“Use a Mouth Guard and Save Yourself Some Trouble” (Proverbs 21)
January 21, 2023
Every time I read Proverbs 21:23, I am reminded of my high school and university softball days. I mostly played two positions, third base and catcher, and I wore a mouth guard for both. A huge fear was catching a high velocity hit or pitch with my mouth, and thus, knocking out my teeth. The mouth guard has served as a good object lesson for Proverbs 21: 23 –
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
Each of us can relate to a situation in which we said something that got us into trouble. We may have spoken careless words before thinking about what we were going to say, and it landed us in a heap of trouble. We hurt someone, or even ourselves, as a result of our reckless words.
From our earliest days, we learned how to use words both to bring harm and to bring gladness. King Solomon was right – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” – Proverbs 18:21.
Since we are all fallen and finite humans, hurtful words easily flow from our mouths. One wrong word can pierce the heart of another, or even ruin a person’s reputation. We know this, yet how difficult it can be to guard our mouths, and how often we close our mouths too late – only after we brought damage to ourselves or to others.
Proverbs 21:23 tells us to guard our mouth and tongue in order to keep ourselves out of trouble. The word used for guard is a strong word meaning to set a watch guard, or a military sentry, over mouth and tongue. This is serious guarding!
If we think back to the last time our mouth got us into trouble, we may remember the emotional difficulty it caused. Some pain may have lasted a few hours, while other pain may have lasted decades.
We should be far more serious in seeking God’s enabling to place that guard at our lips. My mouth guard during my softball days, protected me from the high velocity ball being thrown in my direction. However, better the guard at my lips that prevents any high velocity barb from being thrust at another. Let us seek to guard our lips and speak words of wisdom and truth that honor our Father in heaven, and by so doing, honor others.