Psalm 12:1-8

When we were kids we had a little limerick that we would say: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  It is one of those sayings that should be filed under the “wishful thinking” category.  As much as we may want that to be true, the reality is that we are very often hurt greatly by the words that other say to us or about us.  The damage that can be caused with words, both spoken and written is often greater than those caused by a physical attack.  We can put casts, pins and plates on broken bones and they will heal up nicely; but our broken hearts from hateful words are very hard to fix.  David was the victim of the hateful and false words that were spoken by evil men against him.  He gives us hope and good advice when we are attacked by hurtful words because we can listen to the wonderful words that come from God.  We must choose carefully what words we will hear and believe.

THE WORDS OF THE WICKED HURT: There are many ways that we can be hurt through the words of others.  David mentions four of them in this passage.  First, lies hurt us because people tell untruths about us and or tell untruths to us.  When people believe lies, they and others will be hurt.  People may be mistreated, lose their jobs, have broken relationships and/or have wealth taken away from them as a result of lies.  We must be committed to telling and hearing the truth.  Second, flattery is a means of hurting others because it is both deceptive and destructive.  These are words that we may want to hear about ourselves, but they are often used to manipulate us into doing something that is wrong.  These words can be subtle and easy to swallow but they are no less dangerous than lies because they fill our heart with pride and our heads with wrong thoughts.  Third, boasting is a way that we use words to hurt others.  When we draw attention to ourselves and our own deeds we usually do it at the expense of others and we always do it at the expense of praising the Lord.  We were created to worship the Lord and our words should be used to praise Him, not ourselves.  Finally, the fourth way we hurt with our words is through threats.  When we threaten others we fill their hearts with fear even if we never carry out those threats, the damage has been done.  God wants us to use our words to praise Him and bless others but the wicked use their words to praise themselves and hurt others.

THE WORDS OF THE LORD HEAL: The Lord has an entirely different way of using His words so that we can be blessed, encouraged and helped through them.  The Lord comes to those who have been oppressed by the words of the wicked and He provides for them a place of safety and refuge.  No matter how many false, flattering, boastful and threatening words come at us from the wicked we can find a refuge in the Lord.  He protects His children and He has a heart for those who are oppressed by evil.  Besides providing protection from the damage of the wicked, the Lord also supplies an entirely different type of words that build us up and provide grace and healing to us.  God’s words are pure, true and holy and not only provide protection and healing from the words of the wicked.  We must be very careful what words we choose to believe and hear.  God offers a gracious and healing alternative that can undo all of the hurt that the wicked may inflict with their words.