Devotional: God’s Purpose for My Tongue

O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Psalm 108:1 KJV

David has taken a firm decision: No matter what happens, he is going to praise the Lord. This is the only sufficient basis for praise that truly glorifies God. If our praise arises merely out of our feelings or our circumstances, it will be as uncertain and fluctuating as they are. It must be based, as David’s was, on a firm decision of our will.

David’s decision arose out of a special insight contained in the closing phrase: “Even with my glory.” What does he have in mind when he says “my glory”? This is one of those cases where the Bible provides the best commentary on itself.

In Psalm 16:9 David uses the same phrase: “My glory rejoiceth” (KJV). In Acts 2:26 Peter quotes this verse, but changes one significant word: “My tongue was glad” (KJV). Thus glory and tongue are synonymous.

What a wonderful insight: My tongue is my “glory”! Consider the implications of that! Why did my Creator give me a tongue? That I might glorify Him with its praise. It is my supreme duty in life to glorify God, but out of all the members of my body there is one created specifically for this function: my tongue. Only when I glorify God with my tongue am I using it aright. Every other use is a misuse.

Let me, then, make the same decision as David: to use my tongue always and only for the purpose for which it was created.

Faith’s Response

By a decision of my will, I now determine to use my tongue for the purpose for which God gave it to me.

This devotional is taken from