June 11, 2025

June 11  Psalm 39
David had decided to be careful in how he lived and what he said.  He desired to keep some of his thoughts to himself even though he really, really wanted to say something.  He was demonstrating something that we see in various points of Scripture- watching the tongue or being careful what we say.  David understood that not every thought in the head needs to be words that are heard.  He also demonstrated how difficult it is sometimes to hold our words. In David's case he was dealing with unreasonable people who could not be won over no matter what he said.  They were looking for a fight, they were looking to argue and all they would do is turn David's words into more grief for him.  We don't have to engage in the arguments with people who are not interested in the truth, who simply want to argue without concern for what we have to say.  
However, we cannot always remain silent because there are many times where our words need to be heard.  This is where discernment comes in-  we should seek God's help in knowing when to speak and even in what to say. As much as possible we should seek to have conversations (even hard ones) as much as possible over confrontations.  Unfortunately this is not always possible because a conversation involves both people agreeing to speak with respect.  We may be respectful to others- but they may choose to want confrontation by how they treat us.  Keep cool-  the right argument, with the right demeanor, from a right heart may not win over the person you are talking to--- but it could go along way in winning over the "eavesdroppers".