Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: More Speech Wisdom—Proverbs 16:20-24

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Proverbs 16:20–24

[20] Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,

and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

[21] The wise of heart is called discerning,

and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

[22] Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,

but the instruction of fools is folly.

[23] The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious

and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

[24] Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (ESV)

More Speech Wisdom

v.20 This verse completes the thoughts of the previous two by directing our attention to God’s Word of Law & Gospel. When we keep the Law, we find the good in our temporal authorities, who should reward righteous behavior (revisit Proverbs 16:12-13). Through faith in the Word of the Gospel, we receive everlasting blessings from God. Again, this idea of finding good in our earthly leaders may seem like a bit of a stretch in the climate of the last few generations, where God’s Law is under attack from leaders and the led alike. This does not make these words of Solomon any less true.

v.21 The consequence of Wise speech is the enhancement of one's reputation and influence. When one's speech is rooted in the Word of God—that is to say, we think about what we will say and, even more importantly, how we will say it, measuring our words with an ear toward how God would have us speak—our speech will be received more favorably. We are to temper our tongue with Divine Wisdom rather than blab the first thing that comes to mind without any consideration. This is especially true when we share the Gospel, though as Scripture teaches us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will always cause offense to those who reject it (Acts 17:5, 13, 32; 1 Corinthians 1:17-24).

v.22 Good sense is a gift of God, a source of life for all believers granted in their baptism (John 3:5; 4:14; 7:38-39). Contrast with the stubborn fool's pool of stupidity which overflows with folly and leads him toward punishment. This is true in our speech day-to-day, where poorly thought out speech can earn us the wrath of those in positions of authority over us, as well as eternal consequences for the foolish unbeliever (Luke 16:24).

v.23 Scripture depicts the heart as the location of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Refer back to Proverbs 2:10 for more on this. Intelligent and insightful words come from the inner Wisdom of the heart, adding persuasiveness to our words.

v.24 This verse completes this short series on Wise words. Here is a summary of Wise speech. Words that are an expression of Divine Wisdom flow from the lips like honey, sweetening the ears of those who receive them. Compare this to Jonathan, who was strengthened by honey (1 Samuel 14:27). Both the prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle John ingested the Word of God so they could preach it, and they found the taste to be “as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Revelation 10:9-11; Jeremiah 15:16).