Shut my mouth

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips. – Psalm 141.3

I am one of those people who seems to always have a knack of saying too much. My mouth in often is motion before my brain is in gear and it has caused me plenty of problems. I have a big mouth and it has gotten me in trouble far too many times.

I shouldn’t be too surprised. The book of James tells us that our tongue if the most difficult member of our body to control. Our tongues tend to always get us in trouble and they cause the kind of trouble that is set on fire by hell itself. James even says that if a person can control their tongue they can control anything else.

It’s a pretty big deal. What we say can make us or break us. Far too often I find that my words break me.

God says a lot about speech. It is to be with grace, seasoned with salt. It is to edify. It is to be without lies. It is to glorify God. It is not to be coarse.

These are all great things – but as we learn from James it is impossible for us to do.

So the psalmist prayed this prayer – ‘set a guard over my mouth. Watch over my lips.’

Since we basically can’t control our tongues we need help, and who better to help is control our words than God himself?

Please Lord, when I am about to blow it, please help me keep my mouth shut. Shut my big mouth.