Context No. 2620 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 23:1-16: in context

1O Lord, Father and Master of my life, don’t abandon me to their counsel. Don’t let me fall because of them. 2Who will set scourges over my thought, and a discipline of wisdom over my heart, that they spare me not for my errors, and not overlook their sins? 3Otherwise my errors might be multiplied, and my sins abound, I fall before my adversaries, and my enemy rejoice over me. 4O Lord, Father and God of my life, don’t give me a haughty eyes, 5and turn away evil desire from me. 6Let neither gluttony nor lust overtake me. Don’t give me over to a shameless mind. 7Listen, my children, to the discipline of the mouth. He who keeps it will not be caught. 8The sinner will be overpowered through his lips. By them, the insulter and the arrogant will stumble. 9Don’t accustom your mouth to an oath, and don’t be accustomed to naming the Holy One, 10for as a servant who is continually scourged will not lack bruises, so he also who swears and continually utters the Name will not be cleansed from sin. 11A man of many oaths will be filled with iniquity. The scourge will not depart from his house. If he offends, his sin will be upon him. If he disregards it, he has sinned doubly. If he has sworn falsely, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities. 12There is a manner of speech that is clothed with death. Let it not be found in the heritage of Jacob, for all these things will be far from the godly, and they will not wallow in sins. 13Don’t accustom your mouth to gross rudeness, for it involves sinful speech. 14Remember your father and your mother, for you sit in the midst of great men, that you be not forgetful before them, and become a fool by your bad habit; so you may wish that you had not been born, and curse the day of your birth. 15A man who is accustomed to abusive language won’t be corrected all the days of his life. 16Two sorts of people multiply sins, and the third will bring wrath: a hot passion, like a burning fire, will not be quenched until it is consumed; a fornicator in the body of his flesh will never cease until he has burned out the fire.

Sirach opens with a prayer that is really a request for internal discipline. O Lord, Father of my life, he prays, do not give me haughty eyes; turn evil desire away from me; let neither gluttony nor lust overtake me. Who will set a guard over my thoughts, he asks, and a discipline of wisdom over my heart? And he goes on to warn about the untamed mouth, the habit of careless oaths, coarse and abusive speech.

What is wise here is that Sirach prays for control at the source, the thoughts, the desires, the tongue, rather than only fighting the sins once they surface. He asks God to set a watch over his heart and mouth before pride, appetite, and reckless words can master him. That is a different strategy than most of us use. We tend to battle sin at the point of action, and pray, if we pray at all, only after the damage. Sirach wants a discipline placed over the inner life, a guard at the gate of thought and speech. The tongue and the appetites are easier to govern when we have asked God to hold them before they run.

Do I ask God to set a guard over my thoughts, desires, and words at the source, or only fight my sins after they have already surfaced?

Sources

Sirach 23:2: Who will set scourges over my thought, and a discipline of wisdom over my heart, that they spare me not for my errors?
Sirach 23:6: Let neither gluttony nor lust overtake me. Don't give me over to a shameless mind.
Psalm 141:3: Set a watch, LORD, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.