Wisdom can mean either shutting up or speaking out.
The expression of wisdom is noticeable mostly through informed speech, but it can ever-so-often be through withholding speech.
The wise man prayed:
“I will guard my ways
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence”.
Whether you’re in the company of the wise or the ignorant, holding peace can be helpful. As the old proverb asserts, “Speech is silver; silence is gold.”
Yes, speaking foolishly might well aggravate the wicked ones and set them off into a senseless tantrum; but it could also, very well, turn off the wise who might decide not to waste time seeking to instruct you if you sound like an unteachable.
Don’t brag. Try not to talk much about things you do not know because the ignorance you want to keep undercover might very well show by way of your uninformed speech. I have encountered many idiots whose ignorance I would not have detected, had they not chosen to speak, sometimes too loudly, sometimes too long.
But there are certainly times when holding your peace does not make for peace. Injustice thrives because too many keep silent, claiming that they are serenely accepting things that cannot change, when in fact, it is their voice that will usher in change for the sake of the powerless voiceless.
A muzzle on your mouth may be problematic when you are called to speak out. Maybe that’s why the psalmist’s distress grew increasingly worse. Hear him again:
“ I was silent and still;
I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse,
3 my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:”
Lord, make me wise. Remind me when to be just sitting without speaking, listening to the one who needs an ear, keeping quiet because I still need to discover the facts, to be informed about what needs to be said, if any words need to be spoken. Lord, teach me to hush up.
Lord, help me to speak up. You have called me into this ministry where talking is demanded, where talk can be demanding, where talk can be frightening; I always need your help to speak for you that those who hear may live for you. Maybe they need to change their ways so let me not in silent default, endorse the wickedness of any. Make me wise to know when to shut up and when to speak up. Amen.