"They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.
They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;
they shoot at him without fear.
...But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down.
He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn."
--Psalm 64:3-4; 7-8
A few things stood out to me in this passage. Number one: the element of ambush. The whole point of an ambush is that it is unexpected, that others have been preparing for a period of time while you have been completely in the dark. We are like that. The enemy lies in wait to ambush us. He prepares, he schemes, and during that time we are unaware. But hopefully we are not unprepared. We are given the tools to withstand the attack, even though it is painful, and unexpected.
Number two: They shoot without fear. Since we are unprepared, we should fall quickly. There is no reason why we should be able to withstand their ambush.
Number Three: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I know that's a lie. You know that's a lie. We all know how much of a lie that adage is. Words can hurt more than sticks and stones combined, and those are the wounds that last the longest. "They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows." That sounds like aggravated assault if ever I heard it. These words, they are aimed to kill. They are aimed to tear us away from our wonderful Creator, they are aimed to make us doubt, to hurt us deeply in ways they hope will never heal.
The conclusion: Yes, there are ambushes lying in wait for us. Yes, they have been preparing, and yes ,those ambushes will hurt. If they didn't we'd brush them off and there would be no problem, rendering this passage pretty pointless. But the truth is they do hurt and they do catch us by surprise. But the awesome thing is that we have a God who is our source of strength, who will cover us and aid us beyond anything we can do. God is a source of amazing healing for those times when we are ambushed, when we are cut down and left reeling from the sudden attack. And when you focus on God, when you place your heart on his desires, on his words, there can be no room for the enemy to tear you from his wonderful love. Later in the passage it mentions that they pretty much get a taste of their own medicine. It gets a little intense...or a little old testament I guess you could say.
But there is also a flip side to it...our flip side. "The tongue" is mentioned so much in scripture. James spends an entire chapter on it. It's mentioned consistently in the new testament an a lot in the old as well. I think that probably is saying to us that it's a problem we should be really aware of, and constantly vigilant of. Ever had a time where your tongue seems to run away with you? Ever reaped the "benefits" of that action? It usually isn't very pretty at all. Lives can be made or destroyed with the movement of one of the smallest muscles in our body. And yet...for how small it is, did you know it is one of the strongest? That in itself is a statement. So yes, we are covered by God's grace, he is a source of strength when "they" tear us down with their sword like tongues, but we have to be conscious about our words and statements as well. Because, if we say negative things, not only will it destroy the lives of others, but it ultimately brings self destruction as well.
See no evil, SPEAK no evil, hear no evil.
Words are so powerful. They can utterly destroy, or they can build and encourage. So which one will you choose to do today?
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I have issue with your second point. Undoubtedly they will ambush us and we will be unprepared, but to say that we will fall so quickly sounds like you are giving up hope. I don't know what's coming most of the time, but I don't let that paralyze me, I will undoubtedly fall at times, but I don't fear those times because of my faith. Maybe you meant something else, but that's what I thought.
ReplyDeleteAs for your last question, I can't tell you how much your words continue to build up and encourage me, so thank you.
Ah, I say we should fall quickly. Not that we will. When we stand on our own strength, we can't hold up for very long. Oh, sure, we can hang on for a while and fight off attacks, but it won't be permanent. The great hope is that when we rely on God, when we are willing to place our hopes and fear in Him, we are able to heal. We don't have to worry about falling when we rest in the protection of His arms.
ReplyDeleteFearing the future is a funny thing. We can have strong faith and still do it. It's the human thing to do. But the promise is that we have God to draw on for strength and healing and we don't have to face it alone. That's what I was getting at. I didn't mean to sound hopeless at all. Quite the opposite, actually. I am filled with joy at how filled with hope I can afford to be.
I hope that answered your question. If not, just let me know. =) I think the rest of that point was internal, and that's why it was confusing. My bad for not writing it down clearly.
I'm really glad and excited these are encouraging you. If you have any other questions, just let me know. You know where to find me. =)