Is it just me, or has cursing become more prevalent than it was, say, 40
years ago? It seems that people just don't care what comes out their
mouth, and if they do, it is only to outdo the level of filth of their
associates. Well, I decided to define this topic a bit by consulting a
dictionary....
Artha
curse ~ verb uncommon
1. utter obscenities or profanities
The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street
2. heap obscenities upon
The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger
3. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
The bad witch cursed the child
4. exclude from a church or a religious community
The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner
1. utter obscenities or profanities
The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street
2. heap obscenities upon
The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger
3. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
The bad witch cursed the child
4. exclude from a church or a religious community
The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner
curse ~ noun common
1. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
expletives were deleted
2. an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
3. an evil spell
a witch put a curse on his whole family; he put the whammy on me
4. something causing misery or death
the bane of my life
5. a severe affliction
1. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
expletives were deleted
2. an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
3. an evil spell
a witch put a curse on his whole family; he put the whammy on me
4. something causing misery or death
the bane of my life
5. a severe affliction
So, cursing is the vocal expression of a negative wish upon something (or someone). Oh, I left out the enthusiasm that usually accompanies what is said. We become angry and curse the object of our hatred. Consider this passage...
Job (NASB)
Job 2:7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job
with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Job 2:8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!"
Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job 2:8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!"
Job 2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
That Job's wife could even consider that He say such things is a
testament to the severity of the affliction (might we say - curse) of
Job; an indication of his desperate straits. Verse 10 shows that Job
realized that any such curse would be a sin and so chastised her for her
foolishness. But, now that I think about it- isn't all cursing
foolishness, because it is the expression of the evil intents within the
heart. Frankly, I think we should all be careful about what we say and remember the Scripture found in the book of Jude...
Jude (NASB)
Jud 1:1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To
those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus
Christ:
Jud 1:2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Jud 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
Jud 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.
Jud 1:9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Jud 1:2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Jud 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
Jud 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.
Jud 1:9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Leave judgment to God and do not take matters into your own hands by uttering a curse. Consider the actions of a "man after God's own heart"...
1 Samuel, Chapter 24 (NASB)
1Sa 24:1 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was
told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi."
1Sa 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
1Sa 24:3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
1Sa 24:4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly.
1Sa 24:5 It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.
1Sa 24:6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed."
1Sa 24:7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.
1Sa 24:8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
1Sa 24:9 David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, 'Behold, David seeks to harm you'?
1Sa 24:10 "Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.'
1Sa 24:11 "Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it.
1Sa 24:12 "May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
1Sa 24:13 "As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you.
1Sa 24:14 "After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea?
1Sa 24:15 "The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand."
1Sa 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
1Sa 24:3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
1Sa 24:4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly.
1Sa 24:5 It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.
1Sa 24:6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed."
1Sa 24:7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.
1Sa 24:8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
1Sa 24:9 David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, 'Behold, David seeks to harm you'?
1Sa 24:10 "Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.'
1Sa 24:11 "Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it.
1Sa 24:12 "May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
1Sa 24:13 "As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you.
1Sa 24:14 "After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea?
1Sa 24:15 "The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand."
I am going to think about these things today- and I hope you will as well!!!!
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