The Architecture of Edification Text: Proverbs 16:24
Introduction: Our Cacophonous Age
We live in an age that is drowning in words, and yet starving for meaning. Our digital public square is a cesspool of outrage, a cacophony of shrieks, snarls, and snark. We have more avenues for communication than any generation in human history, and yet we have less to say. Our words have become disposable, used as weapons for momentary advantage in the endless online culture war, or as fluff to fill the void of our own emptiness. We use them to tear down, to cancel, to mock, to slander, and to signal our own threadbare virtue. And then we wonder why our society is so fractured, why our relationships are so brittle, and why our souls are so malnourished.
The world believes that words are either tools of raw power, as the Marxists would have it, or that they are ultimately meaningless, as the postmodernists insist. But the Christian faith teaches something entirely different. Words are not meaningless, and their power is not their own. Words are architectural. They build and they demolish. They are never neutral. Every word you speak lays a brick, either in a glorious cathedral or in a squalid little hovel. Every conversation either contributes to a palace of praise or a prison of despair.
Into this modern bedlam, the book of Proverbs speaks with a bracing, earthy wisdom. It does not offer us a sentimental platitude about "being nice." It gives us a profound theological statement about the very nature of reality. It tells us that our speech has substance, that it has a tangible effect on the world, on others, and on ourselves. Our text today is a compact little gem of Hebrew poetry that diagnoses our sickness and prescribes the cure. It teaches us that our words can be a source of immense pleasure and profound healing, or by implication, a source of bitter poison and deep decay.
The Text
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
(Proverbs 16:24 LSB)
A Divine Confection (v. 24a)
The proverb begins with a beautiful and potent simile.
"Pleasant words are a honeycomb..." (Proverbs 16:24a)
First, we must understand what "pleasant words" are. The Hebrew word is no'am, which means gracious, delightful, or beautiful. This is not about empty flattery or the kind of saccharine niceness that refuses to speak a hard truth. Gracious words are words that are fitting for the occasion. They are words of truth, spoken in love. They are words of encouragement, timely warnings, faithful rebukes, and heartfelt praise. They are words that align with God's reality.
And these words are like a honeycomb. Think about what a honeycomb is. It is a natural creation, not an artificial factory product. It is a marvel of intricate design and order, built by the diligent, communal work of bees. And it is a concentrated source of pure, unadulterated sweetness and energy. So it is with pleasant words. They are not manufactured in the factory of human sentimentality. They grow out of the soil of a heart that has been cultivated by the Word of God. They require wisdom and diligence to produce. You do not just stumble into speaking gracious words; you must cultivate the garden of your heart from which they grow.
The honeycomb is also a direct polemic against the world's fare. The world offers you the high-fructose corn syrup of gossip, the artificial sweeteners of flattery, and the cheap candy of slander. It gives you a momentary sugar rush, followed by a crash that leaves you spiritually diabetic and rotting from the inside. Godly speech, pleasant words, are the honeycomb. They are a created good, a natural good, that provides genuine nourishment and lasting energy.
Nourishment for the Inner Man (v. 24b)
The proverb then explains the first effect of this honeycomb.
"...Sweet to the soul..." (Proverbs 16:24b)
The soul, in Hebrew, is the nephesh. This refers to the entire inner person, the seat of your life, your appetite, your emotions, your will. This is the real you. And the proverb tells us that gracious words are sweet to this essential part of our being. They are a deep, satisfying pleasure.
This is because we were created for this. We were designed by God to live in a community of truth and love, edifying one another with our speech. When a brother speaks a word of genuine encouragement to you, it meets a God-designed need in your soul. When a sister offers a word of wise counsel, it satisfies a deep hunger for righteousness. This sweetness is not superficial. It is the profound joy of a soul being rightly ordered and affirmed. It is the taste of Heaven.
Contrast this with the bitterness that harsh and sinful words produce. Slander, gossip, constant criticism, nagging, and complaining are like acid to the soul. They corrode joy, breed resentment, and starve the inner man of the very nourishment it needs to thrive. A church, a family, or a marriage that is filled with such talk is a place of spiritual famine. But a community where pleasant words are the currency is a banqueting hall for the soul.
Structural Restoration (v. 24c)
The final clause gives us the second, and perhaps more startling, effect of pleasant words.
"...and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24c)
In Scripture, the bones represent the very frame of a person, the deep, structural core of one's being. A broken spirit, we are told elsewhere, "dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). Despair, anxiety, and grief are said to penetrate to the very marrow. The Bible understands what our modern medical science is only beginning to appreciate: that our spiritual and emotional state has a direct and profound impact on our physical health. There is a psychosomatic reality to our existence.
This proverb is telling us that words have medicinal power. Gracious words, words of hope, truth, and love, can literally bring healing to a person's body. They can alleviate the kind of deep-seated stress and anxiety that manifest as physical ailments. Think of the person burdened by a secret guilt, who finally hears the pleasant words of forgiveness in Christ. That is healing to the bones. Think of the saint weighed down by trials, who is lifted up by the sincere encouragement of a friend. That is healing to the bones. Think of the child who grows up hearing words of affirmation and love from his parents, rather than words of criticism and anger. That child's bones are strong.
Our words are not just vibrations in the air. They are prescriptions. With our tongues, we are constantly administering either medicine or poison to those around us. We are either participating in the healing of their deepest structures or we are contributing to their decay.
The Fountain of All Pleasant Words
So where do such words come from? We cannot simply decide to be "more pleasant" in our own strength. Our hearts are naturally factories of bitterness, not honeycombs. Jesus tells us plainly, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). If you want to change the words, you must change the heart.
And there is only one way for the heart to be changed. It must be overwhelmed by the most pleasant word ever spoken. That word is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the ultimate honeycomb. It is the news that though we were bitter sinners, deserving of wrath, God, in His grace, sent His Son to live for us, die for us, and rise for us. This word, when received by faith, is surpassingly sweet to the soul of a repentant sinner. It is the only word that can bring true and lasting healing to our sin-shattered bones.
God spoke the ultimate pleasant word when He said of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). And because we are in Christ, that is now His word over us. When your heart is truly captivated by this reality, when you are feasting on the sweetness of your justification and adoption, your own words will begin to change. You will begin to produce honey, not because you are trying so hard to be a bee, but because God has transformed you into one.
The gracious words we are called to speak are simply echoes of the grace that has been spoken to us. We encourage because we have been encouraged by the Holy Spirit. We build up because we have been built into the house of God. We speak truth in love because the ultimate Truth loved us and gave Himself for us. Our speech becomes a means of grace to others, a distribution network for the honeycomb of the Gospel.
Therefore, let us repent of our toxic speech. Let us turn away from the cheap candy of this world and ask God to give us a taste for His honey. Let us fill our hearts with His Word, so that our mouths may be fountains of life. In your homes, with your spouses and children, in this church, with your brothers and sisters, and in the world, with your neighbors, resolve to be a builder. Resolve to speak pleasant words, for they are sweet to the soul, and healing to the bones.