"Words Do Matter"

"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." (Psalms 39:1) I do not know how many times that I have broken a promise, the number of which is more than I can count; but I do know that God does not break His promises, because His word matters very much to who He is. Upon what occasion David has written this Psalm, it seems that we do not know; except to know that he was troubled, both in spirit and in his heart, and that he was taking time to consider the frailness of life, and the weakness of this present tent that we dwell within. There are some things we have control over, and there are some things we obviously do not; whether or not we praise God is one of those things that we can control, provided we keep our minds set on Him; if we have our minds set upon this present life, then we might not find praise at the top of our list; instead we will be filled with complaints and words that do not edify our hope in God. We can always talk a good sermon, but do we always walk out that which we talk? Sometimes living out the hope that is within us is hindered by the lack of praise in our lives. Maybe this was a period in David's life where he lacked giving praise to the Lord; a time of focusing on himself more than on the goodness of God. We can all have those times, some more than others, but all of us are capable of vanity and putting a little too much importance in me, myself, and I. I hear people say, "Praise the Lord", while dealing with certain unfavorable situations, as if it were God that had brought on that situation; but that is really not praising Him in those bad situations, it is only like saying, I hope this turns out alright for me, or I trust God has His hand on this situation; both of which are thinking first and foremost of ourselves, and not actually considering that God needs to be praised whether times are good or times are bad; because most of the people I know, as soon as they say, "Praise the Lord", they instantly start working on a way to get out of whatever situation they are in, even at the expense of giving God the glory in their situation or circumstance. If we notice something interesting about the second part of this verse, there is mention about the wicked being before him; not that David hung out with the wicked or anything like that, but there were wicked people that came into his presence; and what we say before the wicked can surely be used against us if we are not careful with our words. Some people talk differently around their fellow believers then they do in front of nonbelievers; it all goes back to vanity... "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever 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 among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." (James 3:1-6)