Psalms 5:9-10 (NKJV)

‘For there is no faithfulness in their mouth…They flatter with their tongue. Pronounce them guilty, O God!…For they have rebelled against You.’

Verses 9 and 10 describe the Wicked and one description that stands out is the way they use their mouth to deceive. Their throat is said to be a tomb (a place of death, where rottenness resides); and from that tomb emanates all manners of deceitfulness and lies. And for such, God will hold them guilty.

It’s my duty therefore not to practice any form of flattery. It’s my duty to ensure that my inward parts are full of the life of God so that no death lies buried within me, and therefore no death can proceed from my mouth. Sweetening my words in order to lead people into a wrong direction is sin and a rebellion against God. Flattering words are words of death and a rebellion against God.

Be careful therefore what you say because every word will be judged on the last day. Are your words Sweetened Death?

‘O Lord, deliver me from the temptation to sweeten my words in order to have my way. Such flattery has been pronounced as a sin before God and it proceeds from the dead tombs of vile throats and rotten inward parts. May the resurrected life of Jesus so fill my every day, every moment and every word, so that I do not need to sweeten anything but speak the truth as it is, whether people like it or not. Give me strength Lord Jesus to escape this guilt that awaits those who practice the loose tongue. In Jesus name.’