Proverbs 15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

He really likes to hear himself talk.

I wonder how long that thought has been around. Maybe here in this Proverb is a hint of that very thing. As I am pondering this issue many things come to mind about our speech. Do we talk at people, to people or with people?

Some talk at people from a false sense of worth. Their ego is so inflated that they perceive their speech pierces the dullness of ordinary lives and gives them something they lack. They do not care about that person in front of them, their situation, their pains or concerns. They do not even care to receive anything in return for the opinions of others will need to be corrected.

Some talk to people because they have something of value to share, not because it is their own invention but because truth revealed has value in and of itself. Their audience chose to come, listen, learn, absorb and find value. The purpose in this speech is to enrichen a life, to provide for a need, and while interaction is welcomed it is not necessary. The speaker knows that truth will accomplish what needs to be done without explanation.

Speaking with people is a clear sign of relationship. Involvement in concerns, pain, troubles, and intimate details that few others get to hear is the core of the conversation. Love is extended and returned. It is personal and it establishes trust. Both parties involved receive a blessing.

The right word at the right time to the right person will most likely occur in this third setting. If God has a word to help enrich a life, it is most likely to be given to people who love as instructed.

Psalm 25:14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

It is one thing to read the promises of God and another to see them. The shining is this revelation of His glory, the essence of who God is not only in word but in promises kept. His promises are kept in three ways; dependent, independent and consequential.

Within His dependent promises is a requirement of performance on man’s part. God says in these promises, if you will I will. God is not obligated to keep His promise because it is dependent on man to do his part. Many of the Mosaic laws are written specifically that way.

God’s independent promises are not provisional because God declares I will. Man has no obligation of performance in these promises. These promises are often directed towards specific circumstances and not any individual. In covenant relationship independent promises, individuals are directly affected.

The third type is usually lost on people because of the inherent nature of the cause. Sin has entered into the world and because of that consequences occur which affect everyone regardless of performance or relationship. We see in these times and places that sins committed half way around the globe influence us here because we have become a global community. It has always been this way but we are just now seeing how we as a world are connected in ways that we are only now becoming aware.

Two of these promises are temporal. Part of God’s independent promises are not. Those are His prophetic promises which outlast man’s dependency and sins involvement. The only escape from man’s dependency and sins involvement is God’s secret covenant.

Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 3:3  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.