Refuge; Psalm 7

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me." We learned that one on the playground, and we learned it isn't true. Even the Bible declares it false! Proverbs 12:18 warns, "Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword." Ephesians 4:31 instructs, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Words hurt. We've all been on the receiving end of careless words that have cut us, and for too many of us, the words weren't careless; they were carefully calculated to wound us deeply. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can break my heart. David wrote Psalm 7 in response to wounding words. In verse 2, he laments that these words have torn his soul apart, "rending it in pieces, with none to deliver." Rather than stew about them or wonder how he could say something back equally as cutting, David turns it over to God and pours out his hurt in the Psalm. I don't think we can hear Psalm 7 without hearing something of the wounds we've received, perhaps even the wounds we've inflicted on each other. But we also hear the promise of the righteous God who knows our wounds as deeply as we do.