Guard my conversations. . . .

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler. (Proverbs 20:19)
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered. (Proverbs 11:13)
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. (Proverbs 13:3)

Yesterday I met with two others for prayer and sharing our thoughts. We have learned that some subjects bless us, but not gossip. Sharing our thoughts can build us up, but not if our words are tearing someone down. We have also learned that each of us has wisdom to share. I’m learning the value of listening…

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words. (Ecclesiastes 5:1–3)

Not gossiping yet being watchful regarding those who do, or those who cause other problems is not easy, for if we speak evil of them, we become guilty of the same thing they do. This is a challenge:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. (Romans 16:17–19)

The answer to this came in a discussion about current political issues. Rather than be critical or correcting policies that we have no control over, this passage came to mind:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:1–2)

Then this thought: it is impossible to hate someone that I continually pray for, so is it possible that God commands us to pray for our politicians so we do not hate them and instead give them prayer support? If our hearts are not filled with malice or personal preferences, perhaps with anger too, the Lord will soon give us productive prayer requests.

This command is not so those leaders will make my life peaceful and godly, but so I will be behaving that way rather than worrying and complaining about the behaviors I do not like, as if I know how to run the world better than they do — or better than God does.

Lord Jesus, the media and many others constantly criticize those in leadership. This is disobedience. We are to pray. It may be appropriate to voice our concerns, but not to each other. Your Word says to take criticism or rebukes directly to the person who is not doing right, not to gossip about them. That is unfruitful and sin. If I pray, You give me the right course of action, or may even tell me to keep my mouth shut because You are in charge. Thank You. I will be praying for those in high positions more often — without talking or complaining about them instead of listening to You. 

God Knows Secrets

Both OT and NT mention magicians and secret arts, but the thought for today is how God knows the SECRET things; nothing is hidden from Him. In Jeremiah 23:23–24, He says: “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth?”

A major example is the sin of David with Bathsheba. After it happened and she bore him a son, the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to rebuke David. No one knew the details of this sin, but through Nathan, the Lord told David what would happen: “For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.” God knew David’s secret.

During the time of the kings, “The people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right . . . . wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” He warned them, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” He knew their secret sins.

The psalmists knew this about God. They said, “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.” In Psalm 90:8, Moses wrote: “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”

Our secret sins are not the only thing God knows about us. David and the prophets wrote that He knew their frame when it was formed in secret before they were even born.

They also realized that humans have secret places that God not only knows but wants those places filled with truth. David wrote, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart” and “The secret counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” The prophet Amos testified, “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.”

God knows my secrets but He keeps my secrets. I know this by experience and because He tells us to keep the secrets of others. Proverbs 11:13 says this: “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” Keeping secrets is being like God.

Jesus wants us to serve Him in secret rather than to build our public image. He says when we pray or fast or give, to do it in secret, and “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Those who follow Jesus are privileged to “know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” while He uses parables to point to those truths for those outside it. He “said nothing in secret” yet being able to understand those sayings is by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we share the good news and the secrets of the kingdom, we rely on God’s Spirit to reveal those truths to those who hear them.

The OT says in Ecclesiastes 12:14 that “God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” In the NT, “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Secrets cannot escape God’s attention. He will judge them as well as everything else that is said or done.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Every day God feeds me truth from His Word. Sometimes it seems that He whispers secrets into my ears, secrets about myself and secrets about Him. Occasionally He shows me truth about others, not so I can tell anyone else but He wants me to pray for them.

Another vital secret is shared by Paul in Philippians 4:12–13. He says, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” For me, tough situations and challenges often bring out excuses, procrastination, and just plain disobedience, but knowing that He will give me all I need to do all that He wants is a huge secret for living as His child.