Lacking words to speak I am contemplating speaking and not speaking.
"Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." Jeremiah 1:6
" 'If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible." Leviticus 5:1
"Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away." Job 16:6
"my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit." Job 27:3
"Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." Jeremiah 10:5
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1
posted by missmellifluous at 3:19 pm
5 Comments:
Image from the james harris gallery Mark Mumford, Sculpture #14 Photo Documentation, 1999
Black and white photo
Ed. of 10
45" x 30"
The Leviticus passage says that one MUST speak up when he hears a public charge else he be held responsible.
If you know of a "public charge" (like a crime or abuse) and you don't speak up, then the responsibility is yours!, whether your pain is relieved by speaking or not. Spoken in love, your words can have the sweetness of Christ in them.
But if it is simply others' words, painful though they may be, that is causing your contemplation, then look to your Saviour, Who, when accused, "answered not a word."
And if you are simply doing a Bible study on the tongue, then ignore your friend and know that I have learned from you this morning.
Blessings!
Oh! Kim, I could never ignore you!
I'm really just thinking about it with no specific issue or feeling or study in mind, just curiosity.
The whole enquiry was probably sparked by going to a party on Saturday night and having to speak to heaps of people I didn't know. I always find this hard work, enjoyable at the time then I feel really drained afterwards. So drained that I usually don't want to speak to anyone for another three days afterwards. So yesterday, I felt like I wanted to put a bag over my head and not talk to anyone but I also wanted to post, I just didn't have anything to say. Thus this post.
I just chose verses I thought were interesting and worth thinking about.
I had just run out of words of my own. DO you ever feel like that?
Oh I feel like that at times - I was at a gathering of people and all the "talking noise" made me so tired...
Hi MissM!
Thanks for the kind comment at my blog! And thanks for bringing my attention back to this conversation!
Yes, I know just how you feel. I often feel wordless (and energy-less!) after I've been to a social gathering, especially if I don't know many people (and sometimes even when I do.) I'm not good at chit chat; it is so unsatisfying! I come home so fatigued, and even exhausted. I always feel lonely, somehow. I guess that's all part of being an introvert.
I have been feeling as though I have "run out of words" on my blog for the past few weeks, hence the 17 Marks posts and lots of pictures. But today, I had something I wanted to say and it was remarkably easy to write.
And yes, the verses you posted were very good to contemplate. I read them several times and thought about them off an on all day. In fact, I believe thinking on those verses helped me to guard my tongue in a situation on Sunday evening.
I like it when you are curious. It always seems to make me think deeply. And that is far better than chit chat at a party, don't you think?
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