November 30: The Mouth Betrays the Heart

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 5
Listen from:
He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. Proverbs 22:1111He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. (Proverbs 22:11)
RO 22:11{Who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure"? Who must not despair of the friendship of the King if this were the condition? But His wonderful condescension in promising His friendship bends yet lower in its tenderly devised condition. Not to the absolutely pure in heart, but to the perhaps very sorrowfully longing lover of that pureness, comes the gracious words, "The King shall be his Friend." Yet there must be some proof of this love; and it is found in "the grace of His lips." "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Here, again, we stop and question our claim; for our speech has not always been "with grace"; and the memory of many a graceless and idle word rises to bar it. How, then, shall the King be our Friend? Another word comes to our help: "Grace is poured into thy lips"—grace that overflowed in gracious words, such as never man spake, perfectly holy and beautiful; and we look up to our King and plead that He has Himself fulfilled the condition in which we have failed—that this is part of the righteousness which He wrought for us, and which is really unto us and upon us, because we believe in Him; and so, for the grace of His own lips, the King shall be our Friend.
Just to let Him speak to thee through His Word,
Watching, that His voice may be clearly heard.
Just to tell Him everything as it rises,
And at once to Him to bring all surprises.
Just to listen, and to stay
Where you cannot miss His voice.
This is all! And thus today,
Communing, you shall rejoice.