Proverbs 16:24 ESV
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
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Living life is a tiring proposition. At some point, be I who I may be, I will get worn down, tuckered out, even flat-out hurt. Bad things happen, we sin to our own harm, and the world keeps rolling onward. We can say that we’re growing closer to God, that our hearts are more His today than yesterday, but that doesn’t always ring true, however true it is (Ps. 102:1). We grow tired; we are discouraged; we suffer pain. What remedy have we? Surely the eternal remedy is His presence, but how on this earth does His presence heal us? One path by which He blesses us, as this verse declares, is the speech we hear, the gracious words of the living, the dead, and the Eternal.
Where shall we seek these gracious words? We can seek them, most obviously, from other people. In this, it is crucial to distinguish ‘gracious’ words from aught else. Surely we may be comforted by lies, but that won’t end well- lies are a broken reed upon which to rest, liable to harm so soon as it seems to heal. So these words must be truth, and, in keeping with the rest of Proverbs, it seems certain that we should seek not merely truth but wisdom, applicable truth (Deut. 4:6). So we should seek out gracious words which are both true and wise.
Among those we know, we can discern that some are more wise, others less. Sometimes those less wise are more foolish;, sometimes they are simply immature (similar but not identical). Among these, certainly some gracious words can be found. The foolish can speak truth. The immature, whether young in the faith or young period, can offer some truth, some wisdom, and in certain cases the testimony of the young is a sweet salve (Ps. 8:2). In the foolish, then, can some gracious words be found, albeit only with a careful ear (for every wise statement a young child makes, there comes a generous helping of irrelevancy or foolishness).
We should look then to find wise people from whom to take comfort (and at times rebuke). In God’s grace, our first port of call here is our parents, our grandparents, those others of our family who have more experience in life. It can even be those who, though young, have lived lives such as to give them wisdom differing from or exceeding out own, as judged against His Scriptures. Further, though, we should seek out our elders in the faith, men and women made wise by God. They can give us gracious words when such are mete.
In pursuit of this principle, though, we can find a second source of gracious words: the saints gone before (or those who just aren’t within your relationship-range). Reading the works of others- poetry, books, prayers- and of their works (how they lived, how they died), this is a potent means of God to enrich us in grace. The lives of the saints- the dead, whom now God holds, and the living, whom He upholds- are a testimony to Him, and glittering amidst that great array are many gracious words. Hymns can be particularly rich sources of this blessing; When Peace Like a River never fails to bring both comfort and chastening to me, knowing particularly the context of its writing, that its author lost his entire family and yet held faith so beautifully.
From hymns, though, we can turn to the source of the original hymns: the Psalms, even Scripture as a whole. In those pages is the infallible word of God, wisdom and truth and beauty beyond measure, certitude of all three. God Himself speaks, and amidst His word we find many gracious words, comfort for His people. Does He not say, “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God,” and “The Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted” (Is. 40:1, 49:13)? The Word of God is a hard saying indeed for the wicked (John 6:60), but to the righteous, as they turn to Him, it is eternal comfort.
Nor does He abandon us to ourselves, to turn from the gracious words as our sinful hearts would have us. No, He sends the Helper to be our guide and our consolation in dark distress (John 14:16; Ps. 4:1). This is a sure comfort, then, that the God of the whole earth (Is. 54:5) Himself declares grace to us with words we cannot but hear, for He is indeed our Redeemer (54:8-10).
He speaks to us, too, and so we can speak to others. We must remember that these ‘gracious words’ are not only for import. We are given this gift, and by us therefore this gift is to be given. As He comforts us, so too are we to comfort each other (2 Cor. 13:11). To the righteous, we must speak comfort amidst suffering and amidst temptation, though it is in words as hard to the human heart as Hebrews 12:2-6. To the wicked, we must speak judgement, but with judgement we must declare the path to His grace, repentance for sin and faith in Him, so that by His grace they will heed the call and turn and be healed (Is. 6:10, 22;12). In Him, therefore, let all the nations of the earth by blessed (Gen. 22:18).
God bless.
Written by Colson Potter.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
