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Office Of Readings | Thursday, Week 6, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Explanations Of The Psalms By Saint Ambrose | Open Your Lips And Let God’s Word Be Heard
‘Always open your mouth to God’s word.’
This passage from Ambrose of Milan presents a sustained exhortation to interior and verbal engagement with the Word of God, understood in explicitly Christological terms. The text is structured around a simple but demanding imperative: that God’s word be both meditated upon inwardly and expressed outwardly in speech.
Ambrose begins with the unity of heart and tongue. Meditation and utterance are not separate activities but mutually reinforcing. The Word is to be ‘kept’ within and ‘spoken’ without, suggesting a continuity between interior reflection and external expression. This reflects a classical patristic concern: that speech should arise from a rightly ordered interior life. The citation from Scripture—speaking ‘when you sit… walk… lie down… get up’—extends this obligation across the entirety of daily existence. There is no neutral time; all moments are to be shaped by recollection of God.
The identification of wisdom, virtue, justice, peace, and truth with Jesus Christ is central to Ambrose’s argument. These are not abstract qualities but names that converge in a single person. This move is both theological and pedagogical. It prevents the fragmentation of the moral life into discrete categories and instead locates all such qualities within Christ himself. To speak rightly of any virtue is, in effect, to speak of Christ. The result is a unified vision of discourse: speech about moral and spiritual realities becomes participation in the proclamation of Christ.
The phrase ‘open your lips’ introduces a dynamic interplay between human action and divine initiative. It is ‘for you to open’, but ‘for him to be heard’. Ambrose maintains a clear distinction while affirming cooperation. Human speech becomes the medium through which the divine Word is expressed, yet the efficacy belongs to God. This is reinforced by the assertion that the Spirit of wisdom is given ‘according to capacity’. Not all attain equal measure, but all who believe participate in some degree. The universality of the gift is thus balanced by diversity in its expression.
Ambrose then turns to the discipline of speech. While he urges continual speaking of divine things, he also cautions against excess. The apparent tension is resolved by the notion of prudence. Speech must be governed, measured, and directed. The instruction to ‘speak to yourself as if you were a judge’ introduces an element of self-examination. Language is not only communicative but formative; it shapes the one who speaks. Idle or disordered speech risks moral failure, whereas disciplined speech contributes to spiritual integrity.
The progression through daily activities—sitting, walking, lying down, rising—provides a framework for continuous recollection. Each moment is given a specific orientation. To ‘walk along the way’ is interpreted christologically: Christ himself is the way, and thus all movement becomes an opportunity for communion with him. Similarly, the act of lying down is associated with vigilance against spiritual lethargy, while rising is linked with renewal and awakening. The imagery is both practical and symbolic, mapping ordinary actions onto the rhythm of spiritual life.
The latter part of the passage introduces a more contemplative dimension through dialogue. The soul hears Christ knocking and is summoned to respond. This evokes themes from the Song of Songs, where love is expressed through mutual seeking and response. Ambrose appropriates this imagery to describe the relationship between the believer and Christ. Speech becomes not only proclamation but encounter. To ‘open’ is to receive; to ‘awaken’ is to respond to a presence already at work.
In sum, Ambrose offers a comprehensive vision of the Christian life as one permeated by the Word. Thought and speech, action and rest, are all to be ordered towards Christ. The emphasis lies not on isolated practices but on continuity: a sustained attentiveness in which the Word is both received and expressed. The result is a form of life in which language itself becomes a site of transformation, shaped by and oriented towards the presence of Christ.
A Reading From The Explanations Of The Psalms By Saint Ambrose | Open Your Lips And Let God’s Word Be Heard
We must always meditate of God’s wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips. Your tongue must speak justice, the law of God must be in your heart. Hence Scripture tells you: You shall speak of these commandments when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you get up. Let us then speak of the Lord Jesus, for he is wisdom, he is the word, the Word indeed of God.
It is also written: Open your lips, and let God’s word be heard. God’s word is uttered by those who repeat Christ’s teaching and meditate on his sayings. Let us always speak this word. When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ.
Open your lips, says Scripture, and let God’s word be heard. It is for you to open, it is for him to be heard. So David said: I shall hear what the Lord says in me. The very Son of God says: Open your lips, and I will fill them. Not all can attain to the perfection of wisdom as Solomon or Daniel did, but the spirit of wisdom is poured out on all according to their capacity, that is, on all the faithful. If you believe, you have the spirit of wisdom.
Meditate, then, at all times on the things of God, and speak the things of God, when you sit in your house. By house we can understand the Church, or the secret place within us, so that we are to speak within ourselves. Speak with prudence, so as to avoid falling into sin, as by excess of talking. When you sit in your house, speak to yourself as if you were a judge. When you walk along the way, speak, so as never to be idle. You speak along the way if you speak in Christ, for Christ is the way. When you walk along the way, speak to yourself, speak to Christ. Hear him say to you: I desire that in every place men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling. When you lie down, speak so that the sleep of death may not steal upon you. Listen and learn how you are to speak as you lie down: I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
When you get up or rise again, speak of Christ, so as to fulfil what you are commanded. Listen and learn how Christ is to awaken you from sleep. Your soul says: I hear my brother knocking at the door. Then Christ says to you: Open the door to me, my sister, my spouse. Listen and learn how you are to awaken Christ. Your soul says: I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, awaken or reawaken the love of my heart. Christ is that love.
Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ
O God,
whose Word dwells within us and calls us to speak your truth,
grant that our hearts and lips may be ordered to you.
Teach us to meditate on your wisdom day and night,
and to speak with prudence,
so that our words may reflect your truth and build up others.
Open our lips,
that we may proclaim your Word,
and open our hearts,
that we may receive your Son, Jesus Christ.
Keep us attentive in every moment—
in rest and in action,
in silence and in speech—
that we may walk always in your presence.
Awaken in us the love that seeks you,
and grant that, hearing your voice,
we may open to you without delay.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Word of God (Logos)
The eternal Son of God, and also God’s revealed truth in Scripture; fully realised in Jesus Christ.
Meditation
A sustained reflection on divine truth, especially Scripture, intended to deepen understanding and shape life.
Wisdom
The knowledge of divine truth lived out in right judgement and action; often identified with Christ.
Spirit of Wisdom
A gift of the Holy Spirit enabling insight into God’s will and truth.
Prudence
The virtue that governs speech and action, ensuring they are rightly ordered and measured.
Virtue
A stable disposition to do good, reflecting the life and character of Christ.
Justice
The virtue by which one gives to God and others what is due, understood in a moral and spiritual sense.
Peace
Not merely absence of conflict, but harmony with God and others, rooted in Christ.
Truth
That which corresponds to God’s reality; in Christian theology, ultimately revealed in Christ.
Redemption
The act by which humanity is saved from sin through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
Church
The community of believers, both visible and spiritual, in which God’s Word is proclaimed and lived.
Prayer
Communication with God, including praise, thanksgiving, and petition.
Interior Life
The inner spiritual life of the believer, where God is encountered in thought, conscience, and prayer.
Vigilance
Spiritual attentiveness, especially in guarding against sin and remaining open to God’s presence.
Love (Charity)
The highest virtue, by which God is loved above all and others are loved for God’s sake.
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