Psalm 12

Invocation

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servants also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over us! Then we shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end, and Amen.

Confession of Sin

James 3:2–12 ESV

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

New Testament Lesson

Revelation 13:1–10 ESV

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, we bless you that you are a God who hears our prayers. We bless you for the promise of your son, that whenever we pray to you and his name, you hear us. It is, therefore, in the name of Christ that we make our intercession.

To see your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Great thanks for the purchase of this building

Make us effective witnesses in Green Ridge and beyond

Families of Hope

Pregnant mothers

Thank you for the safe delivery of Lucy Eleanor Perone, ask you for strength as Rachel recovers.

Unemployed, or under employed

Missions of Hope

Dave and Ruth Green In SE Asia

Thanks for the very productive meetings this week.

Pray for "C's" job to be finalized and begin working within a couple of weeks.

Pray about the spiritual darkness "C" has been experiencing occasionally.

Pray for my teaching next week onto students in Malang, Indonesia. Evangelism for Ordinary Christians 

For translation to go well

For a good pace to the sessions

For the students to be receptive

Hunter and Laura Quinn in Stellenbosh

Ask God to use the ordinary means of grace and the preaching of the Gospel of Matthew to form Christ in us, OVPC. May the Lord give us a heart for evangelism, so that we would naturally invite people to church and share the good news of Jesus.

Pray for Laura and the baby. Laura is experiencing sciatic nerve pain, which has impacted her mobility. Please ask our Father to ease her pain and improve her mobility. Pray for continued health and for the safety of baby Abigail.

In light of the pregnancy difficulties, Hunter has canceled his plans to attend RUF Staff Training in the US. Pray for our time at home that we can continue to do ministry, especially through hospitality to our new friends and connections.

Pray for the families of our church core team. Ask God to preserve them, to encourage them in the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen them.

Pray for students as they return home for winter break.

For our denomination (PCA).

Nation (president, etc.)

For our daily bread.

For forgiveness of sins

For deliverance from our enemies, the World, the flesh, and the devil.

Including deliverance from sickness:

Olivia Bartoli (Goleneski) (Brain surgery to correct CM1 in July 17th)

Receive the Word.

Gracious God, to your fatherly care we entrust your people, praying as Jesus taught us, Our father who art in Heaven...

Empty Words or Solid Promises

Big idea: The word of the Lord is trustworthy, he will deliver the righteous from the empty words of the wicked.

Intro

I remember as a boy sometimes when my father would preach, he would say phrases I didn’t understand, which I would ask him about later. Like during the nineties, when Oregon was considering making doctor assisted suicide legal, I remember him preaching about euthanasia. But I misunderstood what he was saying. So when we got home from church I asked him, “Dad? What’s wrong with the youth in Asia?” He laughed and then explained to me what the phrase euthanasia meant.

But one phrase that he used to use often was, “bleeding heart liberals.” So I asked him about that, and he said, “Son, sometimes politicians claim to care about the poor, and advocate for them, but in reality they are just trying to profit off them. They say one thing, but mean another.” Certainly, there are liberals who actually care for the poor, but when it comes to the lefts policies, it’s often double speak. What Orwell called, “Newspeak.” Which is what the Psalmist laments in Psalm 12. But in contrast to the empty words of the wicked, the psalmist draws comfort and confidence from the solid promises of the Lord. So when we sing this psalm, we are reminded of the contrast between these two types of words, and we too can have confidence when oppressed by the words of the wicked.

Psalm 12

This is a lament psalm, written in the form of a chiasm. A chiasm is “a literary structure where parallel elements correspond in an inverted order (i.e., A-B-C-Cʹ-Bʹ-Aʹ).” The center of the chiasm is the solid promise of God in v. 5, where for the first time thus far in the psalter, the Lord answers the cry of the righteous. Framing that is first the psalmist complaint against the empty words of the wicked, followed by his confident confession of faith in the solid promises of the Lord. It begins very bleakly and ends on the same note. We’ll consider why that might be given the confidence he expresses in the Lord’s solid promises. This psalm is all about the use and abuse of words.

The empty words of the wicked

Psalm 12 begins with a cry of desperation, “save, O Lord.” And what a fitting prayer that is. It doesn’t take time to compose, but comes from the heart, from a place of desperation. Spurgeon, always ready with a simile, describes these kinds of prayer this way.

As small ships can sail into harbours which larger vessels, drawing more water, cannot enter, so our brief cries and short petitions may trade with heaven when our soul is wind-bound, and business-bound, as to longer exercises of devotion, and when the stream of grace seems at too low an ebb to float a more laborious supplication. (Spurgeon, The Treasury of David Vol. 1, 141).

This is the cry of the righteous, and should form the basis for a great many of our prayers. For even if you can’t quite identify with the psalmist, you are a sinner in need of saving. And by crying to the lord save, O Lord, you acknowledge that your help comes from the LORD, that he alone can save. So, as much as it is a petition, it is also a confession of faith.

The psalmist looks around and can’t seem to find any who are faithful. “The godly one,” describes a person who is loyal and trustworthy. The righteous are often characterized this way, since these characteristics are fruits of the spirit. Those who love the Lord and remain faithful to Him, recognize that keeping the whole law means not just love for God, but also loving your neighbor as yourself. Your speech has a great deal to do with the expression and maintenance of that love.

The trouble the psalmist faces is the empty words of the wicked. They lie, they flatter, and they have hidden motives. Worse still they are confident and boastful sitting in a places of power.

How many of you have ever caught someone lying to you? How did you feel, and what was the relationship like going forward? Chances are trust was broken, especially if it happened more than once. You may be critical of everything they say from then on. The truth is, you cannot have a relationship with someone who lies. Honesty is the glue that holds relationships together.

I imagine this Psalm arising from David’s experience at court. This sounds like the words of a frustrated king, who’s tired of being lied to. Tired of being flattered, while their true motives lie hidden.

Flattery is a form of lying. For you find some characteristic of the person you need, or want something from, and you embellish it, even if deep down you may not even believe the things you say. Flattery is a form of manipulation, where your words are designed to get someone to do something for you. Vain people love to be flattered, they love their egos stroked, and are therefore easily susceptible to this kind of manipulation.

At root, you can say that lying and flattery are the products of having two hearts. The Hebrew literally reads “with flattering hearts and a heart and a heart they speak.” It is an idiom used to express having a divided loyalty. Meaning they have ulterior motives.

Notice people do this because it works, or it seems too. There is this illusion with lying that dupes you into thinking that it’s improving your relationships. You may even boast in your lies and feel safe from ever being discovered. And this is often because, as we see here, those most readily hurt by lies and flattery are the poor and needy.

The Apostle John gives us a perfect illustration of this in John 12. There he recounts the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with a pound of very expensive fragrance, and wiping it up with her hair. For her, this was an act of great love and devotion. But Judas saw the situation much differently.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:4–6, ESV)

Judas who has a divided heart. He lies and says he’s upset because, isn’t this a waste? Couldn’t we have sold this and helped so many poor? Judas was a bleeding heart liberal, the politician kind. For he was the one who held the purse, and he used to help himself to it whenever he wanted. Helping the poor was just a subterfuge for his avarice. For Judas’ words were empty.

As we sing this psalm, we put ourself in the place of the psalmist experiencing the empty words of the wicked. We learn to appeal to the Lord and His solid promises. But first we must examine our words to make sure they are not empty like the wicked. If lying and flattery and false motives come from the Devil who is the Father of lies, we, as Christians, need to ensure that we traffic in the truth.

Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Mt. 5:37). We need to have a radical commitment to tell the truth, to be people who traffic in truth and not lies. But we also need to be people of substantial talk, not empty and vain words.

The word translated lies in v. 2 is actually the word for empty, or vanity. How much of our speech is worth speaking? Jesus says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”” (Matthew 12:36–37, ESV) How often do you think about your words? Do they fit the situation, do they build others up, are they truthful and aligned with the word of God.

That would include not resorting to underhanded ways, like flattery to get your way. Before you give that compliment check your motives. Are you telling them they are wonderful, because you love them and want to encourage them, or do you have a double heart that really just wants to control them? Parents of adult children, you need to pay close attention to this. It’s easy to resort to flattery of your children, but your real goal may be to get them to do what you want.

We are people of the Word, and words matter. Give thought to them. “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” (Proverbs 15:28, ESV). How do we do that? By steeping ourselves in the pure words of the Lord and His solid promises, which is where the psalm turns next.

The Solid Promises of the Lord

Up until now in the psalter these hymns have been prayers of God’s people, but here in v. 5, the center of Psalm 12, God speaks. Since the wicked have oppressed the poor and taken advantage of them, the Lord makes a promise. “I will now arise…I will place him in safety, for which he longs.” And what a solid promise it is. Two things I want to draw out from this promise: first, God sees and hears the plight of the poor and needy. Second, he will answer their prayer.

Verse five begins because teaching us that the Lord takes notice of what is happening in His creation. He is not the God of deism who creates the world and then walks away. He is the sovereign Lord, who made all things and sustains all things, directing the course of events to His desired end. Sin has certainly made a mess of things, so that the world does not operate according to how God had made it to. People are not supposed to hurt and take advantage of others, the wicked are not supposed to exploit the poor and needy, things are not the way they are supposed to be.

But it can be tempting to think because this is the case that maybe the Lord is not even aware of what’s going on, or at best, he just doesn’t care. But what we have seen in the psalms has clearly refuted that, and now God speaks and tells those poor and needy who languish under the empty words of the wicked, that he sees they have been plundered, and he hears their groans, and he promises that he will arise.

For God to arise means that he will take action against the wicked and their empty words. He will show them that despite their foolish boasts that no one is master over them, He is in fact, their Lord. Part of this must include exposing the emptiness of their words and this happens through the purifying words of God.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12–13, ESV)

No creature, not even the wicked can hide from the sight of God, he hears and he responds by exposing falsehood for what it is, and revealing lies to be lies, and flattery to be the empty deception of the wicked. For the wicked, this process is one of judgement. But the same purifying words also purify the righteous.

“with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.” (Ps 18:26).

Have you ever noticed that? The place of safety for the righteous is the place of judgement for the wicked. The same word. The gospel is good news to those who receive it by faith, but to all others, it is their condemnation. I am reminded of the conversation between Mr. Beaver and Lucy in Narnia about Aslan. Lucy is worried about meeting him because she would be quite nervous around a lion. She wants to know if he’s safe. Beaver says, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” The solid promises of God, which are a safe place for the righteous, are a place of condemnation and judgement for the wicked who traffic in empty words.

For the safety for which the righteous longs is to be in the presence of the Lord. That’s not a safe place to be, unless, of course, you are invited in and welcomed because you are righteous. Which none of us are except that we are clothed in the righteousness of another. But when you are in Christ, the presence of God is a place of safety. And God’s speaking is His presence. For through His word he makes himself known, and through His word He accomplishes His purposes, and through His word he has come and took on flesh and dwelt among us. It’s the place of the Lord’s solid promises where joy and safety are found.

David describes the purity of the Lord’s words by comparing them to silver that has been refined seven times. The impurities of silver are removed in a refining process, where the ore is super heated and the other alloys are burned off. What you are left with is pure silver. The purity of the Word of God is contrasted with the empty words of the wicked. God’s word can be trusted, can be relied on, for His promises are your place of safety. William Gurnall, in his magisterial work The Christian in Complete Armor, said,

as one may draw out the wine of a whole [cask] at one tap, so may a poor soul derive the comfort of the whole covenant to himself through one promise, which he is able to apply. (Gurnall, 616).

So we, resting on the promise of God, can find safety from the empty words of the wicked. For we can be sure that the Lord always answers His promises, not one word of His will ever fail. So if he says I will arise and place the poor and needy in a place of safety, as David is keen to show, that promise is solid and dependable because it is the pure word of the Lord.

We need to mind the order there of v. 5 and 6, first promise, then assurance that God’s word is pure. We, being so prone to doubt and unbelief, remind ourselves as we sing this psalm that the word of the Lord is dependable and trustworthy.

Why end on such a sour note?

But the soaring confidence of the psalmist in v. 7 transitions to a bleak picture of the world around us. But why end on such a sour note? Why not end at v. 7 with confident assurance the Lord will keep and guard His people? The answer is important. The psalmist ends this way because he recognizes that the timing of God’s action, the when of “I will now arise” is not given. So that although his confidence in the solid promises of God are unshaken, the presence of the wicked prowling all around while meanwhile things go from bad to worse may remain the same. But what has changed is the psalmist. At first he despairs with his Elijah-like, “woe is me, I’m the only righteous man left.” But he hears from God, and reminds himself of how solid God’s promises are when compared with the empty words of the wicked. So although his situation hasn’t changed the psalmist has. He trust’s God, and will lean into the promise that God will arise and judge the empty words of the wicked.

So when you sing this psalm must you change too. For which one of us has not despaired when we’ve turned on the news at night, or doom-scrolled through twitter, and not thought there are no more good people, no more faithful and loyal people; everyone lies. If you thought that, then you need to sing psalm 12, and when you’re done singing, people will still lie, and the wicked will still prowl around looking for ways to trap the poor and needy in their lies and flattery that conceal their true motives. But you will hope because you have a better word, a pure word, for you have a place of safety in the solid promises of the Lord.

I will close with this prayer from G. K. Chesterton, which is in much the same vein as Psalm 12.

O God of earth and altar, Bow down and hear our cry, Our earthly rulers falter, Our people drift and die; The walls of gold entomb us, The swords of scorn divide, Take not thy thunder from us, But take away our pride. From all that terror teaches, From lies of tongue and pen, From all the easy speeches That comfort cruel men, From sale and profanation Of honour and the sword, From sleep and from damnation, Deliver us, good Lord. Tie in a living tether The prince and priest and thrall, Bind all our lives together, Smite us and save us all; In ire and exultation Aflame with faith, and free, Lift up a living nation, A single sword to thee. (Chesterton, O God of Earth and Altar)

Amen.

Lord’s Supper Meditation

Jesus continues to offer solid promises to His people in the form of these visible words. Here in bread and wine Jesus offers you His life to fortify you against the empty words the world offers. The world offers bread, but you’ll be hungry again, and they say drink our wine and be merry, but it only dulls the pain. But the bread and wine Christ offers is the only thing that can satisfy your longing heart, for he offers you himself, fellowship with him, and ultimately, safety. Safety from the empty words of the wicked that promise redemption but can never deliver, safety from what is even more fearful than empty words, and that’s empty and dead hearts. With this meal, you are reminded that Psalm 12 is most fitting when it is found on the lips of our Lord, who truly was the only godly one, who was lied to and flattered, with people trying to hide their true motives. He became poor and needy and suffered death at the hands of empty-talkers, but God heard His cry and delivered him from death by raising Him from the dead. For he trusted in the solid promise of His Father, and asks you to do the same. So as we come to Christ this morning, remember this solid promise he gave on the eve of His departure: “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.