The tongue has the power of provision for the body. We know however it gives far more than food for the stomach. It can also provide for the soul of a man. The power of the tongue can provide poison as well as healthy fare. It can do a man good or do a man harm. Our words, if they are true and loving carry blessings wherever they are heard, but if they come from a bad or twisted heart they carry hurt and harm.

The effects of the tongue are not reckoned trivial by God, He calls it life and death. Men by their words are either killing or healing, either deadening or reviving, either harming or helping, drowning or rescuing. This harm or healing is not limited to one man merely. An evil word can kill three or even more people. The ancient Jewish commentators said, “The evil tongue slays three, the slanderer, the slandered, and the listener.” The one speaking wrong is as much harmed as the one hearing it.

It is not to be wondered at that the Psalmist was most concerned to guard his words. Psalm 39:1, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.” Psalm 141:3, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”