Day 30 in the Wilderness: Know when to speak and when to hold your peace.

Day 30: Know when to speak and when to hold your peace.

“Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭6:10, 16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We’ve all experienced it; but I’ve never really heard anybody else describe it. You know: you say something, and somehow or another, the last word or words you said, seem to be “echoing” in the room. Now, it’s really just echoing in your head; but it seems like it’s also echoing in the hearers’ heads. (Please don’t tell me this has never happened to you…See, now, THAT is “echoing” in my head!) Well, that phenomenon—as unsettling as it may be on its own—is even more unsettling when you have just said something you really wish you had not said.

As I mentioned to you before, when my sons were growing up, I often reminded them that you can always SAY something; but you can never UN-SAY something.

In a court of law, one of the tactics used by attorneys is to have something said in front of the jury that is not admissible. Then, when the opposing side objects, and their objection is sustained, the judge will instruct the jury that this will be stricken from the record and that they are not to take it into account when rendering a verdict. Now, how many think that really works? I mean, even if you—as a conscientious juror—are trying not to let what you’ve heard affect your judgment, the fact is, it was said and you can’t un-hear it. Your deliberations, past that point, will necessarily be filtered through what you have heard.

“Loose lips sink ships,” was a slogan used by the United States Office of War Information during World War II. As a matter of fact, several other countries had their own version of this slogan during that time. I would translate the slogan to mean, “words can be weapons.” The bottom line is, it was meant to discourage any kind of rumor spreading or information sharing that might hurt the war effort. Now, whereas they certainly didn’t want the enemy getting secrets from our people, the slogan was also meant to prevent morale-destroying talk.

Speaking of words, did you know this was in the Bible?

“Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:6-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

And then there’s this:

“Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

But here’s my personal favorite in terms of the words of fools:

“Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17:28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let me give you the “Janet” interpretation of that proverb:

“They were thought to be a fool until they opened their mouth and dispelled all doubt.”

Yes, words are important. But sometimes—more important than the words themselves—is to know when to say something and when to keep your mouth shut.

I often like to reference the story of Hezekiah. At one point, King Sennacherib (Assyria) sent the Rabshakeh (the King’s representative) to threaten Hezekiah and the people, saying that the Assyrians were going to overrun their city and destroy it. Interestingly, when the Rabshakeh was speaking to the people trying to gin up fear, the people remained silent and did not answer him back.

“But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.””

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭36:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Today we see Joshua instructing the people to keep their mouths shut until he gave the order to shout. Imagine, for six days they walked around the walls of Jericho, completely silent. The only sound was that of the trumpets (shofars). But on the seventh day, when it was time, they shouted and the walls were brought down by the mighty hand of God.

Remember: our words can lead to victory or to defeat. Therefore, it’s important that we ask the Lord to put a watch over our mouths!

For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:

Know when to speak and when to hold your peace.

#40daysinthewilderness