How it humbles us to consider all our shameful words: terms too bold or rude, phrases with double-entendre, jokes that are inconvenient, gossip that cause strife, vows made in haste, insults that produce rifts, folly that creates havoc, hatred filled with spite, idle words on Sabbath, criticism of a neighbor, assassination of someone’s character, talk that ruins reputations, statements that twist truth, exaggeration that may mislead, bearing a false witness and well-worn but ill-considered cliches; in the religious realm this includes psalms sung without heart, scriptures recited without thought, prayers with many words, without having our brain engaged, or that employ flowery words, and are aimed first at men not God.

Every word we speak is known to the LORD! That was my waking thought as I pondered Psalm 139.

Even before a word is one my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether—Psalm 139:4.

As I mused a little further this truth overwhelmed my soul. Each phrase upon our lips, has been written in a script, from the foundation of the world.

The term David uses is not the normal one for word (DAVAR) but the one which refers chiefly to an individual word, utterance or speech (MILLAH)—it includes sentences and speech units, both syllables and phrases. Earl Kalland, in the TWOT by Harris, Archer and Waltke, define MILLAH as follows:

“Word, speaking, speech, talking, by word, what to say, anything to say, answer, matter.”

While certainty here is a little tricky, he suggests that MILLAH relates more to expression and DAVAR to meaning. He remarks in reference to our text Psalm 139:4:

“God’s knowledge extends to every word on the Psalmist’s tongue.”

David is not explicit! Yes, its genre is poetic: nevertheless it implies other truths that exhaust our mental grasp. Come marvel at the extent to which He knows our speech.

Doctrines

Omniscience is one point that David wants to make, yet prescience is included: not only does God overhear all conversations that I speak, but he knows them advance—before thoughts form in brains, or air vibrates the voice-box, or sentences pour past lips, the LORD knew the words I’ll speak. In an imperfect, limited, sense, which needs carefully qualified, we are but actors who speak lines God penned for us!

Sovereignty is another truth that the Psalmist helps to stress. For God to know words in advance then they all must be decreed. If every mouth is predicted it is governed by His power. He cannot author bad words—but, for His own glory, by permitting second causes, he permits sinful human speech. All events criss-cross, according to His plan. Each continent, circumstance, character, relationship, mood and stress, contribute to the script in a way we cannot grasp. The education we have and vocabulary we acquire, including books we’ve read, affect our tone and talk.

Utterances

To change tack a little, and to deepen our devotion, there are almost limitless things to ponder when we think about our speech.

How it humbles us to consider all our shameful words: terms too bold or rude, phrases with double-entendre, jokes that are inconvenient, gossip that cause strife, vows made in haste, insults that produce rifts, folly that creates havoc, hatred filled with spite, idle words on Sabbath, criticism of a neighbor, assassination of someone’s character, talk that ruins reputations, statements that twist truth, exaggeration that may mislead, bearing a false witness and well-worn but ill-considered cliches; in the religious realm this includes psalms sung without heart, scriptures recited without thought, prayers with many words, without having our brain engaged, or that employ flowery words, and are aimed first at men not God; a preacher can’t escape if there’s unwise or ill-chosen speech, or just poor explanation without careful preparation and application: more serious by far is error whether ignorant or intended—all such considerations must drive us to our knees, in repentance before God, with prayer to use less words and seeking grace to guard lips more.

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