Probing Proverbs 11:9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But
through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
It amazes me how many times in Scripture we are cautioned about
the power of words! I find it extremely interesting in light of the “social
media”
we live in today. In a millisecond people around the globe can know what your
thinking or what you said. True there are advantageous to that…but
I fear many do not weigh the down side.
This Proverb puts before us that danger, it would be wise for
us to consider it.
How can the words of a godless man “destroy”
someone? It should be noted that there is an adjective used to describe the
kind of person speaking the words, “godless.” So we already know that this is an
individual that is living outside the influence of God.
So, beginning at the most innocent, when a person speaks “unmeasured”
words, which means partial truth, or words with no context, a lot of damage,
can be done. This is what we do when we pass on hearsay, not understanding all
the circumstances. The news in my country does this all the time. In their
so-called “zeal” for people to know, they will print names of individual’s
accused of crimes before they have a chance at a trial! Why can’t
they print the fact of the crime but wait for the trial to be complete before any names are given. If that person is found
innocent they can report that and the person that was accused is still left as an
anonymous person, so they can resume a normal life. If the person is guilty, print that with the name so
the criminal will face the consequences of his crime. When you use any “buzz”
word like; racist, sex offender, etc, that person is labeled for life, even if
they were totally innocent. What a terrible thing to do to someone.
A more devious form of communication is one that is “agenda”
driven. People do not matter in this kind of communication, only the agenda. So
individuals will “leak” information to help their goal, even if it destroys someone, or
they will cease talking about the subject and move to personal attacks against
the individuals that stand in the way of their goal.
Of course, sadly, there are the times when someone just wants
to hurt someone, so truth does not matter. The gossip, the stories, the skewed
facts, and the false witnesses are all part of one goal, to hurt their target.
First, all should know that none of these actions will be overlooked
when it comes time to be accountable:
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the
Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and
disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to
him from God.
Romans 14:10–12 But
you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your
brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
For it is written, “As I live, says
the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise
to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Each person will answer for himself, and himself alone. I don’t
know about you, but that frightens me, because as a sinner I have allowed improper communication at times to come out of me. All it takes is a moment of living away from God's influence for my mouth to speak forth something I will regret! This admonition helps me to
be more careful.
More importantly is for us to learn from this Proverb the
direction to go so we avoid speaking in a way that damages others. Again there
is an adjective describing this person, “righteous.” So if we stay close to God, then we have
access to “knowledge" that will guide our words. The word used here is
interesting:
Knowledge - דַּעַת
(daʿat) This root, occurring a total of 944
times, is used in every stem and expresses a multitude of shades of knowledge
gained by the senses. Its closest synonyms are bîn “to discern” and nākar “to
recognize.” In certain contexts it means, “to distinguish.”[1]
When we remain close to the Lord, He brings us the ability to
measure our words. When I can discern a situation, or recognize the real
problem, I will be better equipped to know what to say, or if I should say
anything at all. More than once in my life the Scriptures or the prompting of
the Holy Spirit has led me to adjust what I was going to say. Each time I have
been very thankful for that knowledge.
Notice though, the path to have knowledge or not begins in the
heart, staying close to God. If we are away, that knowledge will elude us!
Where are you...close or away?
[1]
Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
(electronic ed.) (366). Chicago: Moody Press.
