Saturday, March 17, 2012

Speaking Sparingly

“The LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth water…. And Moses… said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up His hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice” (Numbers 20:7-11). “They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips” (Psalm 106:32,33). “Leave off contention, before it be meddled with…. He that hath knowledge spareth his words” (Proverbs 17:14,27). “The Holy Ghost shall teach you…what ye ought to say” (Luke 12:12).

The Lord gave instruction for Moses to go
And stand at the rock with his rod;
Then speak to rock and the water would flow,
Attributing glory to God.

But Moses was angry, provoked by contention,
And acted therefore in self will.
He spoke out of anger at Israel’s convention,
And therefore things went for him ill.

We know there are times when we surely should speak,
Yet other times words should be spared.
The Lord will give wisdom to those who are meek,
With hearts that are humbly prepared.

O Lord, we can see at the waters of strife
That Moses responded in haste.
Alas, we can see it as well in our life
In similar conflicts we faced!

We thank You for Scriptures, O Lord, such as these
That we may be thereby corrected,
To speak as You tell us, and not as we please,
With words by Your Spirit directed.

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