A Gentle Answer Turns Away Wrath
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction is prudent. The house of the righteous has great treasure, but the income of the wicked is trouble.
The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools. The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness. Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD—how much more the hearts of men!
A mocker does not love to be reproved, nor will he consult the wise. A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit. A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of the oppressed are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil. Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute. The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word! The path of life leads upward for the wise, that he may avoid going down to Sheol.
The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow. The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him. He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil. The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. The light of the eyes cheers the heart, and good news nourishes the bones. He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”
When I was growing up, my mother used to say, “Be careful about speaking bitter words; one day you might have to eat them!” That pithy saying could sum up this entire chapter of Proverbs. Look at what God is saying about evil words:
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.” ” A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” “The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools.” “A mocker does not love to be reproved, nor will he consult the wise.” OUCH!
If you are the sort of person who delights in cutting people down verbally, you’d better listen to the warnings in this chapter of Proverbs. “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.” “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” “A mocker does not love to be reproved, nor will he consult the wise. A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit. A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”
Contrast those warnings with the list of things God approves: “All the days of the oppressed are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.” “Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil. Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.” “Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word! The path of life leads upward for the wise, that he may avoid going down to Sheol.” SHEOL? That’s the Hebrew equivalent of Hell. YIPES!
Many times, correct speech is a matter of exercising self-discipline. No matter how much we are tempted to blast someone verbally, we need to resist that temptation. “He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”
APPLICATION: Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God has no laws against these virtues. Some of us, on the other hand, aren’t very good demonstrations of God’s grace or His mercy.
I am acting as Administrator for our mission hospital for a few days while our able General Manager attends to business in the capital city of Accra. I just learned that our facility is supposed to do a 20-minute presentation on our work from 2023 for the District Health Directorate Performance Review. The message regarding this meeting got misplaced in the office, leaving me scrambling to generate a Power Point presentation the night before the meeting.
I regret to confess that I took out some of my frustrations on one of the people who might have notified me, only to have to apologize afterwards. Mistakes happen in a busy office and nobody deliberately hid this message. Blessedly, we learned about the in time; however, I definitely failed the Galatians 5:22-23 test. I was now in a “Malchus’ ear” situation.
One of the Gospels describes how when Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter grabbed a sword and sliced off the ear of Malchus, a servant accompanying the soldiers. Jesus immediately touched Malchus, healing his ear. One famous writer on missionary stress has pointed out that many of us need to pray for God to “do a Malchus’ ear” on uncomfortable situations when we have reacted wrongly. Such a prayer demands that we first acknowledge our sin, apologize to God, and then beg Him to heal the situation. I can’t count the number of times I have had to pray such prayers!
As we pray for ourselves today, let us pray for God to help us to speak wisely, positively, and gently. We need all the gentle treatment we can get and so do all those around us.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to speak life and not death and to let the Holy Spirit guide our thoughts, our deeds, and our words. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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