New Words

Photobomb is when someone intrudes into the background of a photo without the subject’s knowledge.

Psalm 140:1-13

Reference: Keep me safe, Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet. (Psalm 140:4 TNIV)

Explore: Every year new words are added to the dictionary. While we already have millions of words in the English language, there are new ones being created that are so widely acknowledged, they are added to our dictionary.

Recently words such as ‘bridezilla’, ‘floordrobe’, ‘totes’ and ‘photobomb’ were considered appropriate and were commonly used, therefore were added into our database of words.

Bridezilla is a bride to be who becomes intolerable as she plans her wedding; Floordrobe is a pile of clothes left on the floor of a room (thus the floor becomes the wardrobe); Totes is an abbreviation for totally; meaning completely or entirely; and Photobomb is when someone intrudes into the background of a photo without the subject’s knowledge.

These are all words I have come to know and may even have used in the more recent past. However, I’m sad to say that there are other words that have also been incorporated into our language that show of the sadder state our world is in.

‘Bashtag’ is a hashtag used in social media when posting critical or abusive comments, ‘cyberbully’ is someone who uses electronic communication to hurt, persecute or intimidate people, and ‘frenemy’ is a supposed friend who acts in a treacherous manner. These new words show that our world is not always a friendly place.

Application: The writer of Psalm 140 seems to have found himself in an unfriendly place. At the time of writing the Psalm it would have been unlikely that the writer would have experienced cyberbullying, however, he was certainly feeling targeted and vulnerable.

Unfortunately, there are times when we feel the same. People turn on us, reject us, or push us aside.

It’s at these times when we struggle to see the hope that God has for us. However, it’s often during these times that God’s hope seems like the only thing we can truly rely on.

Reading through the Psalms reminds me that we still live in a broken world. But no matter what we may face, God understands all things. He knew all the new words before they were marked in our dictionaries, and He also knows that there is true hope for you in your future.

Prayer: Lord, give me the strength to get through each day. Help me to see glimpses of Your love and hope for me. Amen.

When have you been able to hold tightly to God’s hope?

hope, new, people, Psalm, struggle, words