I said ‘I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace even from good…” Psalm 39:1,2 KJV
I said, “I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good … Psalms 39:1-2 NASB
The Psalmist explains why he did not say anything. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing. We hold our tongues for many different reasons. At times, it is out of ignorance: we don’t know what to say. At other times, it is intimidation: we fear that what we say will bring a caustic remark, a rebuke, or reproach. Indecision – what shall I say? – often paralyzes us and silences our tongues. So often we are silent and hold our “peace, even from good.” Tragically indifference for the well-being of others may silence us and prevent us from speaking as we ought to speak. 
But the silence which marked the Lord Jesus sprang out of none of these. He always knew what to say. He always spoke fearlessly and faithfully. He never withheld His tongue from good. There was not only the absence of sins of commission in His life but there were no sins of omission. Every word was “in season” and for spiritual blessing.
Then why His silence before Pilate, Herod, and His accusers? This was not the silence of weakness or failure; this was a majestic silence. Here, finally, was the Perfect Man Who was able to control the tongue (James 3:2). He recognized with absolute accuracy that there was a time to speak and a time to “keep silence” (Eccl 3:7).
Consider
- Did the Lord Jesus ever speak an empty word? Were there wasted words from His lips? Or was every word perfect and its motive, content, delivery, and always to the proper recipient?
- The Lord Jesus, possessing all wisdom, could have refuted every argument, bested every opponent, humbled every adversary. Yet His every word was calculated for the blessing, not the berating, of others.