The mouth of a righteous [man] putteth forth wisdom; but the froward tongue shall be cut out.
Proverbs 10 collects short sayings about how God governs the world He made. This verse sets two mouths side by side: one keeps producing wisdom, and God silences the other.
These sayings are not about how a sinner is saved. One writer marks out the whole book's territory before any single proverb is weighed:
Proverbs 10 begins the detailed teaching. It shows those who listen how to avoid the traps that catch the simple. It shows the path to take in many situations, and where people's actions lead. In short, it shows what wisdom looks like in detail. It shows what counts as good sense for anyone, and godly discretion for the children of God. It also shows how God's government turns out, whatever things may look like for a while. It is worth noting that this book does not deal with redemption or propitiation. It sets out a way of living that follows the wisdom of God's government.
Propitiation is the sacrifice that meets God's claim against sin; this book leaves that subject aside. Its concern is consequences: wisdom keeps flowing from one mouth, and God stops the other.
Wisdom does not appear on the lips out of nowhere. Words work like a window, and what is behind the window is the real subject:
Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important it is then to have a heart full of the word of God. Fill it so full that there is no room left for the empty, foolish things of this present evil world... "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So we can judge what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth. The tongue is the organ of the heart — the organ of the man.
That test works fast. Another writer puts the same principle in plain terms: "What fills my heart will come off my tongue. So you can always tell what occupies my heart, because I have a tongue. I cannot deceive you for long." (W. T. P. Wolston)
If words only flow out of the heart, the heart needs a good supply. One writer shows where that supply comes from:
A good person is one whose heart is purified by faith in the Son of God, because by nature "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Only the grace of God can make a difference in the person. God then plants a "good treasure" in that heart. The treasure is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, given to "jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Only good can come from this, however weak the vessel may be.
The verse holds a promise and a threat together. One writer ties them to each other, then names the person behind the good treasure:
They may spew out their own shame now. But "the perverse tongue will be cut out," as surely as "the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom." It is the eye fixed on the Lord alone that teaches the lips what pleases God as well as people. The mouth of the wicked speaks twisted things, out of the abundance of his heart. The good man speaks out of his good treasure. That treasure is Christ Himself.
(Older translations render the second line "cut out" rather than the ESV's "cut off.")
Do not brush the second half aside, whichever way you take it:
Meanwhile, "the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom." But the one with a perverse tongue will have it cut out. This is a serious matter, whether it is literal or symbolic.
This is not only about a distant day. Careless speech has consequences now, under God's hand: "even now, under God's government, if I am not careful with my tongue, I may come under His discipline. The seed I sow will bring its own crop in due time." (W. T. P. Wolston)
One writer, commenting on Colossians, names two ingredients in wise speech, and says the order between them matters:
Grace gives us the warm glow of God's favour to people who do not deserve it. It shows what God is in Christ to those who belong to this guilty, ruined world. Salt stands for the guard of holiness — the preserving power of God's rights in a world full of corruption. It does not say, "always with salt, seasoned with grace." It says, "always with grace, seasoned with salt." Grace should always be the ground and the source of everything we say.
- Ground. Proverbs does not teach how a sinner is forgiven. It shows how God's government turns out, however things look now.
- Source. The mouth is the organ of the heart — you can read what fills a person by what comes off the tongue.
- Supply. A righteous mouth has a good treasure planted in it by grace, and that treasure is Christ Himself.
- Shape. Wise words rest on grace and carry holiness as the seasoning. Never one without the other.
- Settlement. God silences the perverse tongue as surely as He keeps the righteous mouth speaking. His discipline of careless speech starts now, not only at the end.
The lips of a righteous [man] know what is acceptable; but the mouth of the wicked is frowardness.
Proverbs 10 closes with two mouths side by side. One has learned what fits; the other can only twist. So the real question is not whether you speak well, but where your words come from.
From chapter 10 the book turns to the details of daily conduct — and to what God's government finally makes of that conduct.
In Proverbs 10 the details begin. They teach those who listen how to avoid the snares the simple might fall into. They show the path to follow in many cases, and the consequences of men's actions. In short, they mark out wisdom in detail: what may be prudence for man, and divine discretion for the children of God. They also show the result of God's government, whatever things may look like for a while. It is worth noticing that this book raises no question of redemption or propitiation. It proposes a walk that follows the wisdom of God's government.
So where does such knowledge come from? Two things shape it: what the eye is fixed on, and what the heart keeps in store.
Those who work evil may pour out their own shame now. But "the perverse tongue shall be cut out," as surely as "the mouth of the righteous puts forth wisdom." It is the single eye to the Lord that gives the lips to know what is acceptable to God as well as man. The mouth of the wicked speaks what is perverse, out of the abundance of his heart. The good man speaks out of his good treasure, and this is Christ Himself.
The second half of the verse describes a settled character, not an occasional slip. Elsewhere the book draws the same man in full: he has nothing straight to say, and his trouble runs deeper than his speech.
The tongue was given to praise God and to help others. In such a man it shows only too clearly what he is: he walks with a perverse and twisted mouth. It is not only that he feels no affection. He has nothing but crooked things to say. He likes to differ, and to hint at what is painful… The evil has a root deeper than his perverse mouth: "deceits are in his heart." Other bad men may be driven by money, pleasure or ambition. His heart holds perverseness, and to feed this twisted spirit is his business and his life.
If the mouth only spends what the heart has stored, then the way to change speech is to change what fills the heart.
Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important, then, to have the heart full of the word of God! So full that we have no room left for the empty, foolish things of this present evil world. Then our conversation will always be with grace, seasoned with salt. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." So we can judge what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth. The tongue is the organ of the heart — the organ of the man.
Words that please are not automatically words that fit. Acceptable speech holds two things together that easily collapse into each other.
We carry a message of grace, and we are to express it in words of grace. At the same time we must season our speech with the salt of holiness. When we speak this way, our grace will not sink into passing lightly over sins, and our faithfulness will not harden into mere condemnation of sinners. For this mix of grace and "salt" we need the wisdom of Christ. He knew the right answer to give every questioner or opponent. He also knew how to answer so as to meet the need of each one.
Knowing what is acceptable includes knowing when to say nothing. The chapter has already said so, and that lesson turns into prayer.
It is well at all times to watch and hold back, except where duty is clear. "In the multitude of words there is no lack of transgression; but he who restrains his lips does wisely." So let us be sure to ask the Lord to set a watch before our mouth, and keep the door of our lips, as in Psalm 141:3. Our evil nature is too ready to watch our neighbour's mouth, to the shame of faith and love.
The verse closes a run of sayings about the future. Speech is being weighed, and the two kinds of mouth do not end alike.
The righteous, however, know what words are acceptable, and control their lips, but the mouth of the wicked is conversant only with what is perverse (v. 32).
- Source. The tongue is the organ of the heart; what fills the heart is what the lips will spend.
- Sight. A single eye toward the Lord is what teaches the lips what is acceptable — to God first, and to people too.
- Speech. The good man's treasure is Christ Himself, so his words come out of that store, not out of himself.
- Seasoning. Acceptable words mix grace and salt. Grace never excuses sin; faithfulness never hardens into bare condemnation.
- Sentence. Proverbs traces where conduct leads under God's government. The righteous know what fits and hold their lips. The perverse tongue has only what is twisted — and it will be cut out.