415th Meditation
“Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord” (Ps 103:34).
Vigilance in speaking is very pleasing to the Lord. In fact, He Himself exhorts us to clarity and unambiguity in our speech: “Let your speech be ‘Yes, yes’; ‘no, no’. That which is over and above these, is of evil” (Mt 5:37). The words that come from our lips must be like crystal-clear, unclouded water, flowing from a purified heart and rejoicing God and people.
The Apostle to the Gentiles also exhorts us:
“Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good, to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph 4:29-31).
The Apostle James, for his part, gives us an important piece of advice:
“Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger” (Jas 1:19).
So we see that we are admonished to use our words prudently and carefully, so as not to offend love or lose ourselves in useless talk. But, on the other hand, the praise of God can and should always be in our mouth (Ps 33:1), so that His name may be known among people and we may rejoice in the Lord. The most beautiful things that can come from our lips are words that acclaim the love of God, that extol His name, that make known His great wonders. We will never have praised Him enough!
When the heart is filled with the love of God, then rivers of living water will flow from our mouths, proclaiming His superabundant and immeasurable love for us humans. Then our speech will be acceptable to Him and our heart will take delight in the Lord at all times.