F.E. Marsh on What the Tongue Can Do

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The following is taken from the commentaries of F.E. Marsh – now available at the new Blue Letter Bible beta site!

The heathen philosopher, Xanthus, expecting some friends to dine with him, ordered his servant Esop to provide the best things the market could supply. Tongues only were provided, served up with different sauces. Course after course was supplied, each consisting of tongue. “Did I not order you to buy the best the market afforded?” cried Xanthus. “And did I not obey you,” replied Esop. “Is there anything better than the organ of truth, and the instrument of praise and worship?” On the next day Xanthus ordered him to provide the worst thing in the market. And lo, there was another dinner of tongue! “For,” said Esop, “surely the tongue is the worst thing in the world, the instrument of strife, and the organ of lies, and blasphemy.”

James 3:1-13 says:

 ² For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

Let us note two main truths from this passage:

A Suggestive Simile

An evil tongue is compared to a fire, which is a world of iniquity (verse 6). A spark of fire is capable of immense mischief. The city of Portland, in America, was reduced to ashes from a fire, kindled by a fire-cracker, on the 4th of July. Chicago was also burnt to the ground, through a kerosene lamp, kicked over by a cow; and the great fire of London in 1666, commemorated by the monument, broke out in one house in Pudding Lane. Many a prairie fire has owed its origin to a single spark from a passing engine.

Think of the many piles of iniquity that have been lighted by the fire of the tongue! It was the devil’s insinuating tongue that caused our first parents to sin (Genesis 3:4); it was the lying tongues of Joseph’s brethren, which gave Jacob so much grief (Genesis 37:32); it was the deceitful tongue of Jacob that robbed Esau of his blessing (Genesis 27:18-20); it was the obstinatetongue of Pharaoh that caused the plagues to be sent (Exodus 10:28); it was the jealous tongue of Miriam that caused her to be smitten with leprosy (Numbers 12:1, 10); it was the proud tongue of Korah and his followers that brought such swift judgment upon them (Numbers 16:3, 32); it was the fault-finding tongues of Job’s friends that ministered such trouble to him (Job 4); it was the covetous tongue of Judas, which caused Christ to be betrayed to His death (Matthew 26:15); it was the boasting tongue of Peter which made him deny his Lord (Matthew 26:70); it was the unholy tongue of Ananias that made him lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3); it was the sectarian tongue of the Corinthians that caused the divisions among them (1 Corinthians1:12); and it was the prating tongue of Diotrephes, which caused so much trouble in the Church (3 John 9, 10).

The following maxims relating to the tongue are to the point:-

” ‘The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
Can crush and kill,’ declared the Greek.”
” ‘The tongue destroys a greater horde,’
The Turk asserts, ‘than does the sword.'”
“The Persian proverb wisely saith,
‘A lengthy tongue, an early death.'”
” ‘The tongue can speak a word whose speed,’
Say the Chinese, ‘outstrips the steed.'”
“While Arab sages this impart,
‘The tongue’s great storehouse is the heart.'”
“From Hebrew wit the maxim sprung,
‘Though feet should slip, ne’er let the tongue.'”
“The sacred writer crowns the whole,
‘Who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul.'”

A Sanctified Servant

While the tongue may be an evil, it also can be a great good. If the tongue is sanctified by grace, held in by the Lord, and influenced by the Spirit, then there shall come forth from it the sweetness of kind and helpful words, and the “good conversation” which is commendable to the Lord (verses 10-13), for a sanctified tongue is-

• A tree of life to feed (Proverbs15:4).
• A well-spring to refresh (Proverbs 18:4).
• An object of admiration (Proverbs 25:11).
• A goad to stimulate (Ecclesiastes 12:11).
• A salt to preserve (Colossians4:6).
• A treasure to enrich (Luke 6:45).
• A jewel to beautify (Proverbs 20:15).
• As honey to please (Proverbs 16:24).
• As silver for choiceness (Proverbs 10:20).
• As food to strengthen (Proverbs 10:21).
• As fruit to satisfy (Proverbs 12:14).
• As health to gladden (Proverbs 12:18).

We only need add one letter to words, namely, the letter s, and we make words into swords. What a difference between the two! There is a great difference in how a good thing is said. Let us mark these two things-what we say, and how we say it.