The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.
– Numbers 22:38
These are the words of Balaam to Balak. There is so much we could talk about in this passage. Just read Numbers 22 through 24, and you see that sometimes what is a comical story. Bt overall is a serious story about what it means to see correctly, accurately, and rightly in the spiritual realm. And at the same time to speak God’s Word faithfully.
Numbers 22:38 pictures the responsibility of every Christian to share God’s word.
And that’s why I want to lead us to pray according to verse 38. When Balaam says, “The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak,” he’s summarizing the whole ministry of a true prophet. All throughout the Old Testament, the responsibility of a prophet was to say, “Thus says the Lord,” and then speak to God’s people, whatever God says.
And what’s interesting is when you turn the pages of the New Testament and specifically dive into Acts 2, as Peter’s preaching the first Christian sermon, you see Peter quote from Joel 2 talking about the role of the prophet to speak God’s Word. But what’s amazing in Acts 2, now that the Holy Spirit has come upon all of God’s people, all of God’s people, not just a few people like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Joel or the other prophets we read about in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, it’s all of God’s people who have the Spirit of God on them and the Word of God in their mouth.
And this is the takeaway for you. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you have the Spirit of God in you, and you have the Word of God in you. And to use Balaam’s words from Numbers 22:38, “The word that God puts in your mouth, that must you speak,” just as a prophet in the Old Testament had the responsibility and privilege. What an honor to speak for God.
Numbers 22:38 reminds us that we are God’s messengers.
You today have the responsibility and the privilege. What an honor to speak on behalf of God, to speak his Word. God’s Word is not intended to stop with you or center on you. God’s Word is intended to spread through you. And so I just want to encourage you today to pray for, and look for an opportunity to speak God’s Word into someone else’s life, into another brother or sister in Christ.
Just encourage them with straight Scripture and then to pray and for an opportunity to speak God’s Word to somebody who doesn’t know God, to speak the gospel, good news of God’s love into their life. Again, straight from Scripture, you have, I have the power today by the Spirit of God in us to speak life, to speak the supernatural Word of God that brings spiritual life to people. We have the opportunity to speak that today, so let’s do it.
This verse challenges us to use our words for eternal impact.
Oh God, please help us to speak your Word today into other people’s lives, to encourage others with your Word, to remind others of your Word, to introduce somebody to your Word. Oh God, it’s all the words we might say today talking about the weather, sports, current events, news, and so many different details in our lives.
God, help us to saturate our conversations today and each day with supernatural truth, with your Word that you’ve put in our hearts and our minds. May it come out of our mouths, may we say with Numbers 22:38, “The word that God has put in our mouths, we must speak.” And specifically even the word of warning to those who don’t know you, oh God, we know that eternal judgment is coming. God, help us to faithfully speak your Word, to warn people of judgment, and to invite people to salvation on your behalf.
Prayer for the Audich Brahmin People
Oh God, we pray for this Word, your Word to spread around the world. We pray specifically today for the Audich Brahmin people of India, for over half a million of them Gujarati speakers. God, may the Audich Brahmin people hear your Word in Gujarati, in their heart language, and may you bring spiritual life to them. We pray for their salvation, and we pray for the faithfulness of your church laborers to go into this harvest field and spread the gospel among half a million Hindu Audich Brahmin, men, women, and children.
God, we pray that you would help each of us to faithfully speak your Word today, tomorrow, all this week, just in every interaction we have. Help us to intentionally look for and take advantage of opportunities to speak that which you have put in our minds and our hearts. May it flow from our mouths. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
