Be not rash with your mouth, nor LET your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore LET your words be few.

Applying this scripture can save us a world of grief. We live in a society that encourages word after word, whether it’s reality television interviews or social media. This particular scripture refers to worship in the house of the Lord, but it’s brilliant advice in relationships, business, talking to your neighbor, or ordering coffee. As a society, we’re not encouraged to LET our words be few, so the impetus to pull back has to be ours individually.

Before we get to “LET”, let’s look at two other scriptures:

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. We’ve all been in conversations that go on too long and get awkward. After all, there are only so many words that need to be expressed, and “when words are many, transgression is not lacking”. When words are no longer edifying, that’s when transgression can begin, and the conversation should be brought to a graceful end.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, “…when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.” If there are too many words, a conversation—with God or anyone else—becomes dulled. (Some of us think that many words will work toward making a point, when in general, the opposite is true.)

How do we avoid this verbal trap? One way is to pay attention to the call to not “LET [our hearts] be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth”.It’s up to us to not allow so many words to come out of our mouths.Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Our words have power for good or evil, and we need reminders that He is God and we are not.

We can also make the shift from wanting to talk to wanting to listen. Ecclesiastes 5:1 encourages us to “draw near to listen,” which applies to worship as well as to everyday conversation. Many of us have a hard time doing this in our own strength, and failed efforts can be frustrating. But God has the grace and wisdom for us if we’ll lean into Him, and as we listen—especially to His Spirit—we can make that huge shift. We’ll find ourselves moving from wanting to express ourselves to wanting to listen, and that will automatically make our words fewer (and over time, more meaningful).

It’s in our power to “LET” our words be few. The call to listen is part of this. The other part is to receive these admonitions about downsizing our word count and then to draw near to Him. As we do this, we receive His empowering grace to obey.