Gold … in settings of silver.
What a powerful image of something so valuable. Gold or silver alone would be precious. However, gold and silver together – it paints an image of something extravagantly elegant and pricey. And this is the image that the Word of God provides in describing words spoken in right circumstances.
The tongue is powerful. It truly does hold the power of life and death just like the Word says in Proverbs 18:21. With our words, we can build someone up and help them through a difficult place in life. Or, we can also, with our words, tear at the very spirit of a person by speaking a thoughtless word at the wrong time.
The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 notes, ‘To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.’ It goes on to state in verse seven of that same chapter, ‘A time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak.’ It reinforces the understanding that our words can help to repair a situation and hold it together or the power to rip it apart at the seams.
Therefore, it is so important in all of our communication that we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth and gives us the wisdom on when and how to speak it.
Several years back (about fifteen) I was working as a team leader and I was, admittedly, a bit less diplomatic than I am today. Therefore, in light of my ‘commitment’ to being honest at all times, my team took it upon themselves to leave me a not-so-subtle reminder: they took a 3 x 3 inch calendar page, blew it up to 8 x 10 and then hung it outside my office.
What did it read?
All truth is good … not all truth is good TO SAY!
We had a laugh over it back then but it is something that stuck with me and has traveled with me all these years. It serves as a constant reminder for me to check and choose my words carefully, even when they are truth.
Proverbs 15:23 tells us, ‘A man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word.’ Yet so often we miss the mark. When at a loss for words over someone's situation, unfortunately many feel they must say something. Gone is the notion that silence is indeed golden at times. Gone also is the understanding of our key verse today and the fact that words aptly spoken are just as golden.
Since I was a young girl, one of my favorite movies has always been the King and I, with Yul Brynner as the King and Deborah Kerr as Mrs. Anna. Towards the end of the movie, there is a scene where the King and Mrs. Anna are conversing after a state banquet and the king gives Mrs. Anna gift, to which she responds, ‘Your Majesty, I don’t know what to say.’ His response is classic and my favorite movie line of all times: ‘When one does not know what to say, it is a time to be silent.’
Such simple words yet so profound at the same time. Wisdom is the principle thing - in knowing what to say, when to say it, how to say it and when to keep silent. In all of our getting, let’s get understanding (Prov. 4:7) and in all of our speaking, let us seek God's wisdom. Then we may echo the words from Isaiah 50:4 which states, ‘The LORD GOD has given Me an instructed tongue, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.’
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