I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief

In the midst of his suffering Job’s “friends” had seen his suffering as punishment from God, and had basically told him what he needed to do was to repent. But as the opening of the book of Job makes very clear, his suffering was from the devil, not from God. And Job’s suffering was made worse because of his friends misunderstanding. In this morning’s quote from Job 16:5, Job is telling them that if the situation were reversed he would be strengthening and comforting them.

As James tells us, our tongue has the power to bless or curse (James 3:9- 12), or to put it another way, the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). This last verse is been in my heart for some time now, but I was thinking mostly about how we talk to ourselves. However, this morning meditating on this verse, I am thinking about how we speak to others.

The Bible has much to say about this, for example “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6). Or James again “No one can tame the tongue” (James 3:8). It is in this same context that James tells us “In many things we all fail” (James 3:2). So where is all this coming from? Jesus tells us that the heart of the matter is the heart, for "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

Father, Your Word tells us that we need to keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. It’s not about will power, for only You Lord, can change our hearts! And I want to thank You this morning, that You are in the process of giving us a new heart, taking out our stony, stubborn, heart and giving us a tender, responsive heart (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT). Thank You again Lord, for the transforming power of Your Spirit as we seek daily to guard our hearts, keeping short accounts with You, repenting when we have blown it, and submitting to You. Help us to be diligent to do this, and we will give You the Glory in Jesus Name Amen