PSALM 19:1-14 / SECOND READING JAMES 3:1-12
1The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19 is one of my favorites – but I’m not sure I have ever fully considered why until now. I think a big part of it is the sweet truth of this opening line that affirms something of the great mystery of God – that He doesn’t need words to communicate His Glory – that it is all around us – being subtly spoken into our beings in the most extraordinary ways – every day.
The next verses then communicates the omnipotent power of God – steadfast and continuous -reliable and persistent . . . and above all a presence that reaches EVERYWHERE.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hidden from its heat.
And then finally the Psalmist speaks to God’s righteousness and perfection are affirmed:
7The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure,making wise the simple; 8the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey . . .
Note these liturgical nouns that the Psalmist gives us: Law – Decrees – Precepts – A Commandments – Fear – Ordinances – and try not to think of them so much as “words” as what they ARE – what they stand for . . . TRUTH’S – that when genuinely “lived in” and “lived out” – ALL lead to a right relationship with HIM.
Of course, in trying to unpack their deeper meaning all we have to use is “words” so let’s try something else.
Imagine if you will a coral reef – the most beautiful coral reef you have ever seen – maybe it was on an old Jacques Cousteau episode – or the PBS show “Blue Planet” – or maybe you were lucky enough to once dive on one.
Now imagine that you are a colorful and beautifully made fish swimming in and out of that coral – doing what a friend of mine often says, “what’s it’s supposed to do” – interacting with all the other life all around it – obeying the “rules of the reef,” if you will, and relying on that environment to be fed and protected and sustained in every way – in right relationship with everything else – and physically connected with everything else through the very water in which it swims.
Now imagine taking out some aspect of the life of that reef – the small miniscule plankton at the bottom of the food chain – or the shrimp or mussels or clams that make up the middle – or even the larger fish at the top that keep other smaller species from overly dominating yet others.
Or we might imagine the water getting clouded by silt or some external pollutant so the plant life and the reef itself can’t grow – or is fouled with some toxin. (Sin?) Or we might imagine the water level dropping so low that too much sunlight causes algae to bloom which chokes off the oxygen. The possibilities to upset the perfect relationship of our reef seem almost endless don’t they?
The point is – if you take just one of these conditions the life of the beautiful fish you imagined is going to be in great peril – and as a minimum is not going to be lived out as it was originally intended – and in the worst case choked off and ended having never fulfilled its purpose.
And such is the truth of God’s Law for us – His Decrees – Precepts –Commandments and Ordinances – and the Fear (or proper respect and understanding we must have for them) all keep our lives in balance. If we stray from them in any one way the whole system (the environment that is the relationship that we are supposed to be living in with Him) gets strained and out of whack. And we, of course, do so fully at our own great peril.
So right after declaring God’s righteousness and perfection and our need to OBEY His Law the Psalmist says: 11Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” And then he adds the kicker: “12But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
What a critically important plea and prayer! To be reminded that NO ONE can detect their own errors! That no matter how resolute we might be in following God’s Laws that none of us ever fully see the whole lay of the landscape (or “reef-scape) before us. Nor do we tend to remember the “fallen-ness” and sinful, self-serving propensity of our own human hearts.
Therefore we must strive with all that we are to KEEP God’s law as it is brought p bear on our lives – and then prayerfully rely on Him to be “warned” and “cleared” and “held back” from everything we miss! And that’s far more than most of us seem to realize. For there are plenty of sharks in the water as well as hidden and intentionally camouflaged dangers around every corner.
Just like our beautiful fish – there is so much we aren’t able to comprehend about the environment we inhabit. Oh, we have our own understanding – sure, we get some of it – and most of us seem to have the best of intentions. But our relationship with God depends on so much more – and a big part of that is the TRUST we must place in Him to keep in the right time and in the right place – when and where we most need to be. But once we start operating outside of His Law and the will he has placed before us – we clip and diminish His ability and /or willingness to do so.
Of course it’s so easy to miss this critical part of the relationship – to take the old orthodox approach and just try to “live by the law” and declare ourselves to be on “God’s track.” But to do so exclusively is to completely ignore the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus himself said would come to us and guide us and keep us and allow us to do things even greater than he! To TRULY live in right relationship with the Father as he was! That by the Spirit we ourselves can become His very will in the world! To do otherwise is to allow our “religion” to take the place of walking with the Lord. Or as Bono of U2 fame says, “Religion is what you are left with when the Holy Spirit has left the building . . .”
And so in response the Psalmist close his song with a recognition of the importance of his OWN words and thoughts – inasmuch as they are our response to God’s words – and he offers the sweet short prayer that is so familiar to us: 14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. You could do worse than to live simply by the precepts of Psalm 19.
Our second reading from the book of James speaks directly to the words we use in the world – and it is a stern and stark warning on the power we weld through them.
SECOND READING JAMES 3:1-12
1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle3If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the tongue-a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever – Amen.
Yikes. So how do you really feel about what comes out of our mouths James? Let’s hit the main points: To assume one has the authority and wisdom to teach others is to take a great risk – for anyone who does so will be judged with greater strictness. Indeed Jesus warns that it would be better for someone to have a mill stone tied around his or her neck and cast into the sea than to mislead one of God’s children.
So neither James nor Jesus mince words on this topic. It is enough to give any preacher, teacher or counselor deep pause for concern. But honestly we are ALL ultimately teachers of one another and we must choose our words carefully and be absolutely sure we are speaking with God inspired authority based in His Holy Word and the prayerfully discerned presence of the Spirit in our lives. To do otherwise is a reckless use of His gifts that clearly DOES have consequences. Be careful out there. Be really careful.
Secondly – our actions follow our words. If we are what we eat (which in some ways we are) we are also very much what we SAY. Not only do others perceive what we are “made of” (or are all about) through our words – words also have the power to very much determine our own actions. We are wired to “stand by our word” for better or for worse and thus James warns, “Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle,” just after he clarifies the clear truth that “ALL of us make many mistakes!”
“So watch what you so easily and haphazardly say!” is the message, because you are doing the initial navigation of a course down which you will most certainly eventually sail. The tongue is the rudder, as James notes, that steers the very large ship of our lives. (P)
And finally James gets down to core of the message he wants to convey. That our words – what WE speak into being through our mouths have the power to both destroy and tear down – as well as to repair and build up. Yet it his warning on their destructive ability that he focuses on. The tongue is:
“A small fire that can destroy a whole forest.”
“A world of iniquity – all by itself!”
“Is able to stain the whole body.”
To “set on fire the cycle of nature.”
“Is completely untamable.”
Is “a restless evil.”
“Full of deadly poison.”
And, of course, our tongue has the power to do all of those things! And so often we forget what one misplaced word – ONE WORD – spoken in haste or in a moment of bitterness or misguided ill temper can do. Just as an axe can take down a tree that has grown for centuries – our words can undermine what God has been seeking to accomplish in our lives and others for years.
It can alienate our most beloved. It can push away those whom we might otherwise be reconciled to. It can begin and set in motion events that crush not only our own hearts but the heart of our Lord and Savior who has given EVERYTHING for us . . . Only to have us carelessly and recklessly fling our mean spirited thoughts around as if his sacrifice means nothing?!
Thus James closes by reminding us that out of the mouths created to “bless the Lord and Father,” come words used to “curse those who are made in His likeness.”
So brothers and sisters. Let us speak from the fresh and clear wellspring of water that God has put in our hearts gifted to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – and NOT from the brackish waters of bitterness that the powers of this world would seek to replace him with.
For our words DO have the power to guide and to keep our own lives in step with his – as well as to change forever the lives of others.
How will we use them? To our short term satisfaction? Or to His eternal Glory.
Stuart Revercomb
