“An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends.”Proverbs 16:27-28 Notice in our text that an ungodly man digs up evil, spreads evil reports, sows strife, and works to separate the best of friends, and it’s obvious that he does so by gossip, slander, and backbiting.
He does this because his heart is perverse. He is a man who is dead in trespasses and sins, he is a hater of God, and therefore he does not care who he destroys with his words.
But his problem isn’t really his tongue; his problem is his heart. His tongue wags wildly because his heart is enslaved to Satan and sin (2 Tim. 2:2526).
By walking in perversity and wickedness, gossip, and slander, he is simply behaving according to his true nature.
Proverbs 15:28 teaches that “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.”
The righteous individual, one who is redeemed by Jesus Christ, is careful with his mouth. In other words, he thinks about what to say, how to say it, and when to say it.
Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
This is not to imply, however, that the Christian is perfect in his speech. He is not. He may stumble many times with his words. But when he does sin and speaks an unkind, unloving, or thoughtless word he repents and asks forgiveness from the Lord and the person that he wounded with his words.
Not so the perverse man—he simply flings words out of his mouth like a catapult because he doesn’t care who he wounds with his words.
“Evil is on his lips like a burning fire” (Proverbs 16:27). “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness” (Proverbs 15:2).
What does your tongue reveal about the condition of your heart?
