The Power of Words
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body…
Commentator Albert Barnes noted that “Honey took its place, not only among the luxuries, but among the medicines of the Israelites.” Honey was used for its medicinal value as well as its culinary properties. It tasted good and was good for you. It was both pleasant and healthy. When it came to honey, they didn’t need a “spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down.”
That is the backdrop of this proverb. Gracious words are both pleasant and healthy. They are good and good for you. Certainly, there are words that are pleasant and unhelpful and even potentially harmful. Flattery can be that way. Flattery can make us feel good, but the praise can all be a flimsy façade that hides the truth and keeps us enslaved to lies. That isn’t what this proverb is talking about.
What, then, are these gracious words? Some suggest it has a reference to the gospel. Thus, the doctrines of grace spoken is both pleasant and healthy for those who hear it. Others believe it means kind and loving words in a more general sense. Both might be justifiable interpretations. What we can say with certainty is our words have the ability to comfort and strengthen the souls of those to whom we speak.