God Speaking

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

(Proverbs 16: 24)

Some friends and I were discussing our various likes and dislikes about food and some confessed how much they loved sweet desserts etc., and others how their favourites were the spicy and salty Asian dishes. I was telling them about two of my son in laws who both love chocolate so much the whole family have deemed them “chocoholics”. One of the ladies remarked that they each must have a sweet tooth and another made us all laugh when she posed this question, “Does that mean sweet talk comes out of their mouths?”

Sweet talk! That made me think of exactly the way Scripture describes how words should come out of our mouths. The verse in Proverbs 16:24 likens the source of pleasant words to be like a honeycomb and as they gather the sweetness of honey the words are endowed with the beautiful qualities that honey possesses. Honey must be one of the first foods known to man and in ancient days was also revered for it’s medicinal properties, so the writer of Proverbs also includes healing to be part of the power sweet talk has.

We all know and have experienced the opposite effect words can have if they lack sweetness and we can also recall the power to hurt that thoughtless words have.

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings about healing.” (Proverbs 12: 18)

Again we are reminded that our words can be very powerful when they are overlaid with gentleness and can dissipate anger and can avoid ugly disputes.

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15: 1)

So how do we develop the gift of sweet talk? What would be the honeycomb source for us in our present day? How could we be the bringer of healing just by our spoken words?

The Psalmists had the answer and it is the same for us;

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119: 103)

Our way of sweetening our words is found in God’s own word and it is interesting that taste is part of many verses in Scripture and I find a deep meaning behind the inference that God’s word has to be so much a part of us that we need to inwardly digest his wisdom so it permeates our very being, influencing our actions and sweetening our words.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34; 8)

Choosing to do this becomes a daily exercise, I know myself how easy it is to retort in a likewise manner when someone speaks rudely to me and I am equally aware to how I have caused pain to someone by a thoughtless remark. So how to guard against this? Again we have to go back to Scripture to see how we can plan, as my friend said, to be able to allow sweet talk to come forth from our mouths and the Psalmists had a great solution;

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119: 11)