A Praising Tongue is A Discipled One

UV 1575/10000 A Praising Tongue is A Disciplined One
Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
Psalm 50 v 23
Praise is an offering of one’s soul. It is a recognition that he or she is unworthy of any kind of appreciation and the Lord alone is the object of adulation and worship. When we praise God, it pleases Him and it fulfils and blesses us. We are fulfilling the purpose of our being created and formed uniquely in His image. Our tongues or faculty of speech are formed not to criticise each other or to boast or to quarrel but to offer genuine thanksgiving from a heart of gratitude and authentic worship from a heart of reverence. Praise is a natural reflex to the awesomeness of God. It is motivated not out of fear or admiration but out of love for He first loved us and taught us to love in turn. The word “ whoso” implies that regardless of one’s background, race, class, religion or denomination, we have a natural tendency to worship God. Worship is in fact a deeper need and longing than even sex or hunger. In worship not just our tongues but our entire being is intermingled with the Lord. The human soul is satisfied in worship alone. The mainstream writing on management and leadership omits these elements of our communication addressed to God and to each other and that accounts for the fact that most leaders and people emerge half-baked and unfulfilled.

A tongue that is used for praise and worship is a tongue that is disciplined, whose speech is edifying or beneficial to hearers. It follows the disciplines of truth, love, kindness, humility and goodness. These disciplines are like filters that are applied to every word that is uttered. A disciplined tongue is also a discipled tongue. It implies that we learn the wholesome pattern of speech that Jesus used and that the apostles learnt at His feet. The same tongue that is consecrated for worship cannot obviously be used for less than noble purposes. As St James wrote, “ Sweet and bitter water cannot flow from the same spring.” Our hearts and minds are the spring of eternal life. From it should flow conversation that is orderly, pleasing, useful for building up the hope and faith of others. We should yield our tongues to the Holy Spirit to sanctify and discipline it. We cannot have a forked tongue, one part to speak good and another to spout venom. St James says rightly that if any of us lacks wisdom, he should ask the Lord who will liberally give wisdom. We need spiritual wisdom that is gentle, peaceable, kind, loving and humble in order to discipline our tongues.

The mouth will speak what the heart is full of. We should be wary of what we store in our hearts in terms of memories. If we store bitterness, it can only bring forth bitterness. If our heart is full of the treasures of the Word, it can bring forth the pure, unadulterated and living truths that apply to daily life, leadership and management. Our tongues should be used to magnify the Lord in the lives of people just as a magnifying lens focuses the light of the sun on a piece of paper or straw to set it on fire. When we so discipline our tongues or offer it to such discipline, the uni-verse holds the wonderful promise of the Lord that He will show us His salvation. Showing us His salvation implies that the Lord will manifest His mercy, grace, love and power- the very attributes that are the focus of our praise- in amazing ways in our lives.

Prateep V Philip