Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse – Our tongues hold immense power, capable of bringing both life and death. To harness this power for good, we must learn to “set a guard” over our mouths, carefully choosing when to speak and what to say. The Bible teaches that our words can defeat enemies, bless others, and communicate with God. By spending time in prayer and allowing God to teach us, we can develop “the tongue of the learned” and speak words of wisdom and encouragement. Conversely, idle or negative words can bring judgment upon ourselves. To use our tongues effectively, we should focus on speaking against evil, ministering to others, and praising God.
By doing so, we unlock the transformative power of our words.
LOCKING AND UNLOCKING THE TONGUE
By Pastor Delbert Young
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
This sermon answers the following five questions:
- Why is it important to set a guard over our mouths?
- What are the three primary purposes of the human tongue?
- How can we develop “the tongue of the learned”?
- What is the significance of “locking” and “unlocking” our tongues?
- What are the consequences of using our tongues improperly?
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Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Scriptures: Psalms 141:3, Proverbs 18:21, Exodus 4:10-12, Exodus 4:14, John 12:49, Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah 49:2, Matthew 12:34-37, Matthew 12:32, Joshua 6:10, Luke 1:19-20,
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You were given a questionnaire at the first of the year, asking you to check or write about the subjects you would like me to teach and preach this year. Nearly 50% of the questionnaires returned asked for teaching on “Controlling the Tongue.” So, here we go.
Psalms 141:3 SET A GUARD OVER MY MOUTH, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Your Bible instructs you to ask the Lord to set a guard over your mouth to keep a watch over the door of your lips. The image is a prison guard stationed at your mouth. What does a prison guard do? The guard LOCKS AND UNLOCKS or opens and shuts the cell door. If there is anything we need to LOCK AND UNLOCK or correctly open and shut correctly, it is our mouths. We need a guard at our mouth’s door because inside your mouth is the most powerful member of your body – your tongue. It holds the power of death and life.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Why is it important to set a guard over our mouths?
Proverbs 18:21 DEATH AND LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
- Our greatest victories and worst nightmares involved our tongues.
The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush. Moses SAID, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight. Your tongue directs your life. The Lord told Moses he saw the affliction of his people. He was going to deliver them and take them to a land flowing with milk and honey, but he needed Moses’s tongue.
The Lord needs your tongue for a specific purpose. Just as the Lord told Moses to SAY to Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” you can SPEAK to principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places. The Lord told Moses to TELL God’s people that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had appeared to Moses and sent him to deliver them.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Moses was to SPEAK the blessings of salvation to the people. The Lord told Moses to go to the elders and SAY, “The Lord God will communicate with me and you will communicate to the people.” What Moses was to do for the Lord involved his tongue.
Instead, Moses used his tongue to make excuses to the Lord.
Moses SAID, “Who am I? I am not important.” Your tongue determines your self-confidence. Have you ever noticed when someone is confident, the person speaks with confidence? You hear confidence in their words.
Moses then SAID to the Lord, “Who are you?” Your tongue will cause you to question and doubt God. You can know if a person knows God by the words from their tongue. I can quickly tell a person’s faith and maturity level by what comes out of their mouth.
Moses SAID, “They will not believe me.” Your tongue determines if you are believable. Why would they not believe you, Moses? If people do not believe you, it is because untrue words come out of your mouth.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Then, Moses allowed this statement to escape from his mouth.
Exodus 4:10-12 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I AM SLOW OF SPEECH, AND OF A SLOW TONGUE. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I WILL BE WITH THY MOUTH, AND TEACH THEE WHAT THOU SHALT SAY.
With what would the Lord say he would be with? Do not miss this! The Lord would be with Moses’ mouth! The Lord God is with your mouth. He wants your mouth.
Moses SAID he had a LOCKED TONGUE. Moses LOCKED his speech. Also, Moses SAID he was not eloquent – not a good communicator. There are different thoughts as to whether this is true or not. Moses did not feel he was a good communicator at any rate. My point is even if you do not feel you communicate well with your mouth if you allow God, he will teach you what to say.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
People say, “I can’t pray.” Let God teach you. Or “I can’t bless people.” Allow God to teach you. Or “I don’t know how to speak to principalities and powers.” Allow God to teach you. If Moses allowed the Lord to use his mouth, Moses would speak and do the impossible. Moses would do wonders simply by UNLOCKING HIS TONGUE for the Lord.
The Lord was patient with all Moses’ excuses until Moses gave the locked tongue excuse. At this, the Lord became very angry.
Exodus 4:14 Then the LORD’S anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well…”
Someone is going to speak what the Lord wants spoken! Someone is going to speak and see great things. Why not me? Don’t let someone else get your blessings. The Lord needs your tongue. Your tongue holds deliverance, miracles, victory, and provisions.
The Lord wants to teach us what to say.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
What are the three primary purposes of the human tongue?
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and WHAT I SHOULD SPEAK.
For what reasons did Jesus use his tongue? The same three reasons Moses was to use his tongue: (1) speak to principalities and powers of the devil; (2) bless people; (3) communicate with Father.
- The miracles Jesus did he did through his mouth, be it delivering people from devils, healing, or praying.
How can we develop “the tongue of the learned”?
Isaiah 50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me THE TONGUE OF THE LEARNED, that I should KNOW HOW TO SPEAK a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
We need to spend time with the Lord – morning by morning – to have the tongue of the learned. You should know when and when not to speak – LOCK AND UNLOCK. I cannot tell you the times when someone posed a question to me, and I was unsure how to answer. I said, “Let me pray about it and get back to you.” When I prayed, the Lord usually gave me a different answer than I thought. This never fails. The Lord will teach you what to say. He did with Moses. He did with Jesus, and He will with you.
What is the significance of “locking” and “unlocking” our tongues?
When we UNLOCK OUR TONGUES at the correct times, miracles happen. We do three things. We come against principalities and powers, we release blessings, and we communicate with the Father.
Moses went to Egypt and said what the Lord told him to say. Miracle after miracle happened. Principalities and powers were defeated. The impossible happened. God used Moses to deliver people, bring great wealth, and defeat the enemy. Provisions miraculously appeared for people. All of this happened through Moses UNLOCKING HIS TONGUE. When you allow Father to teach you what you should speak, and UNLOCK YOUR TONGUE at the correct time, you will never experience defeat. You will communicate with Father, defeat enemies, bless people, gain wealth, open impossible obstacles, and provisions will miraculously appear.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
I want to ask you a question.
Why did God create the human tongue? Hopefully, you have some answers by now. It is not to only taste. Animals, birds, reptiles, insects, and fish can taste. Why did God give us humans a special tongue capable of doing more than taste? The Bible gives several things the human tongue is specifically created to do. It is created to praise the Lord and declare his splendor. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long (Psa 71:8). God created the tongue to pray. Jesus said, “When you pray say…” (Luk 11:2). God created the tongue to edify, exhort, and comfort people (1Co 14:3). God created the mouth and tongue to be a weapon.
Isaiah 49:2 HE MADE MY MOUTH LIKE A SHARPENED SWORD, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
When it is all condensed down, the human tongue was created to do three things: (1) COME AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS OF THE DEVIL; (2) BLESS PEOPLE; AND (3) COMMUNICATE WITH FATHER. This is why we UNLOCK THE TONGUE.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Yet, you also must allow the guard set at your mouth to LOCK THE TONGUE. One day Jesus cast a devil from a blind and dumb man. The Pharisees saw it and said Jesus cast the devil out by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Here is what Jesus said to the Pharisees.
Matthew 12:34-37 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. But I say unto you, That every IDLE WORD that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by THY WORDS THOU SHALT BE JUSTIFIED, AND BY THY WORDS THOU SHALT BE CONDEMNED.
There are times you should LOCK YOUR TONGUE. Any time you use the tongue to inject venom into people, even in idle casual conversation, you will be judged. On the Day of Judgment, the Lord will ask you, “Why did you say that about this person? I love this person. I died for this person.” “Well Lord, it is true.” The Lord would say, “It does not matter. Pray for them.” “Well Lord, they hurt me.” The Lord will say, “It does not matter. Forgive them.” You will give account on judgment day for EVERY IDLE WORD.
There is something interesting in the context of the previous passage where Jesus told the Pharisees their own words justified or condemned them. Here, Jesus told them, and us, the only sin for which a person cannot receive forgiveness.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Matthew 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but ANYONE WHO SPEAKS against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
We refer to this as the “unpardonable sin.” My goal today is not to discuss the “unpardonable sin.” The most significant thing we must realize is this: IT IS A SIN COMMITTED WITH WORDS. The “unpardonable sin” is not stealing, murder, or sexual misconduct. The unpardonable sin is committed with the tongue. There was no guard placed on the mouth. Hopefully, none of us are guilty of blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, but we are all guilty of thinking words really are not important.
- Every word we speak is extremely important.
What are the consequences of using our tongues improperly?
There is a time to LOCK and a time to UNLOCK THE TONGUE. The Lord told Joshua the plan to take Jericho. It seemed a simple, yet strange strategy. The victory depended totally on LOCKING AND UNLOCKING THE TONGUE.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Joshua 6:10 But Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, DO NOT SAY A WORD UNTIL THE DAY I TELL YOU TO SHOUT. THEN SHOUT!”
The people were to march around Jericho one time a day for six days. Keeping their TONGUES LOCKED. The time of silence allowed them to process and evaluate. Their LOCKED TONGUES brought confusion and fear to the enemy. Have you ever been in conflict with someone about something, but you would not comment? They said, “Well, say something!” They were confused and did not know what to do. Then, when Joshua told them to UNLOCK THE TONGUE at the correct time, the walls came down. The tongue is a powerful weapon for God when we LOCK AND UNLOCK THE TONGUE correctly.
I remember a time when I wanted to attack a situation. It was a very bad situation, but the Lord instructed us TO NOT RAISE OUR VOICES AND NOT SAY A WORD. O, I wanted to fight! The enemy gave me hundreds of opportunities, but we did not. We did as the Lord said and we stood back and watched wall after wall collapse.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
- We each have access to the powerful weapon called the tongue.
It is used in every situation to make the situation better or to make the situation worse. Anyone with the ability to say the right thing at the right time will find him or herself successful in all areas of life – business, personal relationships, marriage, parents with children, children with parents, school, etc. Selecting and changing our words will literally change our lives. Walls come down. The miraculous happens. Impossible obstacles open. Provisions come. Enemies fall. It is all about LOCKING AND UNLOCKING THE TONGUE.
Zachariah was to be the father of John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was necessary in God’s plan to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord came to Zachariah. The angel told Zachariah God heard his prayer and that Zachariah would have a son. He was to name the child John and the child would be great. Instead of Zachariah LOCKING HIS TONGUE, he began to question the angel and by so doing, questioned God. You be careful when you question a messenger of God sent to you. Zachariah spoke out words of doubt. He said, “I am an old man. Elizabeth is an old woman. How can this be?” Zachariah spewed out negative words.
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
Luke 1:19-20 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, THOU SHALT BE DUMB, AND NOT ABLE TO SPEAK, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Dumbness is always associated with improper use of the tongue. If we do not use our tongues correctly, God will just let us be dumb. Zachariah did not have a guard on his mouth. He UNLOCKED his tongue at the wrong time and God took serious issue with it. God would not allow Zachariah’s doubt and negative tongue to stop his program. Before Zachariah could say any more, the angel locked Zachariah’s tongue until Elizabeth birthed the child. Zachariah learned his lesson.
Luke 1:64 Immediately his mouth was opened and HIS TONGUE WAS LOOSED, and he began to speak, praising God.
God UNLOCKED Zachariah’s tongue when he was ready to speak correctly. He used it for the reason God created it. 1. He spoke to the principalities and powers of the enemy. “…that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies.” 2. He ministered to God’s people using it. “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.” 3. To communicate with the Lord. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.”
Set a Guard on My Mouth: How to Bless, Not Curse
How about your tongue today? Is there a guard on your tongue?
- Death and life are in your tongue. It will bring your most horrific nightmares or your greatest victories.
It will give you direction, self-confidence, and great faith, and it will work the impossible, remove obstacles, and bring you miraculous provisions. Do not allow it to bring judgment and condemnation. Have the tongue of the learned. Bring down walls. Don’t be dumb. Use your tongue for the reason God created it: 1. Speak to principalities and powers; 2. Minister to people; 3. Communicate with God. If you will, you will never be defeated.
Set a Guard on My Mouth sermon video audio notes
Set a Guard on My Mouth sermon video audio notes
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