The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 34:13

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Here are three great things.

I. A GREAT GIFT. Speech is one of our highest endowments. It enables us to utter our thoughts and to converse one with another. Man's advancement in knowledge and virtue has mainly followed from his possessing this faculty. There have been many ingenious speculations as to how speech has been obtained, but it is enough for us to say that it is from God. When we see a dumb man, we may learn the worth from the want, and should bless God for his goodness in having given us this noble gift.

II. A GREAT PERIL. The best things may be turned to bad uses. So with the tongue. If rightly used, it is a great blessing; if wrongly used, it is a great curse. "Evil" and "guile" are the common ways in which speech is abused, much to the hurt of the speaker and of the hearers. There is thus not only great waste, but manifold and great evils. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).

III. A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT. It is possible to "keep" the tongue. To do this we must go back from the tongue to the heart (Proverbs 4:23). When the heart is right, the tongue will be right also (Matthew 12:33, Matthew 12:34). Such mastery can only be acquired by earnest effort and patience and loving contemplation of Christ. St. James says he who has attained to this rare power is a "perfect man" (James 3:5, James 3:6).—W.F.

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