¹Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. ²Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, from the tumult of those who do iniquity, ³who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow …

The childhood jingle, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me,” finds limited value for us in some situations. Intended to help children ignore the taunts of others on the playground, it turns harmful when those taunts are backed up with actions. As adults, we sometimes find it not difficult to deduce the conniving thoughts of those who would abuse us in some way. Their intentions to undermine, slander or otherwise harm us are telegraphed by their tone of voice, innuendo and carefully crafted wording. In Psalm 64, David dreaded abusive speech that he knew would turn into destructive behavior toward him. And as the story played out, he pegged that right.

 While the context of this psalm is not stated, it may describe the experience of King David when his son Absalom was planning to steal the loyalty of the Israelites away from his father (2 Sam. 16-18). His secret plans probably sprung some leaks that found their way to the King in bits and pieces. In today’s language, David was thinking, “The word on the street has it that an insurrection is brewing.” So, as he had come to do frequently before, he turns to the Lord with his concern.

Who among us cannot relate to David’s experience? He writes about those who talk behind his back (“secret counsel of evildoers”), the incisive criticism of those who are quick-witted or have carefully planned their words against him and innocent sounding comments that none-the-less drip with sarcasm and bitterness that cannot be hidden. Shortly after becoming a Christian, the length of my hair came under criticism. No one spoke directly to me about it, but someone circulated an anonymous letter in the church about the evils of wearing long hair as a man. It was all couched in Scripture and seemingly godly concern. I can relate to what David meant when he wrote that, “[They] shoot from concealment at the blameless” (vs. 4). With today’s internet and social media, invectives fly loosely and freely about a plethora of biblical and spiritual topics, all the while hiding behind a perceived level of internet anonymity.

With David, the criticisms against him turned physical when, “Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.” This may refer to the D-Day when Absalom pulled the trigger, instigating his planned rebellion driving David out of Jerusalem. The calculated conniving emboldened the son and his followers into action against the father David: “‘We are ready with a well-conceived plot’” (vs. 6a). Words go beyond simple gossip when they bubble up from deep-hearted evil into harmful actions: “For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep” (vs. 6b).

Evil-abusive speech uses many tools to accomplish its intended purpose to harm others: bullying, intimidation, initiating legal proceedings, out-and-out lying, hindering promotion at work, starting rumors that undermine your character, gaslighting distortions to gain sympathy for themselves and turn people against someone—there is no end to the evil creativity of those whose hearts are hardened against others.

But the godly response is to not live with dread but to turn to God our defender. Though his detractors “shoot at him” (vs. 4) and lay their “snares” for him (vs. 6), David trusts that, “God will shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly they will be wounded” (Ps. 64:7). They will stumble over their own words, and ultimately the truth will come out. A common saying today is that “History will judge…” or the related argumentative retort, “My view will be on the right side of history.…” However, truth is of such a nature that it will, in the end, become known to those who genuinely desire to live righteously. In other words, when people hurl abusive speech at us, subtly or overtly, the truth will come out in the end. We don’t know when that will happen, but like David, we look to God where our hope lies, on the right side of spiritual and righteous history.

When we are criticized or are victims of bullying, we can know that our Lord Jesus Christ stands with us, or more to the point, He stands between us and our abusers. He is quite familiar with the situation since that is one of the things He experienced often. For example, His response to the Pharisees’ attempts to bully him shows us that He didn’t need to win the arguments and debates of the moment:

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” (Lk 7:34–35)

Those who desire the wisdom of God are the ones Psalm 64 calls the righteous, and in the end, the righteous will wisely and unanimously agree to the truth concerning the matter before you. To put it another way, the spiritual history of righteous judgment will vindicate all who are unjustly subject to the evil thoughts, speech and behaviors against them. So, with David, we can declare:

Then all men will fear, and they will declare the work of God, and will consider what He has done. The righteous man will be glad in the Lord and will take refuge in Him; and all the upright in heart will glory. (Ps 64:9–10)

Lord, I believe You will expose abusive words and evil actions against me to the light of righteous wisdom. This will bring You great glory!