feed many. But fools die for lack of wisdom.

Notice the tongue of the righteous is choice silver. What is silver good for? Well, it’s good for currency and exchanging. It’s good for a lot of things, right? It’s really helpful. It’s edifying. What about the lips of the righteous? What do they do? They feed many. You ever had a good meal and enjoyed that meal? The lips of the righteous are like eating a good meal. They feed you. They nourish you. They strengthen you.

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones, Proverbs 16, 24. Many of us might have a little sweet tooth. I know that I do, and occasionally I feel like, man, I just got to have something sweet.

And that, you know, when you get that sweetness in your mouth, you just feel satisfied. It’s a good feeling. Well, those who have pleasant words are like satisfying that sweet tooth, you know, to give us something to think about, something to chew on, you know, mentally, and help us as we go forward on the road of life.

Having a word fitly spoken, edifies. Ephesians 4 and verse 29, again, thinking about what the New Testament says here. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary? Edification. There’s our word. Edification. Building up, strengthening, exhorting, helping, raising one another up, lifting up edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

That’s how we want our tongues to be. So many in the world today just have let their tongues go. So many. And just use awful, foul language, hurtful language, terrible language. It’s just constant now out there in the world.

From the bottom most parts of society up into the highest echelons, people use that kind of language. We don’t want to be like that. We want to stand up for what the Bible teaches about using our tongues. We want to have words that are fitly spoken, words that speak truth, words that utter praise, words that reflect good judgment, and words that edify.

And when we do that, our words will be like apples of gold in pictures or settings of silver. They will be beautiful. Let’s commit this morning to having beautiful words in our lives. Let’s commit to speaking the truth. Let’s commit to uttering praise. Let’s commit to reflecting good judgment. Let’s commit to edifying one another.

And you know, to get started on that road, get out of the world, get into Jesus Christ, and that’ll get you on the right path. And how do you do that this morning? By hearing His Word and believing it, repenting of your sin, confessing Him as Lord and being baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

And this morning then you can get on that road to speaking good words and you’ll know the truth and you’ll be able to speak the truth and you’ll be able to praise God like you should and have good words that edify one another. That’s part of the Christian life. Why not become a Christian this morning? Get away from all of that filthy talk and bad language and evil communication. Let’s get away from that and get with Jesus.

And let Him influence our words each and every day. And this morning, if you need to make a change, we’d be glad to help you do that. While together we stand, and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!