Everyone has a voice and no one is afraid to use it. Layers upon layers of jabber. Or so it seems when I scroll my news feed or browse social media. Some of what is said is positive, and I try to add such thoughts when I post. But negativity pushes towards center stage.

We converse more civilly in face-to-face interactions. I keep a pleasant veneer even if I speak ill of someone behind their back. Not sure that’s much better than sniping on the internet, but maintaining a level of decorum feels like a win.

King David dealt with wagging tongues and whispers behind his back. A royal court breeds insinuations and jockeying for power. In his shifting circumstances David sought refuge in the Lord. He praised God for protection:

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you…In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.

David yearned for shelter from the strife of tongues. Sounds like a modern desire does it not? David reverenced the Lord and found sanctuary. The goodness of God mutes the power of the tongue. I recognize this works both ways. God helps me handle barbs, and the Lord lays bare the excesses of my own tongue. Both actions shelter me from conflict (which honestly springs more me than others).

Perhaps because I live and work in a world of words it feels like more chatter is battered about than every before—much of it negative. So I my spirit finds rest knowing a shelter exists impervious to the strife of tongues.

Psalm 31:19-20

Photo by Melyna Valle