Proverbs 12:5. The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
How often do you use your words to ambush someone? That’s what this proverb means when it says that the words of the wicked lie in wait. We’ve all done this. We wait for just the right moment to use that snarky comment, that criticism, that recall of a past failure in order to get at the heart of the person that we wish to harm.
This proverb advances us from the last. What were thoughts, plans, and intentions in verse five, are now words being spoken out loud with the sole aim of hurting our enemy’s feelings. And these are not impulsive words spoken off the cuff in the heat of the moment. No, as we already said, we have planned these words, waiting patiently for just the right time to use them. The trump card that can be played in any argument. The insult that never fails you. The accusation that is guaranteed to shame your spouse or child and give you the moral high ground.
In contrast the upright uses their words to deliver both themselves and others. The upright doesn’t fire back using insults against insults. They don’t wound back. They don’t return evil for evil. Instead they use wisdom to defend themselves against slander. The wisdom of the uprightness of their lives. That is, they let their life speak for them before they let their mouth speak for them. Peter describes this kind of dynamic in his first epistle:
1 Peter 2:11-12. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
A lifestyle of uprightness that backs up your words (mouth), that is the best defense against slander, accusations, and insults.
When we look at the life of Christ we see a man whose life was so upright that his earthly judge (Pilate) could find no fault in him. We see a man who didn’t see the need to defend himself with his words as much as with his life. And when he did open his mouth to speak he spoke in defense of the truth, not in defense of himself.
Union with Christ allows for us to live in this way, in the wisdom of 1 Peter. The wisdom of living an upright life by the grace of Christ in us, his righteousness in us. Not just positionally so that we are declared righteous even though we are not, but also practically so that we can actually live such good lives, doing such good deeds, that when the accusations ambush us, the truth of who we are in Christ delivers us from evil.
You: Do you use your words to ambush others? Have you been ambushed by accusations?
You in Christ: We are only upright because of God’s gift of the Spirit of Christ in us. Why must we remember this grace before we try to use our mouths for deliverance.
Christ in you: Does your lifestyle defend you more than your mouth?
Pray: Father, let me live an upright life by your grace. Grant me wisdom to know when to speak up for myself and when to let my life do the talking. Amen.
To Live is Christ 