Speaking the right words

Some say I am a person with quick answers, but I can remember times of being speechless, like when cult members come to the door and I cannot think of what to say to them until after they leave, or when someone teases me and that perfect comeback escapes me. If I’m surprised, pleasantly or otherwise, the right words will not come. Other emotions can interfere with knowing what to say.

Also, it’s hard to know what to say to others when they suffer emotions like anger, disappointment or grief. When a friend is agonizing over a decision, words can sometimes fail me too. Saying the right thing at the right time is really important.

Psalm 81 begins with a call to open my mouth: “Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.” Shouting I can do; singing is more difficult, but I can open my mouth.

However, in that context, verse 10 is interesting. It says, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

While I’m fairly certain that this is a figure of speech about calling out to God for a blessing in whatever I need and not literal in the sense of needing words to say, interpreting it in that sense is biblical. Other places tell me that God will give me the right words.

One of them is Isaiah 50:4 where the prophet says, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.”

Another is where Jesus tells encourages His disciples regarding persecution: “But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:19-20).

Scripture regarding saying the right words is important to me as a Bible teacher. I don’t want to say the wrong thing, but be faithful and accurate in the way I instruct others. I also do not want to say something that will drive my listeners away from the Lord.

Ephesians 4:29 often becomes my prayer. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Today I’m opening my mouth and asking the Lord to fill it with words that are from Him. They might be gracious words that drop like rain, or convicting words that feel more like prodding from God, but whatever I say I want it to please Him and be as He describes it in Isaiah 55:11: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”