Though Evil Surrounds Us

· Intro: Good morning GPC! Would you turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 12? Psalm 12 is where we will be today. As you are turning there, let me just make a few announcements. (App- download it- NOW AVAILABLE ON ANDROID, make a profile, ENABLE NOTIFICATIONS- THOSE COME FROM US! Etc.). Would you please stand with me as we read God’s HOLY WORD?

· Read psalm, pray, you may be seated, drink

· Trust me for a minute here. Could you close your eyes with me for a second? Do you ever think about words? We say a ton of words over the course of a day. There isn’t a great estimate of how many words we speak per day, but estimates range from 4,000 words to 20,000 words! The point is, we say a lot of things over the course of a day.

· But, not all are positive words. If you have ever been hurt by someone’s words, could you just raise your hand? Thanks for your honesty. Now, if you have ever HURT SOMEONE with your words, could you raise your hands? You can put them down. Thanks for being so transparent!

o Words are a real challenge and before we talk about them practically, let’s think for a second about what we see with words in scripture.

o Words are a fascinating thing in scripture. The Bible is really clear that words can be great and words can destroy! Just consider even the very beginning of the world! God SPOKE the world into existence!

§ Yet, consider the way that Adam and Eve were deceived. Satan SPOKE to them. See, even in the first 3 chapters of Genesis, we see speech that is GOOD AND SPEECH THAT IS BAD!

§ This continues throughout the rest of scripture. We see it all the way up to Revelation in fact! Yet maybe the most clear place that we see this contrast is in James 3. In James 3 we read, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

· Our tongue, our words; our mouth, is truly a double sided challenge! It can be great and can build up others, or it can RIP PEOPLE APART!

· Lots of us have been hurt before by words. That was clear as we opened our time together. In fact, I think it would be fair to inference that it is not just the attendees of GPC that have been hurt by words, it is our world! OUR WORLD HURTS AND IS HURT BY WORDS! In Psalm 12, we see David really hurting. Why is David hurting so much? BECAUSE OF PEOPLE’S ACTIONS AND THEIR WORDS! David hurts in Psalm 12 because of people’s words!

o Words cause deep, deep hurts. So what do we do when we are hurting because of someone’s words? What do we do when we feel overwhelmed with hurt because of the words and actions of people? What do we do when we feel SURROUNDED by this?

o Well, spoiler alert, we go to God like we see in Psalm 12! This morning our main point is: Main Point: Even though we will be surrounded by evil and wickedness, the Lord will save us!

· BODY: It’s great to be back in Psalms! We’ll be in psalms over the next three weeks before we return to the book of Acts to close out that series.

o Psalm 12 fits so well with what we’ve been talking about recently. As we considered various issues in the world during our imago dei series, we saw how the world is caught in confusion and chaos! The world badly needs Jesus and it can feel almost hopeless. In Psalm 12 we see hope though!

· This Psalm is a Sheminith, which scholars believe means that it was, “to be sung in a low voice by men.” We don’t have a great idea of WHEN it was written. It has been suggested by commentators like Charles Spurgeon that it was written while David was persecuted by Saul and it has some similarities in context to Psalm 6, but there isn’t a definitive event attached to this Psalm.

· I think that’s perfect because the material covered in here is something that we will deal with and interact with often in life! How often do we interact with words and people hurting each other with them! How often do we interact with deep sorrow and pain because of others? How easy is it for us to feel surrounded by evil and to feel like the FAITHFUL HAVE VANISHED as David titles this psalm?

o Further, it is divided into four parts of two verses. These four parts show us first, the issue, secondly, we see David’s prayer, then we see God’s Promise, and finally, we close it out seeing The Outcome.

The Issue

David’s Prayer

God’s Promise

The Outcome

· Let’s dive into these first two verses. We read, “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.”- Psalm 12:1-2

o David immediately cries out asking the Lord to save him. David uses an imperative verb here, crying out saying essentially, “WON’T YOU SAVE ME YAHWEH?”

§ It’s a plea and it’s also a cry that acknowledges that ONLY GOD can save David! Only GOD CAN SAVE US IN THIS SITUATION! We can’t save ourselves, we can’t get ourselves out of this situation, ONLY GOD CAN!

o Now, why is David crying out? He cries out because, “the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.”

§ David feels like he is surrounded by people who do not love the Lord! He feels that he is surrounded by a wicked world, as he’ll make clear in verse 2!

· Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by an unrighteous world that hates God and hates what is right?

· Well, you probably should! The Joshua Project, which specializes in raising awareness for missions, has a fascinating statistic. In the US, only 26.49% of people are evangelicals! Now, hear me loud and clear, that is not saying only 27% of people are saved, but that number isn’t far off!

o We are genuinely surrounded on all sides by people who DO NOT KNOW JESUS!

o Do you wonder why we see the vileness in culture that we do? LOOK AT THE FACTS! We are surrounded by people that don’t know TRUTH! All they know is the lie that satan gives them!

§ Wake up! Don’t miss this! The message of psalms like Psalm 12 is not a message just for the past! It’s for us too! David feels totally distraught!

· WE SHOULD TOO! DOES IT HURT THAT THERE AREN’T MORE PEOPLE FOLLOWING JSUS? I’m not looking for fear, but DOES IT MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE?

o IT SHOULD!

o David’s discomfort continues in verse 2 as he says, “Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.”

§ David says that everyone lies, that everyone flatters, is fake and is two-faced! Everyone around him is a people pleaser and DOESN’T WANT TO ACTUALLY FOLLOW GOD! THEY AREN’T REAL!

§ Listen, a common thing that comes up about my generation is, “They don’t want fake people.” It’s true. But as Christians it should be true for every single person in this room! We should want GENUINE!

· Why? BECAUSE GENUINE IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE. Our security doesn’t rest in one person’s opinion of us, our security rests completely in JESUS WHO SAVED US! If we truly have our identity in Jesus, then we don’t need to hide like so much of our culture!

o Our culture is overwhelmed with people masquerading, using words and actions, to avoid admitting hurt, failure and insecurity! We don’t have to be like that. Instead, we can jump for joy and rejoice BECAUSE our identity is firmly in God!

o During our imago dei series we talked about the importance of being made in God’s image! This is part of the application! We can be real and genuine which means that we can SHARE THE GOSPEL AND SHARE OUR HOPE BECAUSE WE DO HAVE HOPE!

o Verses 1 and 2 are clear. There is evil all around! David feels the defeat of the righteous and he communicates that so richly! Do you see that? DO YOU FEEL THE EMOTION THAT DAVID IS PASSING ON?

§ This isn’t just an emotion that David feels, this is a set of emotions that we feel too!

· In verses 3 and 4 we see David’s prayer. When David is surrounded by evil on all sides, what does he do? HE PRAYS! David cries out and says, “May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, ‘With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”- Psalm 12:3-4

o David isn’t merely upset and angry at the world, HE CRIES OUT TO GOD ASKING FOR SPECIFIC THINGS! David could have just become angry and bitter, he could have just given up, but he DOESN’T! HE GOES TO GOD AND BRINGS HIS REQUESTS TO GOD!

o Now, listen to me, David doesn’t hold back. He doesn’t sugar coat it; HE PRAYS BIG! He’s in a TOUGH SITUATION, SURROUNDED BY EVIL ON ALL SIDES AND HE PRAYS BIG!

§ He prays and asks that the LORD WOULD CUT OFF THE FLATTERING LIPS AND THE BOASTING TONGUE!

· David asks the Lord to cut off those who THINK THEY HAVE NO RULER!

· David asks God to HUMBLE PEOPLE! David is clearly struggling here and I think it is clear that part of his struggles have to do with what others are saying.

o Our words really matter. In fact, the way people speak is a way that we can be SURROUNDED BY EVIL! James 3 is very clear on this.

§ James writes, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

· Clearly in scripture, as we talked about in our introduction, our WORDS MATTER!

§ Paul David Tripp wrote a phenomenal book called War of Words. In it, he argues that, “There is nothing we depend on more than our ability to give and receive communication.”- Paul David Tripp SLIDE

· Yet, as Tripp points out, not all communication is positive! Instead, as he argues, satan has corrupted through sin what communication should be.

· He says, “Many of the problems we experience when talking with one another emerge from the fact that we have usurped the authority of God: We say what we want to say, when and how we want to say it. We speak as if we are in charge and as if we have the right to use our words to advance our purpose, and to achieve what would make us happy. We speak as if we were God.”- Paul David Tripp SLIDE

o That’s exactly what David is saying! He’s saying that many who surround him speak from a perspective of BEING GOD! Yet that isn’t true! We are creation not CREATOR!

o Our words should reflect that because our words should be COLORED IN PRAISE OF GOD RATHER THAN PRAISE FOR SELF!

§ Last week we talked about how the chief purpose of man was to glorify God! Yet, what we see here in verses 1-4 is that David is surrounded by people who seek to glorify themselves!

§ After all, when someone speaks with flattering lips, they are trying to gain favor! When someone boasts, they want position and power, or to feel better about themselves! This isn’t a mystery!

§ And what word does David use to describe these people? We don’t see it yet, but in verse 8, David calls them wicked and vile!

§ These are evil people!

· David gives us a great example in verses 3-4. He struggles in verses 1-2 and he resolves it by GOING TO GOD! As we move into verses 5-6, we will see God’s response.

o God says, “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, 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.”- Psalm 12:5-6

o The Lord’s response in this case really fascinates me. God promises comfort and protection. Yet, it doesn’t seem to happen right away! In fact, David uses the imperfect verb tense here which in Hebrew was used to show actions that were not yet complete! In other words, salvation IS COMING, BUT IT IS NOT YET AT HAND!

§ Charles Spurgeon writes about this, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.”

· In other words, this suffering is not without purpose. As hard as it is, it WILL lead to something far greater and far better; DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL BY THE HAND OF THE LORD!

· The Lord sees us even in the times of trial, even when we are surrounded on all sides by wicked and vile behaviors.

· Let me call on you to cling to verse 5 as a reminder that God’s MOVING AND WORKING RIGHT NOW!

o Hear me; HEAR MY VERY INTENTIONAL WORDS, Trust God and lean into God EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY EVIL!

o Thinking of verse 6, David compares the words of God to pure silver, which has been refined by a furnace 7 times!

§ 7 times! THIS IS PURE SILVER! THAT’S WHAT DAVID IS SAYING! Culturally, pure silver was seen as the most pure any metal could be and it was the most pure when it had been purified 7 times. So, when David says that the word of God is pure like that, David is saying that GOD’S WORD IS THE MOST PERFECT WORD IMAGINABLE!

· Earlier today we talked about how our words matter and specifically how our words are corrupted by sin and are not what God designed!

o God’s words though are not corrupted by sin! God will never be misunderstood because God is confusing; God’s word will never be flawed, etc.

§ In War of Words, Paul David Tripp provides some great wisdom about God’s words. Listen to what he says. “God’s communication is lovingly designed to address the need of the moment in simple words that can be understood. Before he words, God reveals what he is about to do; as he is working, he talks of what he is doing; and when he has finished, he interprets what he has done. He can be known because he speaks.”- Paul David Tripp

· In Psalm 12 as David cries out in desperation hurting so deeply, surrounded by evil, we see God SPEAKING WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO DO!

o GOD TELLS DAVID! GOD GIVES DAVID DIRECTION! Now, today, we don’t have to hear an audible voice from God to hear FROM GOD, we can SEE GOD’S WORD EVERY DAY IN SCRIPTURE!

o God directly spoke here and continues to speak throughout scripture to us. Hebrews 2:3 talks about one thing in particular that God spoke about often; something that God promised in Genesis 3 and continued to promise; the coming of a savior for humanity!

§ Gospel- THE LOVE OF GOD TO SEND HIS SON TO SAVE US!

§ God’s word is truly perfect and God’s word is EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED AT ALL TIMES!

· We desperately NEED THE WORD OF GOD ON A DAILY BASIS! GOD’S PERFECT WORD IS WHAT WE NEED AT ALL TIMES!

· When we are in a great season? GO TO GOD’S WORD! WHEN WE ARE STRUGGLING AND FEEL SURROUNDED ON ALL TIMES, HURT BY THE WORLD? GO TO GOD’S WORD! IN EVERYTHING, GO TO GOD’S WORD AND CLING TO IT!

· Now, after God’s perfect word is spoken, we see THE OUTCOME.

o David writes, “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.”- Psalm 12:7-8

§ Look at what David proclaims as the psalm closes. David reminds himself of what the outcome will be.

· He declares his praise and his hope. No matter what he has witnessed, no matter what has occurred, David is confident that he can CLING TO GOD!

o He declares this in verse 7, saying that the LORD WILL KEEP THE RIGHTEOUS, by saying that THE LORD WILL GUARD THE RIGHTEOUS FOREVER!

§ Consider that! The generation that David is speaking about is really a stand-in for the wickedness of all generations!

§ As we’ve said, wickedness surrounds us! David here cries out that the wicked prowl on every side and that vileness is exalted, but yet he has HOPE because the LORD GUARDS US FOREVER!

§ Paul David Tripp gives a great definition for hope. He says, “Biblical hope is nothing less than a confident expectation of a guaranteed result.”- Paul David Tripp

· David doesn’t have fantasy “hope,” David has CONFIDENT EXPECTATION THAT GOD WILL MOVE AND WLL PROTECT!

· That’s the same hope that you and I should have!

o No matter what culture around us yells out, we can cling to TRUE HOPE, to TRUE EXPECTATION because the LORD WILL MOVE AND WILL PROTECT!

o These are not just words that David writes, this is a reminder of the promises of God!

§ So, do you have CONFIDENT EXPECTATION IN THE PROMISES OF GOD?

§ Do you CONFIDENTLY EXPECT that God will protect us from wickedness and from the vileness of our generation?

§ Do you confidently expect God to be with us at all times?

· As we wrap up, let’s explore this idea a little bit more. Listen, Psalm 12 is insanely practical! It’s extremely practical. In Psalm 12, David wrestles with emotions that we all will deal with.

o As we prepare to go today, I want to take a minute and practically apply this psalm to our lives in 3 ways.

§ First, this psalm calls us to respond to the gospel!

§ Secondly, this psalm calls us to cling to God when we are surrounded by evil.

§ Thirdly, this psalm calls us to bring light to the darkness that surrounds us!

· Looking at that first point, this psalm calls us to respond to the gospel! WE talked about the gospel of Jesus earlier. The message really is simple. The message is that __GOSPEL______.

o We need to respond to it! We need to run to confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing that in our hearts! When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we are saying, “Jesus, I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU TO SAVE ME!” We are confessing our sins, repenting and turning from our sin!

§ We need to do that! And to be clear, we need to DO IT COMPLETELY! There is no room for synchretism, which is taking parts of Jesus and combining it with other things! We either have JESUS AS LORD, or WE DO NOT!

· Psalm 12 makes clear how badly we NEED JESUS AS LORD! So let me call on you today, turn from your sin; the WRONG THINGS THAT YOU HAVE DONE, that WE HAVE ALL DONE, AND MAKE JESUS YOUR LORD!

· Secondly, this psalm calls us to cling to God when we are surrounded by evil.

o David paints a clear illustration and it’s one that we can relate to. There is wickedness, deceit, flattery and more that David is surrounded by! Just as he is surrounded by it, so are we!

§ So in the midst of it, what did we see David do? We saw David cry out to God in prayer!

· Practically, last week I gave a challenge to write down 1 thing a day to praise God for ABOUT WHO GOD IS! Let me extend that challenge. Continue to find 1 attribute of God a day to PRAISE GOD FOR AND TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR! Spurgeon gives a great comment about this saying, "So long as we are receivers of mercy, we must be givers of thanks." Let us be sure to be givers of thanks!

· But let me also challenge us to go one step further; find one thing a day to GIVE TO GOD IN PRAYER, PRAYING THAT GOD WOULD MOVE AND WOULD WORK IN THE SITUATION!

o Part of prayer is giving praise and part of prayer is presenting requests in complete vulnerability and honesty like David does in Psalm 12! Let’s follow that example and let God work!

o I love what MLJ says about prayer. He says, "Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this: always obey such an impulse."- Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

§ At ALL TIMES, PRAY! BE QUICK TO GO TO GOD IN PRAYER! IN THE EASY AND HARD TIMES, MAKE YOUR FIRST RESPONSE PRAYER! So, let’s do just that! Let’s follow David’s example in Psalm 12 and BE QUICK TO PRAY!

· 3rd This Psalm calls us to bring light to the darkness that surrounds us.

That light is hope! Our world needs Hope, so really this psalm is a GREAT COMMISSION CHALLENGE! We have the hope that the world needs so badly! Consider what Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, "The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it." ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones

How are we engaging? Are you sharing the gospel through your words and your actions? Do you ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD AROUND YOU TO SHARE THE HOPE OF JESUS WITH THE PEOPLE YOU INTERACT WITH? This is what the world needs! The world needs this hope BADLY! I can’t express to you enough HOW BADLY OUR WORLD NEEDS THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL!

o As we close out this third and final application, let me challenge you with a quote from Spurgeon as we close:"Hang that question up in your houses, "What would Jesus do?" and then think of another, "How would Jesus do it?" for what he would do, and how he would do it, may always stand as the best guide to us." ~ Charles Spurgeon

o What would Jesus do with the message of Psalm 12? Well, we see that in the gospels! Jesus tells the world about it! That’s also what Jesus tells us TO DO! TAKE THE MESSAGE OF THE HOPE OF MAN, HOPE BECAUSE OF OUR SAVIOR’S SACRIFICE AND TELL EVERYONE! SHARE IT, BAPTIZE, DISCIPLE, TEACH AND CONTINUE DOING THAT OVER AND OVER!