Muzzle My Mouth
I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.”
King David recognized the danger of sinning with his words when faced with trials and persecution by the wicked. Those enemies seeking to trip us up can be quite effective in provoking us to rash, angry or foolish outbursts.
James also warned about the serious challenges of controlling the tongue. “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).
For more about how to use our words rightly and avoid sinning with our tongues, see the helpful articles in the section on “The Joys and Challenges of Communication.”
