A Culture of Deception

Well, good morning, church family.

It's good to be with all of you, as it is every Sunday

If you're a guest, my name is Stefan, and I am the pastor of preaching here at Harvest.

Let's take out our Bibles and turn to the book of Psalms.

We are in the second week of our Summer in the Psalms series

And if you remember from last week, I mentioned that the Psalms are important to us as God's people, because through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they speak to very human realities that all of us can understand

And the Psalms teach us that the answer to those human experiences is always to place our hope in who God is

Whatever I may face in this life, who God is gives me the hope that I need to know that things can be different

[Transition] And a human experience that we know all-too-well is the reality of deception in the world

I am more sure that many of us have had a similar experience

Someone is dishonest or two-faced… and it works out for them

And it costs you

It seems like everywhere you go, deceit is normal and people do whatever they want and say whatever they want, regardless of whether it is true and regardless of how it hurts other people

Because ultimately it gets them what they want

And so people lie, and manipulate, and misrepresent things so that the outcome is what they want it to be

I can think of many in this room who are living in difficult circumstances right now because of the deception of someone else

And Psalm 12 addresses this problem by highlighting for us that the reason deceit works for people is because we live in “a culture of deception”

It isn’t an individual problem - It is a human problem that is played out at the cultural level

[Hook] And if we're not careful, we will buy into that same deception

We'll start picking up the same tactics, we'll start doing the same things, because it works, doesn't it?

And so I might as well become like the culture around me in order to get the things that I think are owed to me, or that I deserve

But as gospel people, we must be a people who value the truth, even as we live in a culture of deception

And Psalm 12 is going to walk through the recognition of this reality and the response in light of who God is, and it is going to pattern for us what it looks like to be gospel people in a culture of deception.

So let’s give these words our full attention

Psalm 12 “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.”

These are God’s words for us as his people - May we have ears to hear them and hearts to obey them

Big Idea: When deception surrounds us, God’s word protects us. [7:00] [-33]

This Psalm gets at the heart of why there deception in the world

It isn’t just that people are dishonest - It is that people want the freedom to redefine reality according to what they want it to be

That if we change the way we talk and we change the way that we use terms and we redefine terms according to what we want to be true, then the reality we want will come to be, regardless of how it might harm others

And Psalm 12 laments all of this.

And lament is a necessary category for us as Christians. It is a biblical category.

Lament is different from venting.

Venting is undisciplined and others-oriented

It is undisciplined because all kinds of things come out of my mouth that probably shouldn't

And it is others-oriented because I go to other people to vent

But lament is different - It is disciplined and God-oriented

Lament is disciplined meaning it is intentionally focused on the truth - Things are not how they should be

And it is God-oriented - I go to God to make it right.

And when we encounter deceit around us, rather than venting, we should lament like this psalm shows us

Going to the Lord and asking him to make it right

And we will only be able to do this when we believe that when deception surrounds us, God’s word protects us.

[Bridge] And this Psalm gives us a pattern of response - When we see deception and lies all around us, we can follow the steps of Psalm 12 to ensure that our response is the response of lament

So, to see these four steps, we are going to say ”When deception surrounds me”

and then we will see these four steps…

When deception surrounds me…

I run to God for Help (1-2) [10:00][-30]

David's writing this psalm from Israel, and he's writing about Israel, which is his context in that day

The people of Israel in the Old Testament were supposed to be the people that embodied the truth of who God is.

They were supposed to be a people who believed that truth, spoke that truth, and lived according to that truth

And in light of what they were supposed to be, David now acknowledges:

What he does not see

And what he does see.

So, what does he not see?

Look at verse 1

Psalm 12:1 “For the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.”

The godly and the faithful refer to people whose beliefs and words and actions align with the truth of God's word, and that their lives are increasingly reflecting that truth.

David is not saying all the perfect people are gone.

What he's saying is there doesn't really even seem to be anyone who desires for their life and their words and their actions and their beliefs to conform to the truth of God's word.

Where are those people?

Nowhere to be found.

Instead, what David does sees is the opposite.

Look at verse two.

Psalm 12:2 “Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.”

Instead of truth… We see:

Deception

Flattery (which is lies disguised as being nice)

Manipulation

Double-heartedness (which is hypocrisy)

And that's become the norm for everyone.

In verse two, the verb tense is an ongoing tense - This is the general habit of the people.

The issue is an ongoing, deep-rooted cultural deception.

As a society, the truth is no longer treasured.

Now he's writing about ancient Israel, but boy, does that feel familiar right now.

We know very well the tendency and the practice of being intentionally dishonest for the sake of accomplishing the outcomes that our culture desires

Every social, cultural, and political issue it seems is a game of using the same words to mean different things

And the twisting of words is meant to gain some kind of advantage

But before we point the finger and play the victim, we need to recognize that this is not merely an "out there" problem.

We breathe the same air as everyone else.

We are just as capable of twisting the truth when the truth stands in the way of what we want.

Because the root of deception is something that every human possesses:

Desire for something other than what God desires for me

Deception happens whenever I want something else more than I want the truth of God’s word in my life.

When I want my way more than truth, I'll bend the truth to fit what I want.

Church family, listen to me: Wherever there is a desire for something, deceit is close at hand

The very first deception in the garden in Genesis 3 was rooted in a desire for something else…

And in an attempt to cover it up, Adam got real shifty with his language when God showed up…

We all do the same thing

Wanting what I shouldn’t want… and so twisting the truth to get it.

And distorting the truth to cover it up.

And when we encounter this deception in the world or in our own lives, the response is that same

Look at how the psalm opens in verse one.

“Save, O Lord, “

In Hebrew it's literally “Help Lord!”,

In seeing what is wrong around him, David runs straight to the Lord

He does not run to other people. He does not gather supporters.

He runs to God.

But how often do we do the opposite?

We are wronged, and our first instinct is to find someone who will agree with us.

We want validation. We want allies. We want everyone to know that we were right and they were wrong.

So we lobby, and we gossip, and we slander.

And you might be asking, “How can I know if I am doing that?”

You can just ask a very simply question: In talking to this person, will it help solve the problem?

And if the answer to that question is “No,” then that conversation is not seeking help

It is gossip or slander or lobbying

But David shows us that our first response should not be to go to others people to gossip or vent.

Our first response should be prayer.

Because God is the only one who can actually help.

When I encounter lies on social media, I should not run to comment section - I should pray

When someone manipulates me or takes advantage of me with their words, the first place I should go is the throne of Grace.

Because in doing so, I am entrusting myself to the one whon can help, while guarding myself from the sins of gossip and slander that are all too common.

[Transition] and when we do, we can trust that He will help in the best way possible,

which leads to the second step.

“When deception surrounds me…”

I submit to God’s justice (3-4) [18:00][-22]

Look with me at verses three and four.

Psalm 12:3–4 “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?’”

Notice, David does not say, “I will cut off all flattering lips”

And there's a reason for that

Because the root problem in this is not that David was the one who was ultimately wronged, and so it's not up to him to make it right.

Instead, he sees that, though he might be the recipient of, and in some way, shape or form, be affected by the deceit of the world…

the one who is ultimately offended and the one who ultimately should be making it right is God.

They say, “Who is master over us?”

“There's no one we answer to but ourselves.”

“So we can say what we want, we can do what we want, we can create the kind of reality that we want.”

The real problem is that they don't see the Lord as master over them, they see themselves as master

They see their own desired end goals as ultimate and so they're speaking how they want to get what they want, thinking that they don't answer to anyone.

The deeper offense is against God, not against David.

And this is an important distinction for us, because if we think that the ultimate offense is against us, we will then take things into our own hands

We will pursue vigilante justice.

You see, vigilante justice says “It's up to me to make this right, and I'm allowed to use the same tactics that they used against me.”

I can get even, I can get retribution, I can get revenge.

They gossiped, I'll gossip.

They deceived, I'll deceive.

They were selfish. Okay, fine. That means I can be selfish too

And we give ourselves permission to do the same thing as if that were justice, but it is not.

Which really just goes to show that we are imperfect dispensers of justice

But when we see it for what it truly is, when we see that the ultimate offense of deception is against God, because it is a denial of His lordship over all of our lives…

What we can do is we can let God handle it.

We can say, “Lord, I have been affected, but you have been offended, so I will trust you to handle it, because you are a perfect judge. Your justice is always right, and I can trust that the way that you will handle it is what is best.”

You see, while vigilante justice is us taking measures into our own hands to get even, God's divine justice is his right dealing with sin

There is sin and he will deal rightly with it

We won’t - So we leave it to him

Now, this is difficult for us, because we like to be in control. We like to take things into our own hands.

It's hard for us to let go of control and let God take care of things, because what if He takes care of it in a way that I didn't want Him to?

“I wanted Him to bring down fire from heaven on that person, and what if He doesn't do that?”

And you know what, he probably won’t do that…

There are two ways that God will ultimately handle sin: through final judgment or through the cross

A lot of times we want God to deal with it now.

We want Him to bring justice now, and sometimes He does.

Sometimes He does bring down discipline and consequences that is meant to show the error of our ways and lead us to repentance

But there are times when it seems like the wicked prosper, where it seems like no matter how much we pray, and no matter how wrong things are in the world, and no matter how much people are deceived, it seems like there is no consequence in this life

But that does not mean that God's justice has failed, because ultimately every sin will be dealt with to the fullest extent of God's justice on the final day of judgment

But listen: God's justice was also carried out on the cross of Christ

That when Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Lord, he did not deserve death, yet he went to the cross and died because in going to the cross he was taking your place and my place as a substitute on the cross,

having our sin placed upon him, that the wrath of God would be poured out on that sin in fulfillment and satisfaction of God's justice

In his death, Jesus satisfied the justice of God on the cross, and so when you place your faith in Jesus, and your sins are forgiven.

So God’s justice might mean judgment

It also might mean forgiveness through the cross of Christ

And that does not mean that justice failed.

It means that justice won, because our sins were truly forgiven, because they were truly dealt with at the cross, and so when we trust in God's justice, we are saying,

“Lord, I've run to you for help, and I trust that you will deal with it in your way, that is right and good. Perhaps there will be consequences in this life, perhaps not. But regardless of what happens in this life, Lord, either that person will place their faith in your son, Jesus, and that deception and sin will be forgiven (and I will celebrate your justice), or you will judge that sin from your throne (and I will celebrate in your justice). What I will not do is take justice into my own hands.”

He is the perfect judge - Not us

So we run to him for help and we submit to his justice

[Transition] Which then leads us to the third step,

“When deception surrounds me…”

I rest in God’s promises (5-6) [28:00][-12]

Look at verse 5

Psalm 12:5 ““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 wicked ask, “Who's lord over us?”

And the Lord says, “I am, and now I'm going to act.”

So, the answer to the deception that surrounds us is not our words.

The answer to deception is the truth

And the truth is the word of God that preserves and protects us

Notice, he does not ignore the way that the world's deceit is affecting people, he's not blind to it:

“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan”

“Because I'm seeing the way that people are oppressed and mistreated and harmed as a result of the deception in the world. I am going to do something, I'm going to place those who are harmed in the safety of my wings.”

That word, “safety,” it's the same root word as “save” in verse 1.

The cry of verse 1, “God, help” is answered by God saying, “I will help.”

Now notice… he doesn't say how… He doesn't say “Here's what I'm gonna do.”

Look at what comes next

Psalm 12:6 “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.”

Pure words, unmixed, untainted.

David is saying God's words are perfectly pure - While man’s words are corrupt, God’s word contains no impurity.

And the truth of his word is safety for his people in a world of deceit

You can sense the relief in David’s words here

From v. 1-4 there is a snese of sorrow and uncertianty

But once God speaks, there is a change

And affirmation of the truth of his word

Rather than fear or uncertain, it is rest and peace in the safety of God’s true words

How often do we see things in the world and we can’t find rest because we have no idea what God’s word says about it?

[Personal] But I can’t tell you how many times I have been struggling with something in life or in the world…

And then I read my Bible and God’s word speaks to it

And it brings rest

“Oh, that’s right - God’s word is true, and I am safe.”

Throughout Scripture, God has promised in many ways and at many times that He will sustain His people by the truth of His word

That no matter how evil the world gets, no matter how deceptive the world gets, if we will walk in his ways, we will have life and not death, that we will flourish and thrive according to his design, maybe not in the world's way, but in his way, which is infinitely better

To be safe according to the word of God, is to place all of your hope and all of your confidence in what God says is best, and though I may receive negative outcomes in a world that is full of deceit…

Though it might negatively affect me.

Though standing up for the truth might cost me my job

Though standing up for the truth might cost me these relationships

Though I might somehow be falsely accused of something that I'm not actually guilty of.

If I remain in the pure and perfect word of the Lord, I will be sustained, and I will live.

I can rest.

I don't have to strive to vindicate myself before people.

I don't have to work hard to make sure that other people get what's coming to them.

I can simply say, “Lord, let me see your way as right and good, and let me rest in the truth your perfect word.”

One of the greatest proofs that you are resting in God's promises is that when evil is spoken around you and against you, or you suffer harm because of someone else's words, you seek all the more to be a person of truth.

When I truly see God's words as perfectly pure, and it compels me to then say, “Lord, let my words be pure as a reflection of the purity of Your word…”

that is the most obvious evidence that I am resting in the promises of God, because I believe them, even in the face of the lies that the world would try to convince me to believe

So it's worth pausing and just reflecting and asking:

Am I being negatively affected by the lies of others?

And how am I tempted to play by the same rules?

And what would it look like in this situation with this person for me to say “Lord, I'm running to you for help, I'm trusting in your justice. Help me rest in your promises as I walk and speak according to the truth”?

And when we do these three steps, then we can take step four.

“When deception surrounds me…”

Step 4: I trust in God’s protection (7-8) [35:00][-5]

I want you to notice something in v. 7-8.

One thing does not change, and one thing does:

Psalm 12:7–8 “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.”

Notice what doesn't change:

The wicked are still prowling, vileness is still exalted.

The culture is still deceptive.

Nothing about the context has changed.

What has changed is David.

He is lamenting in v. 1-4 that things are not the way that they should be.

Then he is confronted with the word of the Lord in verse 5

then he acknowledges the purity and perfection and the safety that the word of the Lord brings in v. 6

and so now his outlook changes in v. 7-8.

“Though the world remains corrupt… You will keep us safe, Lord.”

God's protection does not mean I will never be slandered.

It doesn't mean I will never be mistreated or harmed.

It means that nothing can ultimately separate me from God's care,

because I have believed in the finished work of Christ that has not only forgiven my sin and made me right with God, but it also has a has given me as an inheritance, as a child of God, every promise of God

And because those things are true, because I have the Spirit of God as a guarantee of my salvation…

Nothing the world does or says can take that away.

Oh, this world can take away many things from you, but it cannot take your standing before God.

It cannot take your identity in Christ.

It cannot take the inheritance of blessings that is yours in Christ.

It cannot take your future and your eternal rest with the Lord

It cannot take from you your salvation.

The deception of the world is incredibly limited in what it can accomplish, but the promises of God are limitless, permanent and unchanging.

In a culture of deception, there are going to be things about our lives as people of the truth that are hard, but God will protect us according to His word

And every single thing that is worth holding on to we will not lose, and anything that we lose wasn't worth holding on to

And when I trust in his promises, I can hold on to the truth that will sustain me, while this world continually proves to me why it is not my home.

[CONCLUSION] - [39:00] [-1]

And that is the confidence that comes when we live as people of truth in a culture of deception.

We run to God for help.

We submit to God's justice.

We rest in God's promises.

We trust in God's protection.

Because when deception surrounds us, the word of God protects us.

Amen.