Postings on Proverbs 12:13

“An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,

But the righteous will escape from trouble” (NASB)

The poem “Sticks and stones” naively proclaims, “words will never hurt me.” Solomon disagrees, as this proverb is about how our own mouths can hurt us, terribly.

Who?  An evil man vs. a righteous man

What?  Is ensnared vs. will escape from trouble

Where?  Anywhere

When?  Anytime

Why?  Transgression vs. [righteousness]

How?  The implication is both of their mouths are what cause one being ensnared and the other escaping from trouble

Words?  Evil, ensnared, transgression, righteous, escape, trouble

Notice, it doesn’t say the righteous man avoids trouble, but that when he’s in trouble his mouth helps him escape (see Longman 275).

Notice, your character comes out of your mouth – the lips of evil men transgress – or as Jesus put it “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) and “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart” (Matthew 15:18).

The metaphor of a trap vividly expresses how “lethal speech [can] take a victim by surprise and…destroy him before he can deliver himself” (Waltke 530). 

When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me “if you didn’t have a mouth you’d never get in trouble” (oh, the irony that I’ve been getting paid to talk for over a decade now!).

There are so many sins that come from our mouths, and I’m sure that when you read the words “sins of your mouth” that one particular kind of sin comes to mind, whether it’s lying or gossip or ridicule or disrespect or being combative or a number of them or something else.  So, what do you do?

First, know our mouths reflect our hearts.  They convey what we really want, what we think we need.  So, what is it you wanted when you lied – a person’s respect? To protect your reputation?  To advance yourself?  Often people gossip to make themselves seem stronger or better than they actually are – is that you?  What’s behind your words?  Why did you say what you said?  Critical to know what’s driving your words?

Second, when you know what’s driving you, you’ve likely found some lie you’re telling yourself.  How?  When it comes to lying, the lie might be “Their respect is more important than my character” or “than the truth” or “than what God thinks.”

Third, if we really dig deep here we may find an idol, a functional god that controls our thoughts and our actions more than the one True God, Jesus Christ, does.  We turn from our commitment to Him as our Savior and Lord and believe / trust the lie of the idol who promises some form of rescue from something bad if we’ll do what it says.

If you’re honest, your mouths show your desperate need for a Savior who spoke perfectly, in every situation to every person for 30+ years. This Savior doesn’t promise He’ll just clean your mouth up. He promises to trade the recording of every word you’ve ever said with every word He said, His perfect, sinless, mouth-righteousness becoming yours, and at the same time, He promises to take the punishment you deserve for your sinful, imperfect, wretched recordings. Then, after that great exchange, He will begin the work of cleaning your heart, which will automatically clean your mouth.

“Out of the mouth, the heart speaks.” What does your mouth say about your heart? What does your mouth say about who you’re most committed to? Is your mouth setting traps for you – I know mine has and probably is! So, what are you going to do about it?

I hope that helps!  TII!!!