Psalms 39:1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
This is what David said; what he had deliberately resolved upon and solemnly determined in his own mind: "I said, I will take heed to my ways." That is a good thing for all of us to resolve and to say: "I will take heed." To be heedless is to be graceless. No man ever does a good thing by accident. We shall none of us get to heaven by blundering. "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue." The tongue may be a most powerful instrument of evil. Tongue sins are terrible sins. They are like sparks of fire which may set a whole town upon a blaze. He that can take heed to his tongue will probably be able to manage all the rest of the members of his body. The tongue is the most unmanageable member of our frame; and if we sin not with our tongue, we shall most likely be kept from sinning in other ways. "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," says David; it should be rendered, "with a muzzle." He did not mean that he would merely control his tongue, but that he would silence it altogether. "I will keep my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked is before me." I do not know whether that was a right resolution on David’s part. Tongues were meant to be used and there are often opportunities of using them to God’s glory even in the presence of the wicked. Sometimes, we are bound to use our tongue in rebuking their sin; yet we cannot criticize David’s resolution very much, because when the wicked are before us, it may be only like casting pearls before swine if we begin to speak to them even upon the best themes, and we may be drawn away, by their company to speak that which is questionable. So that often, it may be best to keep our mouth muzzled while the wicked are before us.
Psalms 39:1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
This is what David said; what he had deliberately resolved upon and solemnly determined in his own mind: "I said, I will take heed to my ways." That is a good thing for all of us to resolve and to say: "I will take heed." To be heedless is to be graceless. No man ever does a good thing by accident. We shall none of us get to heaven by blundering. "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue." The tongue may be a most powerful instrument of evil. Tongue sins are terrible sins. They are like sparks of fire which may set a whole town upon a blaze. He that can take heed to his tongue will probably be able to manage all the rest of the members of his body. The tongue is the most unmanageable member of our frame; and if we sin not with our tongue, we shall most likely be kept from sinning in other ways. "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," says David; it should be rendered, "with a muzzle." He did not mean that he would merely control his tongue, but that he would silence it altogether. "I will keep my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked is before me." I do not know whether that was a right resolution on David’s part. Tongues were meant to be used and there are often opportunities of using them to God’s glory even in the presence of the wicked. Sometimes, we are bound to use our tongue in rebuking their sin; yet we cannot criticize David’s resolution very much, because when the wicked are before us, it may be only like casting pearls before swine if we begin to speak to them even upon the best themes, and we may be drawn away, by their company to speak that which is questionable. So that often, it may be best to keep our mouth muzzled while the wicked are before us.