GOD’S WORD: A REMEDY TO THE HURTFUL WORDS OF OTHERS
Psalms 119:23 (CSB) Though princes sit together speaking against me, your servant will think about your statutes…
Perhaps there is nothing worse than knowing that people, whose opinions about us matter, are not saying nice things about us. It's discouraging and seems to confirm our worst fears, namely, that we are unlikable, unlovable, and unworthy of respect. The Psalmist refers to the possibility of princes speaking against him, princes meaning people with a high position. And why does he care? Because, for the writer, they are people whose opinions matter. They speak negatively, and are doing so in agreement with each other (together). It is bad enough to have one person think and speak badly of us, but quite another when others join them.
The natural reaction would be to get angry and defend ourselves or counterattack, but here, the Psalmist gives us a better way, one that involves thinking on the statutes of God; in other words, His Word will become the focus of the mind. The truth of God's Word is what matters most – how He sees the universe and how He sees us. If we believe His Word and opinion about us, we will have confidence and a settled spirit. The opinions of others change, and their memories are sometimes short and selective. They are an unstable bunch and not worthy of the idolatrous shelf on which we put them; their opinions constantly wreak havoc on our emotional stability. Isn’t it amazing how sensitive we are to them? But the remedy is sure. It is stable, eternal, and immovable. If we settle into what God thinks about us, we will not live endlessly trying to prove ourselves to fickle people whose opinions change as often as the weather in a small West Texas town. God says plenty about us, and those words are weighty. Let the Bible become more than a duty-read or a theological homework assignment. Let it become a portal where we encounter the affirming thoughts of an intimate God, zealous to connect with us in friendship. These are what His statues will do for us, and when in place, they effectively dust off the collective words those princes so unthoughtfully spoke against us.
