Words kill. In tonight’s psalm (64), David presents a complaint to the LORD. He is afraid, because his enemies have been meeting secretly, plotting against him. They have prepared a plan, secret snares to trap him. But what hurts the worst are the words. These evil men “whet their tongues like swords,” they “aim bitter words like arrows.” David the warrior would prefer to deal with the weapons of war. He knows how to defend against swords. He can use a shield to block arrows. But what defense is there against words, false words, lying words, words shot “from ambush at the blameless”? A bell cannot be unrung, and words cannot be taken back. Long after the wound from an arrow or sword heals,…