angela hormberg

Tag: Tongue

  • Proverbs 10:20

    Proverbs 10:20

    The Worth of the Just and the Wicked

    Commonplace –

    “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth” (Proverbs 10:20).

    In Proverbs 10:20, Solomon again unites two familiar subjects: the tongue and the heart. Here we learn “the tongue of the just is as choice silver”. Silver is wealth, so the words of the just are like riches, while “the heart of the wicked is little worth”, like poverty. Recalling previous verses in chapter 10, we remember that our words originate in our heart. As Jesus said,

    “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).

    Circling back to Proverbs 10:20, we see that the heart of the just has good treasure, which the just man brings forth in his words. The heart of the wicked is worthless, so his words are worthless, too.

    Matthew Henry summarizes this proverb so well:

    “We are here taught how to value men, not by their wealth and preferment in the world, but by their virtue” (693).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:20.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

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    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 39

    Psalm 39

    Commonplace –

    “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

    Psalm 39 is a meditation. David introduces the meditation by saying,

    “I will take heed to my ways” (Psalm 39:1a).

    He continues by specifically addressing how he will control his tongue: “I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (v. 1b). He was able to hold his “peace”, yet he also refrained “from good” (v. 2). This troubled him, and his “sorrow was stirred” (v.2). He had an opportunity to say something good but refrained. So he implored the Lord to remind him that life has an end. His sin weighed heavy on him. He reminded himself that his “hope is in the [Lord]” (v.7).

    Matthew Henry had some helpful insights into this meditation. In reference to verse 2, when David held his peace, “even from good” Henry notes the following:

    “Watchfulness and resolution, in the strength of God’s grace, will do more towards the bridling of the tongue than we can imagine, though it be an unruly evil. But what shall we say of his keeping silence even from good? Was it his wisdom that he refrained from good discourse when the wicked were before him, because he would not cast his pearls before swine? I rather think it was his weakness; because he might not say anything, he would say nothing but ran into an extreme, which was a reproach to the law, for that prescribes a mean between extremes. The same law which forbids all corrupt communication requires that which is good and to the use of edifying, Eph. 4:29. (312).

    When David does finally speak, Henry considers that David was remorseful in withholding the good,

    “He had nothing to say to the wicked that were before him, for to them he knew not how to place his words, but, after long musing, the first word he said was a prayer, and a devout meditation upon a subject which it will be good for all of us to think much of” (312).

    In his summary, Henry suggests the following in regard to Psalm 39:

    “It is a funeral psalm, and very proper for the occasion; in singing it we should get our hearts duly affected with the brevity, uncertainty, and calamitous state of human life; and those on whose comforts God has, by death, made breaches, will find this psalm of great use to them, in order to their obtaining what we ought much to aim at under such an affliction, which is to get it sanctified to us for our spiritual benefit and to get our hearts reconciled to the holy will of God in it” (311).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 39.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 120

    Psalm 120

    Commonplace –

    “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” (Psalm 120:2).

    Matthew Henry points out the two ways those liars around David could have employed their lies:

    1. “By telling lies to him” (Vol 3 592).
      • In this case, Henry comments, ” The most dangerous enemies, and those which it is most hard to guard against, are such as carry on their malicious designs under the colour of friendship. The Lord deliver every good man from lying lips” (Vol 3 592).
    2. “By telling lies of him” (Vol 3 592).
      • Here Henry notes, “This has often been the lot not only of the innocent, but of the excellent ones, of the earth, who have been greatly distressed by lying lips, and have not only had their names blackened and made odious by calumnies in conversation, but their lives, and all that is dear to them in this world, endangered by false-witness-bearing in judgment” (Vol 3 592).

    It’s worthwhile to consider that David, a mighty soldier, complains of lying and the great distress it has brought upon him. A sword is visible, and the one who wields it is visible to his victim. A tongue is like a snake in a cave, it attacks under the cover of darkness. As James pointed out:

    “Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are turned about with a very small helm, withersoever the governor listeth.

    Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

    And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue amoung our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

    For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

    But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

    Therewith we bless God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

    Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethern, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:4-10).

    While we cannot control the lying tongues of others, we, ourselves, can choose to heed James’ advice. Matthew Henry notes the following list of five admonishments we glean from the words of James:

    1. “We are therefore taught not to use our tongues so as to lord it over others” (Vol 6 792).
    2. “We are taught to govern our tongue so as to prove ourselves perfect and upright men, and such as have an entire government of ourselves” (Vol 6 793).
    3. “We are taught to dread an unruly tongue as one of the greatest and most pernicious evils” (Vol 6 793).
    4. “We are next taught how very difficult a thing it is to govern the tongue” (Vol 6 793).
    5. “We are taught to think of the use we make of our tongues in religion and in the service of God, and by such a consideration to keep it from cursing, censuring, and everything that is evil on other occasions” (Vol 6 794).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 120.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg