Thoughts on the topic of speech from the book of wisdom

This will be my second post on the topic of speech from the book of proverbs. Proverbs has much to say on the topic and due to the shear number of verses available on this topic, will provide ate a number of posts related to it.

For our time together this morning, our topic will be perversion of speech, the type of speech that is categorized in the proverbs as perverse. The old KJV used the word frowardness when translating it, and I always struggled understanding the message.

Prior to delving into a few of the verses in Proverbs dealing with this type of speech, there is one lone verse other than in Proverbs that speaks of perverseness. It isn’t good news for those who consider perverseness to be a light topic in God’s view!

Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

Perversion can only exist in relation to righteousness, goodness and truth, for to pervert something is to twist the truth, to oppose righteousness and to resist goodness. Perversion speaks of active rejection of God’s ways.

Active rejection of God’s ways is found deep in our heart’s, the core of our being. We are either in rebellion with God, living in a perverse state, or seeking deliverance to God’s ways, fighting against perversion we live in.

Some may think that since they were never drawn to pornography or sexual deviancy, violent acts, or social sins, these passages on perverseness do not apply to their lives. Let us not restrict the message proverbs communicates as simply that which society describes perverseness. When proverbs speaks of perverseness, it is not limited to simple twisting of social norms, but the twisting of all that is good and right in God’s eyes. Consider Deuteronomy once more

Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

Perverseness is related to faithfulness. An abandoning or rejection of God’s way. And as is with all the Scripture, the source of perversion as discussed in Proverbs is centered in the heart. In our culture, perverseness is understood as blood spattered murder and violent raping. These acts are how we understand perverseness in our society.

Is the Word speaking the same way? No no no.

The evil being described as coming from a perverse heart is sowing discord!

Proverbs 6:14 ESV – with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;

Does that not speak to the tremendous import God lays on the unity of His people. Not uniformity, for that is not the topic when discord is under consideration in the proverbs. Uniformity may be maintained for a time even in the midst of discord, but upon the very instance of discord being sown, the unity of a family is poisoned.

Proverbs 8:13 ESV – The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Perverted speech is hated by God and to be hated by the people of God. Again, let us not restrict ourselves to socially determined perverseness. Not only does God hate perverse speech, which perfectly makes sense since it is a twisting or His nature and attributes, but the end of a perverse tongue is death.

Proverbs 10:31 ESV – The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

The perverse tongue will be cut off. It has a limit to it’s life, to it’s ability to sow discord or to twist truth. Not so with truth, for truth, as the nature of God, is of the eternal.

After our discussion on perversity, and the possible redefinition in our minds as to what is perverse, it may seem to some that there is no hope for the believer. We are so soaked in the filth of our current society, with multiple mediums fighting for our attention, pushing pornography, violence and death. How can we escape from speaking with perverseness.

Proverbs 10:32 ESV – The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

Note that the author speaks of the wicked knowing what is perverse. The wicked! If the wicked knows, believers surely know of perversity pouring from their mouth.

As we mentioned at the start, it is a matter of the heart towards our Living Savior, of not only repeatedly committing to follow Him, but also repeatedly rejecting the filth of this society.

A short passage in 1 Thessalonians rings in my ears when the dual action of repentance and faith in our lives is considered.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV -… how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

1. Turned to God
2. Turn from a perverse tongue (considering our topic)
3. Serve the Living God

He is looking for a people that know and exercise lips that are used for acceptable speech, rejecting the speech that will come to a crashing end, a perverse speech distributing destruction on it’s way to destruction.

Bless God and your neighbor. Be a positive witness of the goodness of God. May God bless you and keep you, giving you strength to speak properly for Him.

---

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.