The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a
bubbling brook. ~Proverbs 18:4
The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in god’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ~James 3:5-6a; 9-10
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, and rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ~Ephesians 4:29 - 5:2
This is an interesting Proverb. The metaphors are backwards. We say, “Still waters run deep,” as if that’s where wisdom comes from. And in our minds, babies babble, so a bubbling brook makes us think of “babbling brook.” It sounds like it’s referring to a source of nonsense. But the Hebrews have their reasons. They think of the deep as a place of chaos and disorder. They get that from Gen 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” On the other hand, a bubbling brook is close to a spring, or a fountain, from which pours forth the clean fresh water that gives life!
So, with that view of the metaphors, which will it be, a deep hole or a bubbling brook? We have a choice to make, and an interesting choice it is. “The words of the mouth are deep waters.” Think of a deep pool. You can’t see the bottom. What does it contain? You can’t tell from the surface. Sometimes our words can be like that. We just keep digging a deeper and deeper pit for ourselves. We don’t know how far they will take us down before we finally stop at the bottom.
The pool grows stagnant because, the water in it isn’t going anywhere. It’s kind of like when we talk just to hear ourselves speak. We don’t take in new information or get rid of bad or incorrect thinking. We just hold on to what we have, afraid, or unwilling to change it out for something more fresh. We’re stuck. Everything in it is stuck. It is not healthy water. It grows worse every day. However, wisdom is like fresh water to the deep hole. It is fresh and cleansing. It is good and healthy and promotes life.
It is our choice. When we choose to use our words to build others up, to imitate Christ, it is like employing godly wisdom to flush out the deep hole of bitterness and anger. We are ridding ourselves of the unhealthiness within our source of water and breaking it open to promote life and healing to bless others. “the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” More recent translations even call it a “rushing stream!” It is always fresh, flowing from the source, that is, Christ, the Word of God, then, through us, and on to others. When we keep it all to ourselves, we become a deep hole that is no good for anything in the end.
It is like the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. These bodies of water are another reason the metaphors work the way they do in the Proverb. The Sea of Galilee, fed by bubbling brooks that stream down from the surrounding mountains is filled with fresh water and teeming with good fish. It empties out into the Jordan River that flows down the valley and into the Dead Sea. It’s the same water, but there, at the deepest place in that part of the world, the water has no outlet other than evaporation. The salts and toxins get concentrated there in that deep place, and nothing can live there.
Use the wisdom that God has blessed you with to help others. “Whoever drinks the water [Jesus] gives them will never thirst. Indeed, the water He gives them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Don’t hold it to yourself. It will lose its life if you do. It was always intended to be a flow through. You were never meant to be a dam, but a sluice gate of God’s blessing. It is your choice.
Prayer: Lord, refresh, renew, revive! May I be flooded with the living waters! Filled up and spilling over to splash around in my world and be a blessing to my neighbors. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Open My Eyes
The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in god’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ~James 3:5-6a; 9-10
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, and rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ~Ephesians 4:29 - 5:2
This is an interesting Proverb. The metaphors are backwards. We say, “Still waters run deep,” as if that’s where wisdom comes from. And in our minds, babies babble, so a bubbling brook makes us think of “babbling brook.” It sounds like it’s referring to a source of nonsense. But the Hebrews have their reasons. They think of the deep as a place of chaos and disorder. They get that from Gen 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” On the other hand, a bubbling brook is close to a spring, or a fountain, from which pours forth the clean fresh water that gives life!
So, with that view of the metaphors, which will it be, a deep hole or a bubbling brook? We have a choice to make, and an interesting choice it is. “The words of the mouth are deep waters.” Think of a deep pool. You can’t see the bottom. What does it contain? You can’t tell from the surface. Sometimes our words can be like that. We just keep digging a deeper and deeper pit for ourselves. We don’t know how far they will take us down before we finally stop at the bottom.
The pool grows stagnant because, the water in it isn’t going anywhere. It’s kind of like when we talk just to hear ourselves speak. We don’t take in new information or get rid of bad or incorrect thinking. We just hold on to what we have, afraid, or unwilling to change it out for something more fresh. We’re stuck. Everything in it is stuck. It is not healthy water. It grows worse every day. However, wisdom is like fresh water to the deep hole. It is fresh and cleansing. It is good and healthy and promotes life.
It is our choice. When we choose to use our words to build others up, to imitate Christ, it is like employing godly wisdom to flush out the deep hole of bitterness and anger. We are ridding ourselves of the unhealthiness within our source of water and breaking it open to promote life and healing to bless others. “the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” More recent translations even call it a “rushing stream!” It is always fresh, flowing from the source, that is, Christ, the Word of God, then, through us, and on to others. When we keep it all to ourselves, we become a deep hole that is no good for anything in the end.
It is like the difference between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. These bodies of water are another reason the metaphors work the way they do in the Proverb. The Sea of Galilee, fed by bubbling brooks that stream down from the surrounding mountains is filled with fresh water and teeming with good fish. It empties out into the Jordan River that flows down the valley and into the Dead Sea. It’s the same water, but there, at the deepest place in that part of the world, the water has no outlet other than evaporation. The salts and toxins get concentrated there in that deep place, and nothing can live there.
Use the wisdom that God has blessed you with to help others. “Whoever drinks the water [Jesus] gives them will never thirst. Indeed, the water He gives them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Don’t hold it to yourself. It will lose its life if you do. It was always intended to be a flow through. You were never meant to be a dam, but a sluice gate of God’s blessing. It is your choice.
Prayer: Lord, refresh, renew, revive! May I be flooded with the living waters! Filled up and spilling over to splash around in my world and be a blessing to my neighbors. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Open My Eyes
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