what to when people talk bad about you

They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;

all who see them will wag their heads.

Psalm 64:8

In this psalm, David cried out to God because people have been plotting against him. A major part of his trouble involves people talking bad about him (see Psalm 64:3-5). This verbal attack is not just dangerous, but also has potential to hurt the nation since it is directed at God’s anointed king.

What did David do when people talked bad about him? He prayed to God about the situation, releasing his anxieties to the Lord, and asking Him to handle it. He trusts in the Lord to make the situation work out, to save him from the attacks of these conspirators. He releases dread and receives assurance in its place.

And as God so brilliantly works, the secret talkers are undone by their own strategy. Their own tongues turn against them in ironic justice. The humiliation David feared for himself falls on them. God’s justice is pure art! The end result is that God is feared by those who know what happened and is worshiped by the righteous who trusted in God to work it all out (Psalm 64:9-10).

So what should we do when people talk bad about us? We pray, giving our worry to God. Then we trust, knowing God can undo the damaging abusive speech through the attacker’s own words.