(Psalm 12)

Intro

Please turn with me to Psalm chapter 12.

When you turn to the book of Psalms, you are often looking for something specific.

We can tune our hearts to God by reading words of confident praise, confession, lament, redemption, thanksgiving, and wisdom.

And each is said in a poetically beautiful and memorable way.

We can see glimpses of our Savior in most, if not all of the Psalms.

Phrases from many have found their way easily into our vocabulary of the church and her songs.

“Praise the Lord!”

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

“How long, O Lord?”

“Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

“Your Words are wonderful.”

and “Out of the depths I cry to You.”

These words can help you express whatever is raging in your heart to the Lord.

But, if you are like me, you will find that the majority of those statements come from specific, more popularly referenced Psalms.

You may have a specific Psalm that is a bit more obscure that you clung to in a particularly difficult, or exciting, time of life.

But when there are 150 of them in varying expressions, lengths, and topics, there are bound to be some that are more obscure than others.

I found that, as I prepared for tonight, this was the space that Psalm 12 inhabited for me.

Psalm 12 is full of rich promises.

But I found that I have previously overlooked its beauty and depth as I passed from the imagery of Psalm 11....

“In the Lord I take refuge” & “The Lord is in His holy temple.”

into Psalm 13...

“How long, O Lord?”

It was a highway that I drove on at full speed instead of a tenderly worn footpath through a meadow of colorful, fragrant wildflowers on a sunny spring day.

Where I should pause and take my time.

I must say, I am thankful for you church.

For you brothers and sisters, who come hungrily to hear your pastors exposit the Word.

Scripture calls to your pastors regularly to take up and read as we look to deepen our knowledge and relationship with the Lord as well as model for you what spiritual discipline looks like.

But you push us to regularly be ready to take in the full council of God in our preparations.

So before we read, there is already an application for you.

As you approach God’s Word, don’t take any of it for granted.

Drink deeply from every word.

Open it regularly.

Submit your life to be changed by what you read.

Because this [hold up the Bible] is not self help.

It is not a collection of pithy quips.

It is not simply a moral code to regulate your life.

These are the very words of God.

As we traverse Psalm 12, we are going to count down (3, 2, 1)

we are going to see...

3 Characters in Conflict

2 Words in Contrast

1 Climactic Goal

Turn with me now...

Exposition

Psalm 12 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. 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 boasts, 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 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. 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.

[Pray]

First, let’s talk about the 3 characters in conflict.

3 Characters in Conflict

Similar to Psalms we have already studied, you find the godly, the wicked, and the LORD.

This is a tale as old as time and we will be returning to these characters repeatedly.

But it is how they interact in Psalm 12 that is worthy of our attention.

The Godly Ones

The first of our characters to be fleshed out is the godly one.

From the onset, the godly are imperceptible.

David says that they have vanished!

There seems to be no trace of them anywhere.

The main reason that this is true is because of the pervasive nature of lies and deceit.

It’s like a thick fog that cannot be penetrated.

And he cries out for salvation!

When we read “Save, O LORD” we can rightly understand this to be a cry for help.

The NASB translates verse 1 this way...

“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,”

David is feeling sad and alone.

He is feeling plundered.

He is groaning for comfort and safety.

For order and truth to be restored.

He is crying out like Elijah, who thought that he alone was the remnant of God’s faithful.

Remember?

He ran and hid in a cave because he was overwhelmed by the pursuit of the wicked in Israel who wanted to see him dead.

Look at 1 Kings 19...

1 Kings 19:9–10 ESV

There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

We will talk more about the reality of this expression of loneliness shortly.

But let’s continue...

Notice that the godly are also referred to as “the poor and needy” in verse 5.

Passages such as this are a field day for modern theologians who want to tout the social justice narrative.

While yes, we should care for the financial and physically destitute and not abuse their lowly position, the context of this Psalm puts the “poor and needy” in the same vein of the godly.

Not everyone who experiences poverty in this life belongs in this category!

So we use Scripture to interpret Scripture

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

As Jesus is addressing His disciples, the poverty He is addressing is spiritual poverty.

It is the awareness that you are spiritually impoverished.

That you can’t possibly pull yourself out of the situation that you are in and find your footing in righteousness without HELP!

The godly are the ones who know that they need help and can not see light at the end of the tunnel, but stand for truth without the visibility.

The godly are the only party in this Psalm that is completely passive.

They do not act outside of crying out to God.

That leads us to...

The Wicked

How are they characterized?

To summarize, they are atheistic, double-standard holding, prideful, smooth-talking liars.

According to David, they are the prevalent strain of society.

They eclipse the godly one with their “lips of smoothness.”

Smooth talk is a smokescreen for all kinds of sin.

It smooths over lies and makes them palatable.

It puts on a veneer of pleasantry on something that is spiritually fatal.

We see this throughout the Proverbs in reference to an adulteress.

Proverbs 5:3–4 ESV

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

See also Proverbs 2:16, 7:5, and 7:21.

Therefore, as sin is spiritual adultery (spiritual unfaithfulness), smooth talk paves the way to hell.

Hidden behind their lips and their tongues is the state of their hearts.

The double heart that David speaks of here is not what we would understand as double-minded.

It is not an indecisive wavering or divided loyalties.

What it is is a double standard.

Knowing one thing.

Knowing what should be.

But choosing and doing something else entirely.

Lies have penetrated the wicked to the very essence of who they are.

And they have taken them hook, line, and sinker.

Pride in their smooth words and shifty hearts, they challenge the LORD by saying, “who is master over us?”

They think that their pen is mightier than the God’s Word which Hebrews 4 describes vividly.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

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.

The foolishness of the wicked is truly complete.

That leaves us with one party to address.

The LORD

How is the LORD spoken of here?

He is named 5 times in the span of 8 verses.

And, every time this happens, the Psalmist utilizes His covenant name.

YHWH is the God who made promises to Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.

YHWH is the One Who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and led His people out of Egyptian slavery.

YWHW is the One Who led Joshua to conquer the promised land and defended Israel from her enemies at every turn during the time of the Judges.

This name should resonate deeply with us as our Almighty, most holy, God Who has made promises to His people from the beginning of history to its end and has never once failed to deliver on those promises.

In Psalm 12, the LORD is the one Who is addressed in the cry for help.

David requests that the He take swift and decisive action against the wicked in a way that is equal to their sinful lips and hearts.

But it’s in verse 5, in the very heart of the Psalm, that the the LORD speaks and acts.

The LORD is the other active party in the corner opposite the wicked and it is here that He wades into the fray.

Psalm 12:5 ESV

“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.”

Because of what is happening to His godly ones,

because of the thick fog of lies and deceit,

in answer to the haughty pronouncement of the wicked,

the LORD arises.

On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched and unprovoked and unexpected attacked the U.S. navel base of Pearl Harbor.

Their goal was to cripple our Pacific Fleet, allowing Japan to dominate Southeast Asia without interference.

After the attack, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (one of their most prestigious military minds) is said to have warned those his countrymen with these words, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

At least that’s what the movies as well as obscure documentation from his diary and letters say.

The rest is history. Literally.

The giant had been awakened and arose to take care of business.

We entered into WW2 the very next day and put an end to it in both the European and Pacific theaters in a little more than 3 and a half years.

This is how our LORD is spoken of here.

In verse 5, our covenant keeping God says that He will arise.

He will come to the defence of those who long for safety.

But, the great contrast to the example of Pearl Harbor is that our God is no sleeping giant.

Is is not idly, sitting by uninterested and unmotivated.

He watches over His children with genuine love and affection.

Now that we’ve fleshed out the 3 major players in Psalm 12, it’s time to examine...

2 Words in Contrast

There are times that you can compare and contrast various things in such a way as to find some similarity and common ground between them.

That could not be further from the case when it comes to putting the words of the wicked alongside the words of God.

There is only contrast and it is stark!

The Words of the Wicked

We’ve already see that the words of the wicked are like a fog.

They distort the truth.

They attempt to eclipse the godly.

They flatter.

They boast.

They blaspheme.

They sin.

The godly should be offended by deceitful word-salad.

That is a plenteous supply with little to no sustenance behind them.

The LORD is.

Proverbs 12:22 tells us...

Proverbs 12:22 ESV

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Now contrast this abomination with the words of the LORD.

The Words of the Lord

Not only does Psalm 12 give us words literally coming from the LORD’s mouth (a promise to arise, save, and guard), it also gives us a description of every word that comes forth from His lips.

In verse 6, the Psalmist intentionally takes a brief aside to describe the words that God has just uttered.

David could have easily jumped from the content of verse 5 into verse 7.

But he pauses to highlight the difference between the wordly wicked and YHWH.

Psalm 12:6 ESV

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

This is a description of the highest level of purity imaginable.

Ancient metalsmiths would take raw silver and melt it down.

When the silver reached temperatures of roughly 1,700°, any other trace metals that were present would be coaxed to the top forming a glass-like layer called slag or dross.

This layer could be skimmed off and the remaining, molten metal poured into a mold to shape the silver as desired.

This process of refining silver would be repeated until the metalsmith could see his reflection in it.

But by comparing the Lord’s Word to silver purified 7 times, the Psalmist is referring to its perfection.

There is no error, no infirmary, no impurity to be found in it!

The Word of the LORD is matchless.

Beautiful.

Precious.

Priceless.

Unparalleled.

Here in just a few chapters, David returns to the topic of God’s Word and this is how he describes it in Psalm 19...

Psalm 19:7–11 ESV

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.

Not to steal from the sermon on Psalm 19, when we get there, but God’s Word is not only beautiful, it is also beneficial.

It gives life to, and feeds, our souls.

It is infallible.

It is sufficient.

The Word of the Lord dominates and puts the lies of the wicked to shame!

And through His Word, through His actions, we see that our great and loving God has 1 goal as he inserts Himself between the godly and the wicked.

1 Climactic Goal

And this is where we see His true heart.

While there is absolutely accountability and judgement for the wicked, both verse 5 and verse 7 only speak of 1 thing.

His care for His children.

It doesn’t say, “I will arise and cut off the lips and tongues of the wicked as you asked.”

Instead it says,

Psalm 12:5 ESV

“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.”

And this specific concern for the righteous is further reinforced in verse 7...

Psalm 12:7 ESV

You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

So, what does this tell us about our God?

It tells us that He is more concerned with the well-being and safety of His children than the clamoring lies of the evil.

It tells us that regardless of the pain that we are feeling, the loneliness we are experiencing, the lies that are swirling, and the trials we are facing, that our heavenly Father has His eyes set on our care.

You may long for safety.

His salvation is sure.

You may be panicking as you look around at the evil that prowls all around.

But, in the LORD, your soul will be kept and guarded.

And to that, what can we say but “HALLELUJAH!”

Application

As we look to how we can live out the principles found in Psalm 12, a reminder...

There is a reason that the Psalms are included in the Holy Word of God.

They give us examples of how God desires to be approached.

When we try to give word to our feelings, they can be bumbling and stumbling

They can be riddled with the error of over familiarity or forgetting who we are talking to.

We’re all guilty of it.

Whether my girls are excited or deeply upset by a circumstance, the way they communicate to me as their father can be greatly affected.

Their emotions can run straight into the words or even the tone that they use to address me.

And it is my job as a loving father to gently correct, fashion, and mold their communication skills.

That is exactly what God is doing in the Psalms.

The Holy Spirit used the pen of David to exemplify genuine, heart-felt, loving, and reverent communication with our heavenly Father.

These are some of the lessons that we can learn from our Psalm this evening.

Cry Out for Help

Elijah speaks this way to God directly after he singlehandedly takes on the 450 prophets of the false god, Baal.

God responded to Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven that left no doubt that He was the LORD Almighty.

It is curious that it is after this mountaintop experience,

no pun intended,

that Elijah feels all alone.

Sometimes, we feel at our lowest, our loneliest, directly following a mighty act of God in our lives.

Embrace the Truth

We live in a world where politics, salesmanship, and artificial intelligence have great power in shaping our perspective.

When we as God’s people forsake the truth,

even by simply putting our heads in the sand and staying quiet when lies are being told,

a culture of falsehood and lies takes hold.

The world of Psalm 12 becomes reality when we stay silent.

Lies are destructive and can ruin lives.

Don’t be captivated by the smooth talk of those around you.

There is no room for lies and double standards in the your heart.

You can be poor and needy and still be arrogantly uttering lies towards God.

This isn’t “earthly wealth” poor.

David is speaking of a spiritual poverty here.

We must acknowledge and realize our spiritual destitution to be counted with the righteous.

We are actually told as believers to mark and avoid people who practice smooth talk and flattery.

Romans 16:17–18 ESV

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

You are either...

arrogant, boasting, doubleminded, and lying

or...

poor and needy.

There is no in-between.

Stand Firm

Don’t be surprised when you see prowling.

The wicked may seem successful but they have no eternal standing.

Your hackles may be raised by injustice, and you need to speak up with the truth, but you are placed and preserved in safety.

Conclusion

As we live in a world that is increasingly hostile to the Truth, that covers up reality with make-up, photoshop, video editing, and legal-ese, we have to look around us.

Encourage your brothers and sisters to remain, not vanish!

The church father, Athanasius, once said...

… when you witness the arrogance of the crowd and increasing evil, so much so that nothing is considered holy among men, flee to the Lord and cry out Psalm 12.

Athanasius