Answering Back
by Richard Griffiths
How do we respond when someone speaks unkindly to us, or about us? Or when what they say seems so unfair? It always hurts and, when we are hurt, it’s easy to react out of hurt feelings. Hurt feelings don’t generally produce godly reactions.
There’s something significant in what David says that our English translations can’t really get. The Hebrew word for ‘reply’ is the same as the one for God’s ‘word’. God’s word! The Hebrew here means every kind of communication from God. What David is saying is this: “My answer will be an exact reflection of what You are speaking into my life – it will be shaped by it”. What’s more, he trusts in this word.
‘Then’ links this verse to the previous one: ‘May I experience your loyal love, O Lord,
and your deliverance, as you promised’. There David has affirmed his commitment to receive all the blessings that flow from God’s covenant love, everything that He promises in His word. So, what David is saying is this: his responses to unkind words will come from his experience of God’s blessings and his trust in everything that God speaks into his life.
As I’ve meditated on this verse, I’ve felt really challenged. I’ve been asking myself this: Do I really allow God’s word so to shape my mind and my emotions that my reactions are always in line with His heart? Does His word penetrate deep into my spirit, or does it get no further than my head?
James 1:21 says this: ‘Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls’ (NLT) – ‘save’ could equally well be translated as ‘heal’. James shows us what God does and what we have to do. We have to deal with our sinful attitudes and behaviours. God plants His word in our hearts. We choose to accept it and allow it to take root within us. Through it, He heals and restores our mind and emotions, so that our attitudes and responses begin to conform to His will for us.
Today’s verse puts this in a nutshell. When we truly trust God’s word, and allow it to shape our soul and spirit, we will respond to unkind things in a godly way.
Richard Griffiths When Richard retired from full-time Anglican ministry in Chichester in 2009, he and his wife, Sue, moved to Northumberland. He joined the ministry team at Ellel Grange in 2011, where he and Sue regularly ministered at healing retreats. They are now helping on the "Explore" team. They greatly enjoy walking in the beautiful Northumberland countryside and along the coast. Richard loves seeing God bringing people into a strong personal relationship with Him as their Father and the healing that comes with it.
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