Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group Simon and Garfuinkel, singing Paul Simon’s 1964 song… The Sound of Silence, … in which, at one point Simon writes … “10,000, maybe more, … people talking without speaking, … people hearing without listening,” … which is certainly a reality in the world, isn’t it?
Highlight Passage: Proverbs 10: 19 [NKJV] …
19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
… Our Lord loves it when we really give our utmost … our first fruit of worship … for His sake. Pretty clear, hun?
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Highlight Context – Proverbs 10:19-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon wrote that there was much wisdom in selective silence …
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Reference Passage #1 - Proverbs 15:1-4, 16:27-28, 18:7-8, 21:23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Solomon, after God gave him more wisdom than any man of his day wrote much about about the dangers of a loose tongue
Reference Passage #2 - Ephesians 4: 29 [NKJV] …
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
… Breaking the silence with speech should only take place to lift up and/or give grace to the hearer.
Reference Passage #3 - James 3: 1-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus’ brother on the challenge of taming the tongue.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, David Roper, took me back to my college days in the wild and crazy times of the 60s and made reference to the linked song above, sung by Simon and Garfunkel, where they decried how so many were “talking without speaking” and “hearing without listening.”
Roper wrote: I’m reminded of the line in the old Simon and Garfunkel song “Sounds of Silence” about folks hearing without listening. Oh, they hear the words, but they fail to silence their own thoughts and truly listen. It would be good if we all learned to be silent and still. … There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). Good silence is a listening silence, a humble silence. It leads to right hearing, right understanding, and right speaking.
Oh so true, Dave Roper!
And Solomon, with the wisdom God gave him to dispense the Lord’s truths in the book of Proverbs, wrote much about how we too often speak too soon breaking the silence of wisdom and speaking like a wrecking ball to tear down relationships (see highlight and reference passages from Proverbs, linked above). And the Apostle Paul, inspired by God’s Spirit, wrote (see Ephesians 4:29) to avoid “corrupt speaking” by only voicing thoughts which either lifted someone up or gave them grace. And Jesus’ brother, James, wrote a lot about the dangers of using “the tongue” to set unrestrained fires in our lives [see the link to James, Chapter 3 above].
In other words, … you’ve probably heard the old adage that “we have two ears and one tongue, and we should probably use them in that proportion.” So, I’m praying today that I can take this wisdom to the way I live and listen more and speak less … unless God leads my speech to glorify Him and help others.
My Prayer Today: Oh, dear Lord, … Help me to bridle my tongue and speak, as Your word leads, … only to edify and give grace to others. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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