178. Righteous Uses Of The Tongue: Satisfying Fruit (Proverbs 18:20-21)

12/1/2024

Turn with me to Proverbs 18:20-21. These are our verses to study and memorize this week.

Proverbs 18:20-21 With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Introduction

Proverbs 18:1-21 gives us guidance on how we should use our words when we speak. The first 14 verses examine negative uses of the tongue and causes of wicked words. Then verses 15-21 examine positive uses of the tongue and causes of righteous words. Verse 15 began things off on the positive side by emphasizing the importance of intentionally pursuing God’s wisdom. That is what will enable our tongues to produce righteousness and protect us from the many temptations to wickedly use our tongues. As we seek knowing God we will have guidance from His Word on how to live and speak.

With that prerequisite, we then looked in verse 16 at using our gifts and abilities for good and how that produces righteousness in our words. In verse 17 we saw the importance of examining carefully what we are told. As we compare it with God’s Word we will be able to find the truth and have our words and actions be guided by wisdom.

The next two verses looked at the ways that strife between people could be solved through righteous uses of the tongue. In verse 18, before the coming of the Holy Spirit, we saw how Israel entrusted themselves to God’s guidance and sovereignty through the fairness of casting lots. We can accomplish the same thing now by applying God’s Word to our lives through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Verse 19 highlighted the need to avoid offensive words, and to pursue reconciliation whole-heartedly when offenses occur.

Verses 20 and 21 now finish this chapter’s overall focus on the tongue by highlighting that we will reap the results of how we speak—whether for good, or for bad. To make this issue the most consequential, we also told that these are life and death matters. This then is our concluding motivation to righteously use our tongues.

To communicate these truths Solomon has very artfully arranged these two verses. Notice how he begins verse 20 and ends verse 21 with the word for fruit. Then in the middle of these verses he mentions the lips and the tongue. Together this highlights that we are talking about the results of our words. In the midst of it all he uses a very striking and ironic picture. In both verses you get the image of the mouth itself producing something edible which is eaten. Normally we think of the mouth consuming food and the stomach thus being filled. But here the mouth produces a fruit which one eats and is filled up with.

This seems like something the Old Testament judge Samson would have made a good riddle out of: Out of the mouth comes something edible; something edible comes out of the mouth which completely fills one up. What am I? [The fruit of one’s words.]¹

With that background, let’s take a closer look now at these verses.

20 With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

The results of our words will fill us up ourselves. This Proverb highlights the wisdom of using our words for good since we will ultimately reap what we have sown with them.

The word for “satisfied” here generally has to do with having enough, with being satiated with food. But it also has to do with being filled up, or not being able to take any more. So it has the idea of being filled up with something until no room is left, or no more is wanted.

When we think of this from the positive side of using righteous words it is easy to see how our words bring satisfaction. Good words bring good results. Even if other people do not always respond rightly to them, there is still the satisfaction and contentment of having done what is right and best ourselves. How much more so is there satisfaction when our good words prove helpful to other people and produce good in their lives. Beyond this, our righteous words honor and please God. There is nothing more satisfying than having His blessing and approval on our lives.

But more than just being satisfied or content, this word has that idea of being filled up with something. Given the picture of fruit coming out of our mouth’s—by which we are filled up—there is the meaning here of reaping what has been sown. Our words bring back to us what they produce. When we use our words righteously they build up others. They work in accordance with God’s perfect and right plan for us and our words. When we do this, we reap the results. Having used our words to help people, to be a peacemaker, to exalt God, and to share the truth of people’s sinfulness and God’s salvation we end up receiving the rewards of this righteous behavior. The blessing of good friendships, kind responses, helpful people, further opportunities, and many other things come out of our good words and actions towards other people. Our lives will overflow with the goodness we reap from a life of righteous words.

Even in cases where doing and speaking what is right may not be appreciated by wicked people and where it might even result in persecution their actions cannot take away God’s blessing and approval. Nothing can take away our life with Him in the coming eternal heaven and earth. Nothing can take away His rewards. When you have righteously spoken what you should have spoken and are continuing to use your words for good you will have no regrets when you are on that final hospital bed. For God’s people good words bring a deep rooted satisfaction and eternal rewards.

On the other hand, it is also true that when we speak evil words we will end up being filled with the fruits of those words. We will reap the consequences of the wickedness that we speak. Those words will just as surely come home to roost. The satisfaction that is reaped from these kinds of words will be a different kind, though. Instead, we will be filled up with the consequences until no room is left. We will want no more of that!

While there can be a perverse pleasure and satisfaction when one’s evil words accomplish their goals the payback of those words will eventually come in full. In the short run we might get our way. We might hurt the person who has hurt us. We might thwart their plans. We might undermine their pursuits. We might deceive, manipulate, and get out of others what we want. We might talk our way out of consequences. We might get others to go along with our schemes. But one day those words will catch up to us. We will reap what we have sown. The evil we have advocated will happen to us. Our lies and evils will be revealed. We will get more than we bargained for. Others will treat us like we have treated them.

Cutting people down with our words, lying to people, being unkind and mean to them, manipulating them, shaming them, and working for their hurt will make us enemies. These actions have consequences. When we start to reap them we will be filled up with them. They will be more than we want. Not only do we make enemies out of those we have treated wickedly, but even worse we also make an enemy out of God. He sees all of our wicked words and actions. In His holiness and justice He will not allow us to go unjudged for our sin.

Many consequences will occur naturally here in this life as people respond to our wickedness, but even if it does not, nothing we do will be able to keep us from receiving the full justice that we deserve when God’s judgment arrives. Once we die in our sins nothing will keep us from receiving the full, eternal justice in the lake of fire that we deserve for our treasonous words and actions against God and for our wickedness against people. We will be filled to the overflowing with the consequences of our actions. We will see the true wickedness of our words, and the fruit it bears will be far more than we want to eat.

We will end up being filled to the fill with the fruit of our words one way or the other. The question is what kind of fruit will be eating? What kind of crop will we be harvesting? What kind of consequences will be coming upon us? That depends on whether our words are truly righteous, or whether they are wicked. What will your words be reaping for you to be filled up with? Good fruit or deadly fruit?

Scriptural Example: When we look for an example of this proverb in Scripture we see a negative one with Esau. When he was famished Esau was temporarily satisfied with his choice of giving up his firstborn birthright for some of Jacob’s tasty stew. Ultimately, when he reaped the consequences of his choices, he had much more of the fill of the consequences than he wanted. He found that his reckless words cost him much more than he really wanted to pay. Though he wept with bitter tears he could not undo what had been said and done.

Joseph’s brothers provide another negative example. In their anger against Joseph they accosted him, threw him into a pit, and ended up selling him into slavery. Then they deceived their father and made it look like Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. While they no longer had to deal with their father’s favoritism, Joseph’s dreams, or him being sent to check up on them they ended up reaping the enduring consequences of their evil words and actions. Year after year they had to watch their father’s unending grief, knowing that it was their words and actions which caused it.

Ultimately they found themselves at the mercy of Joseph when they came to Egypt looking for food during the famine. Their words and actions came back to haunt them. Their evil was exposed and they were powerless. The fruit of their words were far more than they ever wanted to deal with. They were so afraid of Joseph’s retribution that when their father Jacob finally died they lied and made up some story about him urging Joseph to forgive them. Just when you think they might have fully learned their lesson about words they went and did that.

Joseph’s response provides a perfect contrast. He wept. He told them not to fear. He had entrusted justice to God, and expressed to them how he viewed things. God had been at work despite their evil actions. God had worked to produce good from it all. During his testing of them, when he re-encountered them, he had seen that they had changed over time. They had learned. They were no longer focused just on themselves. Joseph was not concerned about retribution. He was concerned with following God. His words then continued to reflect that. Joseph reassured them that he would care for them. He spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:15-21). He used his words to point them back to trusting in God. He used his words to encourage them and unify them as a family. He used his words to bring peace and healing from the past events. They were good, righteous words. These indeed were words which would bring satisfaction, joy, and peace. He reaped the goodness of the good words which he spoke.

Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Proverbs we see that this same idea of reaping to the fullness what is sown comes up in a number of places. In Proverbs 1:31 Wisdom warns the wicked that because they spurned her she would not answer them. They would receive the fruit of their actions and be filled up with their own evil pursuits. Proverbs 3:9-10 highlighted that through honoring the Lord with one’s wealth the Israelites would have their barns filled to overflowing with plenty. Proverbs 12:11-14, very similarly to our verse here, talks about a person being satisfied with good by the fruit of his words. Proverbs 13:25 emphasized that the righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite. Proverbs 14:14 balanced things out and declared that the backslider in heart would have his fill of his ways, while the good man would be satisfied with his.

By its repetition this theme can be seen to be an important one for us to understand. It is a capstone principle which is worth coming back to and remembering throughout life. We will be filled up with the consequences of how we speak and live. If we would like to be satisfied with and enjoy the fruit of how we speak, then we must make sure that we speak righteously. What we say will come back to impact us.

In the New Testament we also see this in Galatians 6:3-10

Galatians 6:3-10 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load. 6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

After warning believers to gently and humbly restore a fallen brother and to bear one another’s burdens Paul deals with a number of issues that relate to our treatment of one another and how we live. He warns the believers to not think too highly of themselves and to examine their own hearts and actions. We each have a responsibility for our own actions and words towards one another. None of us should be too proud or too good to help one another and serve one another. God sees everything that we say and do, and everything that we say and do sows the seed for what we will reap from Him.

The way that we treat fellow believers who stumble matters. The way that we bear one another’s burdens matters. The way that we deal with our own pride and examine our own hearts matters. The way we support those who teach God’s Word matters. The way we live—whether for the flesh or for God—matters. The way we hold on to doing what is right and the way we do not give up on serving matters. The way we treat fellow believers and all people matters. God will not be mocked by our self-focused, self-deceived, self-exalting outward pretenses. God will not be mocked by our excuses for not serving others and Him. God will not be mocked by our giving up on carrying out the good works He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. We will reap the consequences of what we say and do regardless. Our excuses and self-deception will not cut it with God.

Thus, we had better examine our lives carefully and not allow sin, fleshly living, or excuses to creep in through any of these dangerous and evil ways. Instead, we are to live by the Spirit of God that indwells us in humility and service to one another. We are to do and speak what is righteous and good to all people.

Truth in Connection: As we apply this proverb and these realities to our lives we need to take to heart the truths about sowing and reaping that they present. If we choose to allow ourselves to slip into evil uses of our words we will end up being the recipient of the evil that they produce. Thankfully the opposite is also true; we can become the recipient of the goodness that good, righteous words produce. For this to happen we need to intentionally use our words to others and to God righteously. If we build others up, speak truth, proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ redemption from sin, and serve God with our tongues then the goodness of that will end up being satisfying, fulfilling, and edifying to ourselves. They will produce a goodness that we ourselves will benefit from.

This should cause us to yearn to speak what is righteous and holy. This should cause us to carefully examine what we say and do. This should cause us to make sure that our words are always seasoned with grace to help those who hear us.

There is, however, one major problem with doing this. On our own we cannot do it. We need Jesus’ resurrection power to overcome our sin, give us life, and transform our hearts, minds, and tongues. This only happens through coming to trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and then in walking by faith in fellowship with Him moment by moment. Have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior from your sin? Are you daily walking with Jesus by His Spirit? Turn to Jesus.

Our next proverb continues to hammer the point home of how important it is to speak righteously.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

People’s words can bring death or life. Those who use its power will reap its consequences. This proverb emphasizes the wisdom of speaking words of life.

Sometimes words can seem harmless. They can seem like just a means of communicating with people. They can seem easily fixable or changeable. But words mean things. Words have consequences. Things cannot be unsaid. People remember words. Words hurt people. Words encourage people. Words motivate people. People base their lives off of words. They think about them. They make decisions by their thoughts about others words and with the words of their own thoughts. Words can be persuasive. Words can be confusing. Word can bring hope. Words can bring hopelessness. Words can be deceptive. Words can be true. Words can bring war. Words can bring peace. Words can bring wounds. Words can bring healing. Words can bring death. Words can bring life.

Think about how devastating and uplifting words can be. “I hate you.” “I love you.” “It’s all your fault.” “Good job!” “You are a failure.” “That was amazing!” “You’re fired.” “You’re hired!” “I want a divorce.” “Will you marry me?” “You have cancer.” “You are in full remission.” “I’m sorry, we did everything we could. He didn’t make it.” “We are expecting!” The list could go on, but each of these phrases (and so many more) can have life-altering significance. Truly words have the power to build up, or destroy.

After pointing out the power of words, our proverb again reminds us that the consequences of our words do not just affect other people. They come back and affect us. This is especially true for those who know the power of words and love to use them to get things done. Quite a lot of damage or help can be caused in the day to day words that people use with one another without even intending to specifically do so. But when people love to use their words to specifically help and build others up and study how to do so it can reap quite a lot of good in the many people’s lives that they touch. Similarly, when people love to use their words to hurt, manipulate, and deceive others and when they intentionally seek out the best ways to accomplish their goals in using other people and getting their way they can wreak quite a lot of damage. In both cases they will eventually end up reaping the fruit of their actions. Just like we talked about in the previous proverb, they will end up receiving the expanded consequences or blessings of the words that they have spoken.

Negatively, people will not like being mistreated, manipulated, and abused and they will usually respond in the same way that they have been treated. Beyond that, God’s just judgments will eventually come upon us for all of our words and actions.

On the positive side, people usually appreciate being encouraged, helped, and taught the truth. They usually try to look out for, help, and encourage back. Ultimately, God’s blessing on true righteousness will also come (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5).

Since words are so powerful, and since we will reap the consequences of how we use them we should use our tongues for good. We should not be content with responding based on how we feel at the moment. We should not be content with just speaking what comes to our minds right away. Instead, these truths should powerfully motivate us to consider carefully the words that we use. They should motivate us to make sure we are speaking the truth, that we are speaking in a way that is righteous, and that we are speaking intentionally to bring life.

Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see an example of this with Daniel and the lion’s den. Daniel’s enemies intentionally used their words to get the king to pridefully make a decree that people could only pray to him for one month. They intentionally laid this trap so that they could get Daniel thrown into the lion’s den and killed. They used their tongues to try to bring death. Yet, the final result, after God’s miraculous protection of Daniel, was that they themselves reaped the fruit of their own words and received those very same consequences. They were thrown into the lion’s den and devoured.

We see another multi-faceted example of this with king Herod and John the Baptist. John the Baptist used his words to challenge Herod about his sinful marriage to his brother’s wife. He spoke the truth that Herod needed to hear in order to repent and avoid the judgment of God. Sadly he did not do it. Instead, he threw John the Baptist into jail. John reaped the consequences of his righteous words when Herod got angry instead of repenting. This is what can happen when powerful people are challenged with truths that they do not want to hear. Herod’s fury, however, was not the only issue John had to deal with.

Herodias, the woman in question, had a daughter who danced pleasingly before Herod’s court on his birthday. In his pride Herod promised to give her anything—up to half his kingdom. Being primed by her mother she asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Even though Herod did not want to do it, because of his public promise he ended up beheading John. Herod’s wicked words and behaviors caught up to him and led him into killing John. That hurt him politically with the people—who viewed John as a prophet. Through his words and actions Herod ended up digging himself further into sin and brought himself into even greater condemnation and judgment from God. His words were traps to himself which led him further into sin and its consequences.

For John his words did end up leading to his own physical death. Yet, in Jesus’ estimation, of all those who had been born there had not arisen a person greater than him (Matthew 11:11). While powerful people may not have liked John’s righteous words, nothing that they could ever do could get in the way of John’s reaping the eternal favor and blessing of God for standing up for what was right.

Sometimes people reap the consequences of their wicked words quite quickly and in this life—like Daniel’s enemies did after their attempt to have him killed. Other times they only seem to receive part of those consequences in this life—like Herod and Herodias.

Similarly, sometimes people reap the rewards of their righteous words quite quickly, like Daniel did throughout his life under successive monarchs in Babylon. Other times, like with John the Baptist, righteous words reap painful consequences and even physical death. Yet, even in hard cases like this, if we step back from looking at the wicked and their evils we will see that from righteous people they receive praise and blessing. Sometimes the oppression of the wicked can overshadow for a time the rest of the picture. While Herod and Herodias may have gotten their way in the immediate time frame, for the rest of history they have been seen to be the villains they truly were. Meanwhile John the Baptist has been seen to be the righteous, courageous, truthful, and faithful man that he was.

In all of these cases we also have to look beyond what we immediately experience here on earth to see eternity. God’s promises of justice and reward need to be remembered. Ultimately we know that God will vindicate and reward the righteous and condemn and judge the wicked.

Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see the seriousness of our words in God’s warning to teachers in James 3:1.

James 3:1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

God will hold all of us responsible for what we say. The more people that we influence, build up, or tear down with our words the greater our responsibility will be. Likewise, the more intentionally and authoritatively that we speak for God—helping people, or hurting them—the greater will be our responsibility for those behaviors. We will reap the consequences of what we say and do. God will hold us responsible for our actions, and even more so if we lead people astray in His name. Those who love to wield the power of the tongue for life and death will surely eat of its fruit.

Truth in Connection: As we apply all of this to our lives we see another major motivator to pursue righteousness in our words. If we do pursue speaking righteously, we have the privilege and blessing of powerfully impacting other people’s lives for good. We can aid them in coming to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We can help them see the true hopeless reality of their sin and the amazing overcoming love of Jesus. We an show them how Jesus came, lived perfectly, bore our sin and judgment upon Himself on the cross, rose from the dead after 3 days, and gives His eternal resurrection life to all those who believe in Him as Lord and Savior. We also have the amazing privilege of helping them learn about their new life in Jesus and with our words encouraging them in knowing and serving Him. We have the privilege of lifting up the discouraged. We have the privilege of using our words to make a real difference in people’s lives. Let us speak life to those around us!

We are also reminded in this proverb that the opposite is also true. Our words can bring much destruction if we are not intentional to use them to do good. If we do allow ourselves to tear down and destroy with our words we are warned that God will not be mocked. He will hold us accountable. We will all eat of the fruit that we sow with our words—whether for good, or bad.

Day by day then, we must decide how we will use our words. As Christians we have been freed from our former slavery to sin. We have the victory Christ won over our tongues. In Him we can put a stop to the evil that used to come out of our mouths. We can say no to the temptations we receive to tear down, to be mean, to deceive, and to manipulate. We can say yes to speaking righteously. We can say yes to proclaiming the gospel. We can say yes to helping others learn to follow Jesus. We can say yes to encouraging and helping others. Will we? Will you? As followers of Jesus this is what He calls us to do with our tongues: pursue righteousness in all our words.

If you have never seen your sin for the evil that it is, and seen the brokenness of this world and your own life, and seen your inability to fix yourself or this world, then that is where you need to start. “All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” as Romans 3:23 says.

Romans 3:10b-12 There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one.”

—as Romans 3:10-12 says. On our own, our condition is hopeless and we are under God’s judgment. The consequences of our words and actions will come upon us. We will eat the fruit of what we have sown. But thanks be to God, Jesus came to make a way of salvation. He came to rescue us. He come to reconcile us to the Father. He came to deal with our sins once and for all. He came to free us from our slavery to sin. He came to raise us from the dead spiritually and give us His eternal life. We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. It is a free gift of God for all those who repent and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Will you turn to Jesus and have Him transform your whole life, including your tongue?

In John 11:25-26 Jesus declared:

John 11:25-26 I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Conclusion

If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.

© 2024, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible^® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org