The Calves of Our Lips

Hosea 14:2b “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”

Tucked away at the end of Hosea, the prophet directs the people towards repentance. In doing so, he instructs them what to say: bring words! Say to the LORD, ‘Take away our iniquity, and receive us! Then we will give in restitution the strength of our lips!’

In the closing of verse 2 is a revelation of what God desires from his people: praise and worship. The prophet calls it, the calves of our lips, in the KJV, but the word ‘calves’ is better translated as ‘bullocks’. The bullocks are symbolic of strength, so literally, we will give the strength of our lips to you.

In it are the echoes of Psalms 98:4 and many other verses in Psalms which say, ‘Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah!’ It closely parallels Psalms 69:30-31 which states, Praise and thanksgiving will please God more than a bullock or ox. It also appears in Hebrews 13:15 where the writer identifies our sacrifices to God, that is, our lips giving thanks to His name.

When we come together to worship, that ought to be our focus. We have come to offer the strength of our lips. It’s the practical application of the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We will sing with all our strength, we will dance with our might, we will give thanks with all our heart. Everything we have, will we put into our worship!