Psalm 17:4 - it's one that caught my eye this morning. When you put it in context with my Psalm 17:3 challenge, it's really interesting.
"I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer." (Psalm 17:3b-4)
How do I keep my mouth from not sinning? David says here it comes by the word of God's mouth - by having HIS word in my mouth I'm guaranteed NOT to transgress! Oh, isn't the Kingdom life one of great exchange? It's so marvelous! At the cross, we exchange unrighteousness for His righteousness, sorrow for joy, fear for peace. And here we see that we exchange our human words for divine words - natural, powerless conversation for supernatural, powerful conversation! In our everyday living in the kingdom, we have the opportunity to enter this great exchange. The temptation that comes our way is for us to look upon 'the works of men;' in other words, we are easily tempted to speak negatively about what other people are doing or saying around us. In the big things and in the little, this temptation comes our way. We may see something a politician is doing that we do not like. We may be annoyed by something we see on the news. What will we say in that moment? David is more or less saying here, 'concerning what I'm seeing that person do right now, God...concerning this thing that is annoying my soul...God, I will not yield to speaking evil about it. I will not go down the path of destruction by speaking words of death/negativity over him. I will keep Your words in my mouth; I will speak your will and your blessing.' We have the power to speak God's words in that moment. When we look and see the destruction that is happening around us, we can speak God's blessing over the situation and/or person. We can speak Life!
David learned this secret. He knew the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:20-21 says,
"A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit."
Death is in the tongue. Tie that together with Psalm 17:4 - 'the paths of the destroyer.' Destruction and death lie in the unrenewed mouth. And as I've said before, anyone can curse...but it takes the power of God to bless. This proverb shows us that what we speak, we will eat. Our words are like seeds that get sowed in the ground. Eventually, the seed produces a harvest and that harvest gets turned into our meal. Will what we serve at our table be pleasing to our palate? Will our bellies be satisfied with good? And it doesn't just apply to our OWN life. I believe that what I speak over others lives will cause an impact...especially if it is God's word that fills my mouth. Isaiah 55:10-11 says that every word of God will produce a harvest; it will produce fruit wherever it is planted. God's word will NEVER produce death...it will only produce life. If HIS words fill MY mouth, then every word I speak will produce Life! His word in my mouth is just as powerful as it is in His mouth. So...
"Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer."
I will speak life over the 'works of men' by speaking Your words, God. In doing so, I will avoid going down the enemies path; I will avoid his snare of destruction for my OWN life...AND I will plant seeds of Life for those I'm blessing. I will keep my mouth from sinning by filling my mouth with Your words. And no matter what I see happening in the world around me...I will not complain! I will not speak negatively! I will plant Your seeds of Life and blessing and will see a harvest come in! I will be satisfied by the fruit of my mouth. Why? Because it's YOUR fruit that I choose to plant.
"I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer." (Psalm 17:3b-4)
How do I keep my mouth from not sinning? David says here it comes by the word of God's mouth - by having HIS word in my mouth I'm guaranteed NOT to transgress! Oh, isn't the Kingdom life one of great exchange? It's so marvelous! At the cross, we exchange unrighteousness for His righteousness, sorrow for joy, fear for peace. And here we see that we exchange our human words for divine words - natural, powerless conversation for supernatural, powerful conversation! In our everyday living in the kingdom, we have the opportunity to enter this great exchange. The temptation that comes our way is for us to look upon 'the works of men;' in other words, we are easily tempted to speak negatively about what other people are doing or saying around us. In the big things and in the little, this temptation comes our way. We may see something a politician is doing that we do not like. We may be annoyed by something we see on the news. What will we say in that moment? David is more or less saying here, 'concerning what I'm seeing that person do right now, God...concerning this thing that is annoying my soul...God, I will not yield to speaking evil about it. I will not go down the path of destruction by speaking words of death/negativity over him. I will keep Your words in my mouth; I will speak your will and your blessing.' We have the power to speak God's words in that moment. When we look and see the destruction that is happening around us, we can speak God's blessing over the situation and/or person. We can speak Life!
David learned this secret. He knew the power of the tongue. Proverbs 18:20-21 says,
"A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit."
Death is in the tongue. Tie that together with Psalm 17:4 - 'the paths of the destroyer.' Destruction and death lie in the unrenewed mouth. And as I've said before, anyone can curse...but it takes the power of God to bless. This proverb shows us that what we speak, we will eat. Our words are like seeds that get sowed in the ground. Eventually, the seed produces a harvest and that harvest gets turned into our meal. Will what we serve at our table be pleasing to our palate? Will our bellies be satisfied with good? And it doesn't just apply to our OWN life. I believe that what I speak over others lives will cause an impact...especially if it is God's word that fills my mouth. Isaiah 55:10-11 says that every word of God will produce a harvest; it will produce fruit wherever it is planted. God's word will NEVER produce death...it will only produce life. If HIS words fill MY mouth, then every word I speak will produce Life! His word in my mouth is just as powerful as it is in His mouth. So...
"Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer."
I will speak life over the 'works of men' by speaking Your words, God. In doing so, I will avoid going down the enemies path; I will avoid his snare of destruction for my OWN life...AND I will plant seeds of Life for those I'm blessing. I will keep my mouth from sinning by filling my mouth with Your words. And no matter what I see happening in the world around me...I will not complain! I will not speak negatively! I will plant Your seeds of Life and blessing and will see a harvest come in! I will be satisfied by the fruit of my mouth. Why? Because it's YOUR fruit that I choose to plant.
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