What we speak of

"All your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds" (Psalm 145:10-12).

I sometimes find it helpful to meditate on a verse in a simple grammatical-analytical way. It makes things stand out. In the verses above I have italicized all the verbs about what we Christians are to do with our mouths with respect to God:

Bless

Speak

Tell

Make known

That looks like a pretty comprehensive verbal job description. It doesn't leave much room for other pastimes like:

Whine

Gossip

Lie

Spew doubt

But what, pray tell, are we to bless, speak, tell, and make known? The objects in the verses are:

God ("You")

His "glory"

His "power"

His "mighty deeds"

Perhaps the psalmist has in mind God's "glory" and "power" and "mighty deeds" of 2,000 years ago, or 4,000 years ago. But usually he says so if he means that:

"O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old" (Psalm 44:1).

It seems better to interpret this as a call for fresh praises and testimonies of God's glory, power, and deeds in our lives:

"Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another" (Malachi 3:16).

I'll bet they were speaking about current things God was doing. But how will we see these current works of God? God tells us how:

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him" (John 14:21).

The canon is closed, of course, but God is still manifesting himself to those who love and obey him. And one of the things Paul asks for all of us is a "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17).

One of the commands we can "keep" (John 14:21) is the command regarding the use of the tongue-to speak no gossip or lies or doubt, but about God and His "glory," "power," and "great deeds."

Recently I made a covenant with my mouth to stop talking trash. I know, that's pretty broad. What I have in mind specifically is all the little ways I betray God all day by little faithless comments. I figure if Job can make a covenant with his eyes (that's a good idea too: Job 31:1), then I can make one with my mouth.

I find it is not an easy covenant. (But then again "the gate is narrow and the way is hard. . . .") When you first embark on it, you start to notice all the trash you talk habitually without even noticing it.

But I would like to find myself among the folks in Psalm 145:10-12. As they speak of God's power and glory, I'll bet He shows them even more of it.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.