God be in my Mouth and in my Speaking

Words are conveyed through the air by vibrations created by the manner in which we open our mouths and project sounds. Human beings have learnt to communicate in very sophisticated ways by refining our abilities. Speech and music rely on the vibrations travelling to the ears and bodies of those around us.

Using our mouths to speak, shout or sing can affect others very profoundly. We can soothe, we can jar. We can inspire or induce despair. It is the same with the written word up to a point, but the personal, direct word tends to have a stronger effect. We all become used to communicating day by day and probably give little thought to how we are speaking.

The mouth can be used for praise of God, bringing out the soul’s feeling of harmony and love. It gives voice to our need to rejoice and be thankful. From the smoothness of Gregorian chant, through Victorian hymns to upbeat worship songs; from the quiet, scarcely-spoken prayer to the cry of awe and wonder we can give out those positive vibrations of delight to be alive in God’s world. Praise and prayer are so good for us, and spring from our experience of God’s presence.

Of course, we don’t always get it right, or have God’s ways emanating from the things we say. The Epistle of James says “the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze”. Yes. Bigmouth strikes again. We are all prone to saying inappropriate things. Instead of good vibrations we spread bad vibrations which can go far beyond what we thought we intended, whether right or wrong.

‘God be in my mouth’ seeks sanctification of this exceptionally powerful part of our bodies that our speaking may be filled with godly ideas. Not that we have to be deadly serious all the time (heaven forbid!) for joking and repartee are part of our humanity too. In fact our faith should help us to share light and joy, not a puritanical gloom. We have a gospel to proclaim, good news and not a misery or condemnation, and all we do as Christians should speak of the hope we have in Christ, our Saviour and Lord.

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise.

Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.