2/2/26

Hosea 14:2-3 NASB95 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. “Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy.”

The importance of words must never be overlooked. There was a man who passed away. After the funeral, I was talking to his grown son, who told me, "He never had a bad word to say about anybody." I thought about that as I knew the man. He was bold in his talk and he told you when he thought you were wrong. However, as I thought about him I realized that I never heard him speak badly of anyone else. He was honest with you about your faults in the hopes that you would attempt to correct them, but he didn't discuss your faults with others. I want to be that type of man! I have honestly failed at this, but I pray that God will help me to succeed. The reason I desire to be this way is because words matter. The Lord says in our text, 'Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips."' God desires us to verbally as well as physically repent, confess, worship, and produce fruit. He specifies that we will present the fruit of our lips. These are words of righteousness (the Gospel) that will draw people to the Salvation of the Lord. As Scripture says in Romans 1:16 NASB95 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

There is power in our words, when our words are righteous. They will produce fruit, when they speak the Truth of the Gospel. We, when speaking the Gospel unleash the power of God for Salvation.

He then continues with the truth of all the other things that we seek power in, and how they fail.

"Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands;"

Assyria is speaking of powerful nations. There is no eternal mercy, protection, power, or salvation in them. Horses, speaks of weapons of battle. Today we would say tanks, ships, or fighter jets. None of these will provide eternal salvation, protection, or forgiveness. Then He says we won't call the works of our hands god. For nothing created can have the power of the creator. The vastness of the universe and the scarcely small section we have been able to survive in should cause us to realize this. No man has ever traveled further than the moon. Man will attempt this soon but even then, we would still need to travel 1 billion 400 million times further to reach the edge of our galaxy. Nothing created has the power to save, provide mercy, or protection, to man like God can.

The text ends with. "For in You the orphan finds mercy.” As powerful as God is, He still finds time and a desire to provide mercy for an orphan.

This God, He is my God, and I hope your God, deserves to have His people use words to show, tell, express, and demonstrate, His saving power. Any words that don't do these things could be said to have been wasted!

Come to the Lord with repentance. Go to the world with His Gospel. Join in with Praise to Him. Reveal His power, display His mercy, and do it all with words. Oh, and by the way, living it with words for His glory gives a great witness as well.

Thank you to the friend who used words to describe the Lord in his father.

Love Bro. Scott