Then his wife said to him, ‘”Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:9-10
September 19, 2022
Job’s world fell in on his head. He lost his property, his wealth, his children, and his health, all within a few weeks at the most. But a dose of poison was also injected into Job’s misery. Adding insult to injury his wife suggested that Job was “not worthy of her” (Ash, Job, the Wisdom of the Cross). For this reason, some have spoken of his wife’s tongue as “the devil’s assistant,” and “Satan’s tool.” A study of the tongue in the book of Job is one to be mined. Suffice it to say that “Job hears the pleading of his nearest and dearest to abandon his proud principles about God and just give in, let rip against God…” Ash). Job’s story carries with it the injurious nature of the tongue in the time of someone else’s suffering. We can do that by accusing God of doing evil in our pain, or trying to take God off the hook and blaming Satan for all the evil we experience. In either case, our tongues must be harnessed by wisdom and mercy and avoid saying things that are full of deadly poison. The path to follow is the astonishing statement, “in all this Job did not sin with his lips.” H
“A sharp tongue is no indication of a keen mind.”