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I. Such a government is NECESSARY. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles." What troubles come through an ungoverned tongue?

1. Troubles on self.

(1) The troubles of moral remorse have often been brought into the soul through unguarded language.

(2) The troubles of social distress have often come upon a man through unguarded language. Friends have been sacrificed, enemies created, litigations commenced, and fines and penalties enacted.

2. Troubles on others. An ungoverned tongue is like a river, whose embankments have given way, spreading disasters through a whole neighbourhood. In America the Indians strike a spark from flint and steel, and thus set fire to the dry grass, and the flames spread and spread until they sweep like a roaring torrent over a territory as large as England, and men and cattle have to flee for their lives. An unguarded word can produce a social conflagration greater far.

II. Such a government is PRACTICABLE. The tongue is not an involuntary organ, an organ that works irrespective of the will, like the heart and lungs; it is always the servant of the mind; it never moves without volition. Heaven has endowed us with a natural sovereignty equal not only to the government of the tongue, but to all the lusts and passions that set it in motion. A finer manifestation of moral majesty you can scarcely have than in reticence under terribly exciting circumstances.

(Homilist.)

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KJV: Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

WEB: Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.