Psalm 12
Let’s read together from Psalm
12. This psalm says that the title, to the choir master, according
to the Shemineth, a Psalm of David. And it reads this way. Save, O Lord, for the godly one
is gone, for the faithful have vanished from among the children
of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor. With flattering lips and a double
heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering
lips, the tongue that makes great boast. Those who say with our
tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us. Who is master over
us? Because the poor are plundered,
because the needy grown, I will now arise, says the Lord. I will
place him in the safety for which he longs. The words of the Lord
are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified
seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them.
You will guard us from this generation forever, on every side the wicked
prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. This is God’s word for us. Let’s pause and pray. Our God,
we do thank you that your word is pure, especially compared
to the words of the world. And we do pray, Father, that
this night we would recognize your word for exactly what it
is, your own word to us, your children. It is true, it is unshakable,
it is for us, it feeds our souls, it fills our minds, and it gives
us our marching orders. And so we pray, Father, that
we would not forget your word, that we would not disregard it,
but that it would be revered by us and obeyed by us. We can’t do this without your
strength and help and blessing, so give it, we do pray in Christ’s
name, amen. Well, the title of our message
this evening is Surrounded But Supported. If you think about
life in the world, you can sometimes find yourself in the pit of despair.
Just look at the political headlines and you’ll say, oh, what is coming
in November and what are we gonna do? Or you look at the culture
and you say, could there be a worse movie on the screen or a worse
music on the radio or worse behavior by the children of this generation?
Or you name it, you fill in the blank. And you could go on and
on through every category. And what we realize is we are
surrounded by evil but we are supported by God. And so the
challenge for us is not to lose heart. God knows the world we
live in. God knows the vileness of it. He knows the rottenness of it.
He knows the hardship of it, but he does not leave us alone.
Remember that Jesus, in his high priestly prayer, prayed to God
that he would keep us, that he would preserve us, that he would
get us through life, and that he would safely bring us home
where Jesus is. So this is the context of Psalm
12. It’s very similar to last week
in Psalm 11, but the psalmist, or you could put yourself in
his shoes, we are surrounded by ungodly people who with their
lips profane everything. as our Psalm last week says,
the foundations are shaken, so what can the righteous do? And
that sounds a bit like a hopeless question, but it’s really not.
What can the righteous do? Well, they can look to God. But
the question for us with Psalm 12 this night is what do we do
when the world around us is unglued, when it’s, It’s chaotic. It has fallen apart in such a
way where we say, like Elijah, am I the only one who is faithful? Of course, we don’t say that
in the sense of am I the only one left who is faithful and
the rest are not, but we begin to feel alone. You remember Elijah
after he warred with The prophets of the Baals, remember they dumped
water all over the altar and one was gonna call down fire
and the other and they would see whose God showed up. Well, Elijah
and his God, Yahweh, won. The other gods failed. Remember
Elijah taunting them, where is your God? He must be asleep.
Maybe he’s taking a restroom break. But their God could not
perform, but the God of heaven and earth Elijah’s God and our
God performed. But Elijah went off into the
wilderness and he cried out to God and he said, am I the only
one left? And guess what God said to him? I still have 7,000
who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And so maybe sometimes
you wonder, or maybe we wonder as a church, or we wonder as
Christians, are there many left who faithfully serve God? And so the answer is always yes,
God always has a people for himself, but that’s a real question. The
world has gone crazy, is there anybody left other than I? Well,
to look at this passage, we wanna really do it in two ways and
then look at a conclusion. And we wanna look at it in this
simple big picture way, and that is with the word, words. Okay, words are the important
theme of this passage. And you’re gonna see the importance
of words in two ways, the words of the world, and then the words
of God. But look in verse one, this is
the context we’ve been speaking of. He says, save O Lord for
the godly one is gone. More or less, there is no godly
one in the land. The faithful have vanished. And
then he goes on to speak of the language. of the wicked or the
language of the unrighteous. He says, everyone utters lies
to his neighbors. With flattering lips and a double
heart, they speak. And then he makes a little prayer.
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that makes
great boast. Those who say with our tongue,
we will prevail. Our lips are with us. Who is
master? over us. These couple verses
here, two, three, and four, tell us a little bit about the words
or the nature of the tongue of the wicked. You know the power
of words. Maybe you still suffer your wounds
from middle school or elementary school where the kids taunted
you or said terrible things about you or made fun of your developing
What is it as we develop we’re a little awkward or or goofy
and maybe you still have some painful wounds from those days.
Words are powerful. Some of you may still be in counseling
from that right. Words are powerful but we think
about memorable speeches. There’s a radio program I listen
to every Wednesday and it has memorable speeches from the past.
It’s, of course, a conservative little program I listen to. So
they give lots of speeches by Ronald Reagan, or you may hear
something from one of the Bushes, or every once in a while, they’ll
play something from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister
of Israel. But you’ll hear famous speeches
like Reagan’s Mr. Gorbachev. How did it go? Tear down that wall. See, you
remember speeches. Words have power. But words also
are destructive. We think of how there are wars
of words. I watched an interview. recently
of a newscaster who Donald Trump just really trampled on. And
they were asking this newscaster, how have you gotten through it?
And she says, I had to hole up in my house with my family, my
husband took care of me, my family encouraged me, because he just
trampled all over me. So words can destroy, they can
build up, they can inspire, they can move people. But here he
says the words of the wicked are crushing. And he gives four
categories of words here. And the first one is they are
liars. Notice what it says in verse two, everyone utters lies. So among the children of man,
the godly are gone, he thinks. And so what’s the first characteristic
of the ungodly who surround him? Well, they’re liars, they distort
the truth, they speak empty words, they speak in vain. Then he moves
on to say they are flatterers. Verse two says, that with flattering
lips and a double heart they speak. They’re flatterers, they
speak in a purposeful way to deceive, but also to achieve
an end. If you read through the Bible,
one of the crowning descriptions of wicked is that they flatter. And if you read particularly
towards the end of the Bible where it speaks in the end times,
what will happen when the level of ungodliness rises to such
a level that we hope Jesus is returning? One of the great characteristics
is that there will be people who are flatterers. And the Bible
tells us they will be in our pulpits, they’ll be on the thrones
of our nations, But flattery is not a godly characteristic. It’s actually one of the crowning
characteristics or achievements of the ungodly. So they are liars,
they are flatterers. And then at the end of verse
two, it says, with a double heart, they speak. They speak out of
both sides of their mouths. They are deceivers. They do not
speak truthfully to the children of man. And then finally, what
does it say about their words? It says in verses three and four,
may the Lord cut off all the flattering lips and the tongue
that makes great boast. So they’re boasters, they’re
liars, they’re flatterers, they’re deceivers. But here it speaks
of their boasting. Those who say with their tongue,
we will prevail. Our lips are with us. Who is
master? over us. These are people who
put their pride on display. They really reveal what’s going
on inside them by their lips. They boast. They tell of their
own misdeeds. The apostle Paul speaks of this
very often when he tells us we live in the midst of a crooked
and depraved generation. We live in the present evil age. We live in the present world
where darkness prevails. Did you notice what we read in
the 16th chapter Romans. Did you catch that funny little
phrase where it says in verse 20, the God of peace will soon
crush Satan under your feet? Did y’all catch that little sentence?
You can easily skip right by it, but God gives us glimpses
of hope when evil is all around us. God is going to prevail over
evil But what does he say to us in a passage like this? The
words of the wicked are strong and powerful. So much so that
the psalmist cries out in verse three, may the Lord cut off all
flattering lips. And you assume it says, may he
cut out the tongue that makes great boast. He is saying, get
rid of these boastful, get rid of these liars, get rid of these
deceivers, remove them from, what’s the context? This is David’s
kingdom, this is the promised land, He wants them out of Israel
because it is a difficult, a difficult scenario for the people of God
that they have these deceivers. So what is… What is the bottom
line here for the psalmist? He wants to be around people
that speak truth and not lies. He wants to be around people
who when they’re in a one-on-one situation with you, they aren’t
flatterers, but they are truth speakers. He wants to be in a
situation where the people around are not deceivers, but they are
what we might call straight talkers. And then he does not want to
be around boasters, but those who have honest humility about
their lives. So those are the words of the
wicked. And would you say we’re surrounded by that in our culture?
Oh, for sure we are. But should we lose heart? Well,
notice what he moves to in verse five. God comes on the scene. It says, because the poor are
plundered, because the needy grown, I will now arise, says
the Lord. I will place him in the safety
for which he longs. Then he goes on to say, the words
of the Lord are pure words like silver refined in a furnace on
the ground purified seven times. And so this moves away from the
words of the wicked to the words of God. What do we know about
God’s word? Well, it’s true. It’s trustworthy. He always gives it at the right
time. He always knows what to say in every situation we find
ourselves in. And think of this, when you compare
the word of God to the word of man, you can’t even begin to
describe the gulf between the truth of God and the lies of
human nature. There is no comparison. We’ve
said on Sunday nights and other places before, isn’t it interesting
how when you hear regular words, Maybe you’re humming along to
a song on the radio in your car, or you’re listening to a speech. It’s very interesting to note
the difference when you hear the word of God read. I think I mentioned to y’all
some time ago listening to a political speech. I think it was Benjamin
Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations sometime in the last
year. And he was basically browbeating our president for not stepping
in with the Iranian nuclear deal. And so he began to say, we need
to defend Israel. We need to defend the nation
of Israel. And then he began to quote some
sort of passage that was speaking about looking out for Zion. And
when he quoted that passage from Isaiah or wherever it was, it
was almost like the words were stark, there’s a stark contrast
between his other words and the words of God. And so we recognize
that the Word of God is true, it is trustworthy, it is different,
it is not from this world. But here God says to the psalmist,
here I come, I am going to step in, I am going to get involved,
I am going to come take care of business. And why is that?
It’s because the poor are plundered. Well, we read over and over in
the Bible, God loves the poor. And he loves those who are cast
down. The needy are groaning, and he says, I will arise. Sometimes in our house, when
we read a psalm, we talk about what does it mean when God says,
I will arise, or when we say to God, arise. He vanquishes
enemies. That’s right. He’s going to get
up. and take care of business. That’s what that whole arise
seems to mean. I’m gonna get up and take care
of business. And God doesn’t have to be asked here. He just
says, I’m coming. This is my task. I’m gonna take care of business. But what are we to understand
of the words of God? Well, it’s this, they are tested
and they are tried and they always stand as flawless. What does Isaiah say? It’s often
quoted. After the reading of God’s word
in some churches, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word
of our Lord will stand forever. But what has our word, what has
God’s word been through? It’s been through the, it’s been
through the lawnmower, it’s been through the, what’s that thing
on the side of the road, the brush chipper. It’s been through
the semantics doctors, it’s been through the PC police, it’s been
through every single available institution or machine that could
chop it up and destroy it. Because we want it twisted and
we want it turned and we want it to say things that we want
it to say because we can’t stand how God has his authority over
us. Remember Satan, what did he say
to Eve? Did God. really say. And so from the beginning
of time, God’s Word has been questioned. But what has God’s
Word done? It has stood the test of time. Because God’s Word does not fail.
God’s Word always lasts, and it will make it. His Word is
flawless. So now what? How do we think? How do we live?
What do we conclude from this? The words of the wicked are just
that. They’re wicked. The Word of God is just what
it is. The Word of God is flawless.
And so the world’s not going to change overnight, right? A new president’s not going to
make life any better, maybe not even much better. The economy
is going to continue to struggle. We’re going to continue to have
enemies in the world and all around us. So what can the righteous
do? Do we put our trust in princes?
Do we put our trust in horses? Do we put our trust in the democratic
system or in judges sitting on the bench? Well, we do to the
degree that we live in a nation where that is the way things
work, but we ultimately put our trust in God. The world and people
and systems may not ever change. They, in fact, may get worse.
But what does God say to the psalmist? What does he say to
us? It seems to say, if you cry out
to me, I will respond. And what is the response you
might come to after reading this passage? Well, it’s in verses
seven and eight. And you might say it in our modern
hymn language, it’s simply this, how firm a foundation you saints
of the Lord. He says, you, O Lord, will keep
them. You will guard us from this generation forever. On every
side, the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children
of man. Now, this is the bottom line. We may walk through hell on our
way to heaven, but God’s truth will never change. And that’s
where we keep our eyes. We keep them fixed on the firm
and changeless God of the universe and the word he speaks to us.
Let’s pray together. Our God, we do look at the world
around us and it may cause our hearts to sink and our eyes to
fill with tears for it is a difficult place for us to live and serve,
but it is where you’ve put us. It’s the world you’ve made, and
you’ve even told us to have dominion over it and rule it. So we pray,
Father, that your kingdom come, that your will would be done
on earth as it is in heaven, and that your name would be made
famous to the ends of the earth so that more men and women, boys
and girls, would bow their knee to Jesus, submitting to him,
obeying him, and worshiping him so that we see peace and we see
joy. But we also long for the new
heavens and the new earth. When you will come again and
you will make all things new, you will right all wrongs and
justice, will be meted out in your judgment, and there will
be no more tears, no more crying, no more pain and sorrow and suffering,
and there will be joy for your saints as they gather around
your throne and your face. We long for that day, but until
then, keep us and protect us from the world around. In Christ’s
name we ask all this, amen.