Psalm 64:3-4 “They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.” Today's episode talks about how awful bullying is and what we can do if we are being bullied or treated disrespectfully. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
They Aim Cruel Words Like Deadly Arrows
Psalm 64:3-4 “They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.”
I am currently watching a TV show about high school students. This verse certainly rings true for them. There is a new kid at the school and he gets bullied. It is so hard to watch kids bullying other kids. It's hard to watch anyone being bullied. I just want to tell the person who is bullying, “You don’t have to do this. You are better than this. This won’t actually make your life better.” And I want to tell the person being bullied, “You are not the things they are saying about you. You are not worthless. You are an awesome person. They are bullying you because they are hurt and don’t know what else to do.” I was picked on when I was younger. I was one of 11 children. We didn’t have the nicest clothes, we didn’t have the coolest new toys, I am sure I sometimes smelled because I didn’t shower or because I didn’t wear deodorant. I know I didn’t always brush my hair in middle school and sometimes I would wear the same clothes as I wore the day before because I woke up so late and didn’t have time to even get changed. I am sure my parents and teachers around me told me the same things I want to tell those being bullied, but it didn’t make a difference. In the moment, all you hear are the negative things people are saying. This verse actually perfectly describes bullies. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They know just what to say to cut you to the bone. Their words hurt so deeply you remember them for years to come.
It makes me so sad to think of how many people get bullied in school each day. Did you know 1 out of 5 kids report getting bullied. That’s just the number who report being bullied. I am sure the number is higher. That number is just taking kids into account. Unfortunately bullying doesn’t stop when we grow up. There are adults that bully kids, there are adults that bully other adults. Senior Citizens sometimes get bullied. Bullying can happen to anyone. There is no rhyme or reason to it. This verse applies to all of us. I think everyone has had cruel words like deadly arrows aimed in their direction. Maybe it was a kid in school, or your boss at work. It might have even been your children or your spouse. Maybe it was/is a family member or an in-law. Whoever it was their unkind words they still hurt. They may even hurt more if it was a loved one. Even if we are old enough to understand the person is being unkind to us because they are hurting inside, it still doesn’t really take away the sting of their words. Even if we try to ignore the things they say, we usually let them get into our head, at least briefly. So, what can we do when we have someone aiming their cruel words at us?
That is the million dollar question. If we can answer that question we could save people a lot of heartache and pain. To try and find an answer I went back to the Psalm 64 where I found the verse above. I though to myself, surly there has to be something positive in this psalm. Maybe the author of the verse knows what to do. I did find some relief in verses 7 and 8. Psalm 64:7-8 says, “But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly 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.” I should have known. The answer is God. The answer is always God, why haven’t I learned that yet? God is our refuge. When we need help, we can turn to Him. It says God will shoot them with His arrows and they will be struck down. It says He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin. I read this, and I know God’s word is truth and yet I can think of instances when this was not true. Or I should say I haven’t seen this to be true. The thing is, God’s timing isn’t our timing. What is 50 years to us could be one day to God. So when it says they will be suddenly struck down, that doesn’t mean immediately in our time. I can think of times when the people who were in the wrong, those that were bulling or being unkind seemed to get away with it. To our eyes it seems as though nothing happened to them.
If you are in a situation like this, or if you have been in the past, I am sorry. I know how hard it is to get bullied, or to be treated unfairly or badly and the person responsible for it seemingly gets off without any consequences. To this I have two thoughts. First, we don’t know what their justice is, but we do know that God is a just God. Maybe we won’t see the consequences, but we can rest assured there will be some. Second, God’s timing is not our timing. Just because everything seems to be working out for them right now, doesn’t mean it always will. Also, things aren’t always what them seem. Just because someone looks like everything is going there way, doesn’t mean it actually is going their way. We only see what people want us to see. There is much of our lives that remain hidden, especially if we want it that way.
So, what can help in this situation? I think the way to strengthen our skin and not let things others say get under it is to remember who we are and whose you are. You are the son or daughter of the one true King. You are amazing. You are enough just as you are. You are made in the likeness and image of the Lord our God. You are a great mom. You are a great dad. You are a great daughter. You are a great son. Know who you are. If you don’t know who you are, spend some time figuring it out. God is your refuge and your savior. You belong to God. He will protect you. If you are confident in who you are then the negative things others say to you will have a harder time getting into your mind. Also, if you surround yourself with positive roll models. If you have great friends and family who build you up all the time then when you encounter a few bad apples, you can brush it off more easily because you know who you are and whose you are. You are in charge of protecting your mind and decided what you will let in and what you will block out.
Sometimes when we are getting bullied we can resent that person and we can start to feel hatred towards them. This is what the enemy wants. He wants you to be so angry that you fill your heart with hate instead of love. We might feel like we want something bad to happen to that person. If this is you, remember, it is not our place to judge. It is not our job to make sure they get justice for what they have done. We are only in charge of our actions. If we let their behaviors fill us with hate we might end up doing something we regret. If we let their behaviors fill us with hate then we are letting the enemy win. Let God take care of the judgement and we can just focus on protecting our minds and not letting what they say rattle around in our heads. Whatever our troubles are, we can turn to God and ask Him for help. We can ask Him to take away our unkind thoughts. We can ask Him to help us remember who we are. We can ask Him to help us remember we don’t have to be scared because He is our protector. I heard a sermon by Pastor Steven Furtick yesterday and he said, “If your enemies could do to you what you are afraid they are going to do, they would have done it already. God’s got your back and they can’t touch you.” We are all scared of something, we need to turn those fears over to the Lord and ask Him to take them from us. If you are being bullied right now, or if you have someone in your life who is not treating you the way you deserve to be treated hear this, you are awesome. You are worthy. You are enough just as you are. You are perfect in fact because you were made in the likeness and image of God. You are a prince or princess of the one true King. You are amazing!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, protect us from the sharp words of others. Protect us from the unkind way people treat us. Lord, we ask for your shelter through this storm. We ask you to guard our hearts and our minds so their unkind words have no where to land. There are so many people being bullied right now and we ask you to be with them, help them feel loved and accepted as they are. Protect them from others and protect them from themselves. Lord, we are losing far too many to suicide these days. Nearly 800,000 people die every year from suicide. That is one person every 40 seconds. Lord, please help us. Help us to help others too. Show us what we need to do to stop all the bullying so we can help people begin to heal. Lord, you are sovereign. Your ways are not our ways. Teach us your ways Lord. Help us to become more like you. You are amazing. Help us turn to you instead of turning to the world Lord. Help us to help others. We love you Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a blessed day!