Using the value of a language field to update a record

I’m wondering if you can do something like this:
$description = {lang_tbl_whatever} ;

Then use that in a update statement:

// SQL statement parameters
$update_table = ‘sec_apps’; // Table name
$update_where = “app_name = ‘{app_name}’”; // Where clause
$update_fields = array( // Field list, add as many as needed
“description = ‘$description’”,
);

// Update record
$update_sql = ‘UPDATE ’ . $update_table
. ’ SET ’ . implode(’, ', $update_fields)
. ’ WHERE ’ . $update_where;
sc_exec_sql($update_sql);