THAT WHICH IS GONE OUT OF THY LIPS THOU SHALT KEEP

Today’s verse presents to us the positive aspect of the command before us yesterday. There, a warning was given lest we should be found guilty of ‘saying’ and yet ‘not doing’, something for which the Pharisees were condemned by the Lord Jesus, Matt. 23. 3. In order not to transgress, as they did, the emphasis in our present verse is to make sure that we perform what we have promised. Particular mention is made of a ‘freewill offer­ing’. This suggests that an Israelite could fall into the danger of thinking that while the offerings and ordinances specifically commanded in God’s word were binding on him, there might not be such an obligation with offerings that he had promised of His own freewill. Though we might be tempted to make that distinction before God, what we have audibly promised it is our duty to accomplish. God keeps His word, Num. 23. 19; Josh. 21. 45; 1 Kgs 8. 56, and we are to keep our word also.

It seems likely that the Lord Jesus had our verse in mind when He said, ‘let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil’, Matt. 5. 37. The context relates to the interpretation of the Law respecting an oath and the necessity to ‘perform unto the Lord thine oaths’, v. 33. In the following verses the Lord goes beyond that teaching; ‘But I say unto you, Swear not at all’, v. 34, and, instead of tak­ing an oath to confirm the reliability of what we say, we are to promote, by our conduct and character, a confidence that our word can be relied upon and trusted. The necessity for support­ing words with an oath infers either the speaker is unreliable or the person hearing it doesn’t trust him; ‘it cometh of evil’. If any confirmation is required then a simple reaffirmation of what we have said should be sufficient, ‘Yea, yea’. Our word should be our bond and there should be a transparency in all that we say.

The book of Proverbs says, ‘Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight’, 12. 22. Today, we would do well to pray, with the psalmist, ‘Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips’, Ps. 141. 3.