Proverbs 21:23
How to Stay Out of Trouble
1. This is a very simple proverb.
2. There is nothing ambiguous about it—as is the case in many of the other proverbs.
3. Basically it means, keep your mouth shut and you will stay out of trouble!
4. The problem is that while everybody knows that it is true, keeping our mouth shut is easier said than done.
23a Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue
Keeping one’s Mouth and Tongue
1. In this passage, the term mouth and tongue are used as synonyms and they both refer to SPEECH. That is the topic of this proverb.
2. Keep: To keep; preserve; protect; guard; watch; be careful; be secure.
a. Gen. 2:15 – This is the term used to describe the fact that Adam and Eve were to “keep” the garden. (Take care of it; protect it; care for it; watch over it.)
b. I Sam. 26:15 – The term was used of a body guard. David gave orders for soldiers to “keep” Absalom (keep him safe and secure).
c. Psa. 121:7 – The Lord preserves us from evil.
d. I Sam. 17:20 – The term is used of “keep” sheep (guarding them; protecting them.)
e. II Sam. 22:24 – David kept himself from sin and iniquity.
3. Keeping one’s mouth and tongue means to GUARD and WATCH over what a person says.
a. To be careful about what comes OUT of the mouth.
b. To watch the words that roll off our tongues.
4. As Adam and Eve kept the garden, we are to keep our mouths.
a. They lived in a perfect environment, but the plants in the garden still needed attending to.
b. Their job was to trim and prune and arrange plants to make the garden even more beautiful than it already was.
c. They were to exercise their God given talents and creativity to continually improve the conditions in the garden—for the glory of God.
d. By way of application, we are to attend to our mouths and tongues.
• We need to trim and prune our words to improve our speech. This is an ongoing project. It never ends because no one can tame the tongue.
• The Garden of Eden was created beautiful by God… but God expected Adam and Eve to be creative and improve conditions there. We may not curse or swear… but we can always make our speech more gracious. That’s a command in Eph. 4:29. (We are only to speak that which is good to the use of edifying and that ministers grace to the hearers.)
• And as a gardener has to trim and prune useless growth, our speech probably has some words, phrases, and expressions that would be better if trimmed and pruned off.
5. The term “keep” was also used of the work of a body guard – in protecting the person guarded.
a. Rom. 6:13 – Our tongues and mouths are instruments of righteousness unto God.
b. We are to “keep” them in a way similar to the way a body guard “keeps” the person he is responsible to protect.
c. We are to protect these instruments from danger… to watch over our mouths from anything harmful.
d. We are to protect our mouths from the enemy who would harm us.
e. What is harmful to our tongues and mouths? SIN!
f. Sin has a corrupting and defiling effect.
g. It ruins the instrument of righteousness and turns it into an “instrument of unrighteousness unto sin.”
h. When that is the case, our old enemy SIN has taken captive (for the moment) an instrument of God… when WE were supposed to be on duty GUARDING against that from happening.
i. You might think of guarding our mouths like a guard at the entrance to the White House. His job is to carefully watch and monitor who comes and who goes. No one goes through that gate without proper identification as one who has been approved for entrance. He is to be on constant alert that some who seeks to enter that gate have evil intentions.
j. So too with our words. We are to keep or guard our mouths for every word we say. No word is to travel through the mouth gate unless it has been approved… and its intentions are good.
6. We are to KEEP our mouths and tongues because it is commanded of us MANY times in the Scriptures.
a. Matt. 12:36 – As guardians of our mouths and speech, we will one day give an account for every idle word that proceeds out of our mouths.
b. This thought should cause us to think twice before we speak… or at least THINK before we speak!
c. Somehow, every word we speak is recorded (or remembered) by the Lord. And one day each word and its motive will be examined, evaluated, and either burnt up as worthless or rewarded.
7. The Bible tells us that the tongue no man can tame.
a. However, the way we can control the tongue is to keep our hearts with all diligence…
b. Matt. 15:18 – The things that proceed from the tongue come forth from the heart and defile a man.
c. Therefore, our responsibility is to keep (guard) our heart.
d. If the heart is kept clean and sin confessed, the mouth will take care of itself. If the fountain is clean the streams that flow from it will be clean also.
Keeping one’s Soul from Trouble
1. The soul.
a. Defined: Soul; self; life; creature; person; appetite; mind; living being; desire; emotion; passion; heart; the inner self.
b. This is a difficult term to define in both Old and New Testaments.
c. The Dictionary of Biblical Languages gives it 20 definitions… all similar, but with varying shades of difference.
d. It speaks of life… of the person himself… and often of his emotions and passions…
e. Man is tripartite and some have distinguished the three parts this way:
» Body – the world conscious part of man.
» Spirit – the God conscious part of man.
» Soul – the self conscious part of man.
f. There is overlapping however, and it is not easy to distinguish between the soul and spirit. (The Word of God is able to pierce and divide asunder the soul and spirit. That tells us how difficult it is!)
g. The soul here seems to be referring to the self conscious part of man… his inner thought life and feelings.
2. Keeping the soul.
a. Keeping here is the same term as used of keeping the mouth.
b. Thus, the one who watches over, attends to, and protects his speech is also watching over, attending to, and protecting his soul.
3. Trouble.
a. Defined
• Strong’s: Straits; distress; trouble.
• Dictionary Of Biblical Languages: Calamity; anguish; i.e., a state of very unfavorable circumstance, with a focus on the emotional pain and distress of the situation.
• Zodhiates: Time of extreme discomfort; an affliction.
b. Deut. 31:17 – The term is used of the troubles that befell Israel for their sin in the form of chastening.
4. Keeping the soul from trouble.
a. The one who guards his mouth will protect his soul from all kinds of distress… calamity… unfavorable circumstances… and from emotional pain, distress.
b. The one who guards his mouth will protect his soul from enemies of the soul… from worry, fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, bitterness, and all kinds of other internal emotional forms of distress and painful memories.
5. Troubles we can avoid.
a. Prov. 10:19 – In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin.
• Jas. 3:5 – And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
• We can sin with our mouths. (Lie; gossip; slander; mislead; brag; boast; curse; deceive; etc.)
• Solomon notes in this verse that the more we talk (multitude of words) the better our chances of sinning.
• Solomon also tells us that it is wise to refrain our lips, tongues, and mouths (if we talk less, we will sin less.)
• By speaking too much we can turn people off and lose friends.
• By multiplying our words, we multiply our chances of offending someone… hurting someone’s feelings… misleading… or gossiping. (Sin!)
• This often backfires on us and leads to all kinds of self inflicted trouble.
b. Prov. 12:13 – “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.”
• Transgressing lips are a snare… something that traps you…
• Solomon is saying that when we sin with our lips, we get CAUGHT in a trap of our own making!
• If we sin with our lips, sooner or later, those words will come back to haunt us…
• If we are careless with our tongues, and speak without thinking… we are setting TRAPS that will BITE us… and cause trouble for us—eventually.
• Those who lie discover that their words will come back to bite them.
• Those who gossip and slander discover the same thing.
• Eventually our sin will find us out… and it will cause much trouble (embarrassment; to loss of friends; loss of a job; or worse!)
c. Prov. 13:3 – “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.”
• II Kings 5:20 – Gehazi, Elisha’s servant said that Elisha sent him to Naaman to receive a gift.
• This was a boldfaced lie—in order to get silver for himself.
• Gehazi was snared by the transgression of his lips.
• He lied and at first was successful—for he did get the silver.
• BUT—he was smitten with leprosy! He was snared… he faced destruction.
• He could have AVOIDED this trouble by keeping his mouth.
d. Prov. 18:21 – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
e. Prov. 15:1 – grievous words stir up anger.
• The one who does not guard his lips will be continually offending, insulting, hurting feelings, and getting people mad at him.
• Words really do stir up anger.
• The man who refuses to guard his mouth will stir up anger wherever he goes…
• As a built in punishment—he will have to live his life in the midst of contention, arguments, and unhappy circumstances. (A trap he set for himself.)
f. Prov. 18:6-7 – Contention, strokes, destruction, and a snare for his soul.
• A fool’s lips enter into contention.
• In other words, whenever he opens his mouth, he starts an argument or contention. His words PROVOKE arguments and fighting.
• His big mouth is constantly getting him into trouble.
• Note also that STROKES await him. He deserves a whipping.
• In other words, there are consequences for this kind of behavior.
• If you are such a fool who stirs up contention with your big mouth—expect some backlash.
• Our proverb tells us that we can AVOID all this trouble by keeping our tongue and mouth. Be careful about what we say.
6. All of these troubles will have a debilitating effect on the believer.
a. It will not leave us in any frame of mind to serve the Lord.
b. It will leave us frazzled and torn.
c. It leaves a storm of controversy and contention wherever we go.
d. It is sin and ruins our relationship with both God and man.
e. It leaves us with an uneasy, troubled, distressed heart… full of guilt and shame… embarrassment… a loss of friends… and a miserable life.
f. In other words—a life of TROUBLE.
7. All of this trouble can be AVOIDED by simply watching our mouth… keeping our big mouth shut!
a. I know it’s easier said than done, but we SHOULD make it a matter of prayer… and we should keep our heart with all diligence.