Psalm 39:1-3 - May 3, 2009

Ps 39:1-3 For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." 2 But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. 3 My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue" NIV

Are your words burning with fire!? What truly set David apart was the power of his words. The psalms of David have set the world on fire for living a life of worship. But where did this fire come from? Words on fire come from a heart on fire! David’s burning heart was a reflection of his personal decisions. David was determined to watch both his words and his ways. One of the greatest secrets to having powerful speech is to only speak that which is worth saying. James teaches the church to be slow to speak, slow to anger and quick to listen. When we are not careless with our words and that which we speak is flowing out of a heart that is living purposefully before God there is a power that flows from within to the hearts of the hearers.
Jesus spoke in such a way that the people had never heard anything like it before. Mark 1:22 records the impact of Jesus words on his listeners, “they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority…” Later after the resurrection after he had visited his disciples as they walked along the road in Luke 24:32 they are remembered for saying, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Their hearts were impacted by the living words that flowed out of Jesus.
So where does this inner fire come from? David gives us a glimpse into the combustion point of his life. His heart was compelled by the contrast between the glory of God that he knew in God’s presence and the broken condition of the world around him. In silence and stillness his anguish grew… that is the burden that lies behind true passion. If our hearts have not been burdened for change we will not speak with a passion that is real. His heart grew hot as he waited in stillness before the Lord. In the place of meditation before the Lord the fire within him grew. Oh, that the church will get before God until we are burning, that we will be silent long enough to catch the burden of God and the flame of His passion.
Jesus enlarges this understanding of empowered speech throughout his teachings. In John 6:63 Jesus explains the impact of the Holy Spirit on his words when he says, “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Jesus went into the presence of God and developed his relationship with the Holy Spirit. He lived and spoke from a place of dependence on the Father’s direction. In Jn. 8:28 he says, “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things,” and again in verse 38 He declares “I speak that which I have seen with my Father.” It is time for us to go deep. It is time for us to live dependent. It is time for us to live for the will of the Father and then our words will burn like the words of Christ, imprinting heaven upon the hearts of those who hear!