A Loosened Tongue Employed

Immediately his mouth was opened

and his tongue was loosed,

and he spoke, praising God.

Luke 1:64, NKJV

If you had been unable to speak for nine months, what would your first words be?

Remember that the muteness imposed upon old Zacharias was the consequence of not instantly believing the word of the Lord that came to him through the angel Gabriel. When Gabriel told him his prayers had been answered, that Elizabeth was going to bear a son in her old age, Zacharias' response was, "How do I know you're telling me the truth?" In other words, the seven-foot angel with the telegram on the end of a flaming sword wasn't enough. He needed proof!

"You want proof, Zack? Okay, here's your proof. You won't be able to talk until these promises are fulfilled." And that should teach you to open your big fat mouth.

How often have we spoken out of turn, especially concerning the things of God? I can't speak for you, but I have to confess that there have been times I didn't believe what I was hearing. I failed to have faith in the promises of God. I doubted, wavered, questioned...even knowing that I had heard the voice of God, I still asked for a sign. I guess it's just God's grace that I can still talk, huh?

And in that regard, how many times have I misspoken on God's behalf, or misrepresented what God had said to me? How many times have I heard others say, "God told me thus-and-so", and I knew in my heart they better be glad God didn't give them lockjaw, because the instructions they claimed were from God were so contrary to His Word? How many times have I wished for the spirit of shut up, either over my mouth or the lips of others?

I doubt very seriously that Zacharias was thinking my thoughts, but when he came out of the temple mute, and went home mute, and made love to his wife mute, and watched her grow in her pregnancy mute, and stood by during the birth mute, and for eight more days held his son mute...I suspect Zacharias was wondering just when his tongue was going to stop clinging to the roof of his mouth, when were his jaws going to come unlocked so he could tell everybody what had been going on inside him for nine months and more!

And his moment came when he had opportunity to follow through with the the instructions of God. Everything else had come to pass, with Zacharias and Elizabeth actively participating; God had come through for them. Now it was time for these old people to come through for God. And with a firm hand he scratched out on the pad: HIS NAME IS JOHN! And I wonder if he made the exclamation mark with the thought, "I will never doubt God again."

And immediately...

What would you have said?

Would you have greeted the wife who hadn't heard your voice in nine months? Would you have told the neighbors how much you hated your own name, and how could they even think of giving a kid such a hard moniker to spell? Would you have held your firstborn son and whispered his name for the first time while he looked up into your wrinkled face? Would you have let spill all the things you'd been saving up for all those months?

The Bible says that when Zacharias mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, the first thing he did was praise the Lord!

Whether we are mute or not, when God shows up and does stuff, and even when He hasn't shown up yet or done anything yet...the first words out of our mouth need to be praise to the Lord because of all He has done and all that He is going to do.