The old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is of course completely untrue. The words we are told as children play in our minds throughout our lives. The words of our bosses are words that we analyze again and again for what hidden agenda they might enclose. The words of a lover can build us up or cut to the heart. Words are the medium of ideas and ideas are powerful. Ideas can create empires and also lay them to waste. The words that the psalmist hears are destructive so he turns his own words to God. He wants God’s ideas to be spread abroad because that would mean words of truth and justice.
Psalm 64
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the plots of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
they shoot suddenly, without fear.
5 They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, “Who will see it[b]?”
6 They plot injustice and say,
“We have devised a perfect plan!”
Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
7 But God will shoot them with his arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8 He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9 All people will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.
10 The righteous will rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will glory in him!
Questions
- What does the psalmist need saving from this time?
- How are the human mind and heart described?
- What will happen to the tongues of those who have a cunning plan?
- Have you found yourself on the wrong end of a chain of gossip or of a destructive plan?
- How can God expose and eradicate even the most crafty plan?
Plymothian 