PSALM 5:7–12 Bad and Good Aroma
READ: PSALM 5:7–12 (EPHESIANS 4:25–32)
V. 9 “Their throat is an open grave.”
What comes out of your mouth is very important. And not just because you can have good or bad breath. No, think instead of speaking good words or bad ones, praise or blasphemy, truth or deception. In Psalm 5 David protests to the LORD God about fellow Israelites whose mouths spew deceit and lies about him. It’s so bad he can’t even worship God in his house anymore. He uses a powerful metaphor to describe what comes out of their mouths: “Their throat is an open grave.”
Graves were places of uncleanness among God’s people in Bible times (Num. 19). They reeked of the odour of death and decay—the consequences of man’s fall into sin. Think of what Martha said to the Lord Jesus when he ordered the stone of Lazarus’ tomb to be taken away: “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39).
David says that his enemies’ words have the odour of death. What lives in their hearts comes out of their mouths and leads to death. As Jesus said, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matt. 15:18–19). When people who live according to the sinful nature open their mouths, it stinks. Their chatter, deceit, gossip, and lies all smell of decay.
What about the mouths of the righteous, those who seek their life from God in Christ? Their mouths are open too, but open like Jesus Christ’s grave on Easter morning. They issue the smell of life! They more and more put off their corrupt old self and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking to live by what it says in Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
What comes out of your mouth should have the wonderful aroma of life—the life of Christ! Let your words encourage your family members and neighbours. Spice your speech with mention of the Lord and his blessings. Be like a bouquet of flowers, lifting up spirits around you, and find out how good that is for your own soul too.
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