Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Honey was the great treat in the Old Testament era. Imagine, after days of fish and bread, how wonderful to taste fresh flowing honey. I imagine it was a refreshing, delightful experience. Solomon uses that image to get us thinking about the delightfulness of gracious words. God’s people ought to have a sweet tooth for the pleasant and beautiful words of God. Unlike cake and ice cream, these sweets are good for you, body and soul. God invites his children to sit down and rest the soul and mind and be refreshed with the pleasantness of HIs Word.
Hearing and reading the gracious and kind words of God are good for your soul. There is so much anger and bitterness in the world. Lying on every hand and deceitful dealings fill the airwaves. Perverse and wicked words are spoken everywhere you go. We need to hear the gracious words of God to revive and refresh our souls. As pilgrims and foreigners in a this world, making our way to that heavenly city and journey to our Father’s house, the soul can become weary. Tired of the battles, exhausted of the disappoints, worn-out with failures, the pleasant words of Zion are the life giving cool waters that restore the soul. Pleasant words are good for your health. Angry, hateful, mean-spirited people will spew their vile words like poison. Taking in and drinking in filth is bad for your health. Reading unprofitable posts, books, or articles can depress the soul. Listening to filth from the radio or television can make you angry and bitter. We need to be careful who we listen to and what we put in our mind. Do you fill your soul with sinful songs and sinful language and think that will have no impact on you? If pleasant words are good for the soul, certainly angry, sinful, bitter words are harmful. God’s Word is a delight to His people. A medicine to the anxious. A balm for the wounded soul. We can eat all we want of God’s Word and it will give us strength for the journey.
Since we know pleasant words are good for body and soul, we ought to speak them to others. You should guard the words that come out of your mouth. You ought to consider the words you speak or write. Your snide comment may stick with someone for years and do much damage. Do you think about how you speak to the waitress? How about the customer service representative over the phone? How easy to be hateful towards those you don’t know. Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” A Christian’s words need to gracious and with the purpose of blessing those who hear. Take in and share pleasant words.
