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1 Help, Lord, for the godly are no m:ore;
the faithful have vanished from among men
2 Everyone lies to their neighbour;
their flatter lips speak with deception.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue –
4 that says, ‘We will triumph with
our tongues.
We own our lips – who is our master?
5 ‘Because the oppression of the weak and the
groaning of the needy, I will now arise,’
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says the Lord.
‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.
7 O, Lord, you will keep us safe
and protect us from such people for ever,
8 The wicked freely strut about
when what is vile is honoured among men.
(NIV)
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Psalm 12:- The psalmist surrounded by those whose word cannot be trusted, puts his faith in the utterly dependable promises of God. The oppression of the righteous by the wicked is especially felt in the realm of vain and proud speech (verse 2-5), but the righteous find comfort in the pure and valued Word of God (verse 6). Verses 1-8: Men’s words do hurt, but the Lord’s words heal. These are the thoughts that preoccupy David (in Psalm 12).
The psalm begins and ends with the reality of the current reign of the wicked. Yet within this very black setting, the gemstone truth (of verse 5), shines all the more brightly. These 8 verses are characterized by subtle repetitions and bold contrasts. In the development of Psalm 12, David provides a model for passing a spiritual hearing test, in that genuine disciples listen to and properly respond to two radically different sources of speech.
Many times, we listen to the news and wonder what on earth is happening in our world. Every day you turn on the news and someone is on that another person has told lies, it makes you stop and wonder just what is happening to our world. You sometimes wonder if people know how to say sorry, they seem to demand that a person must be punished for what he has done.
I am glad that we have a God who cares for us, who picks us up and wipes away our tears and talks to us. We must learn that we are not yet perfect, that God has set us on a course that may be rough or smooth, and has we travel along, there will be places where we fall down by what we have done, and other places where the path has seemed easy and smooth. We need to learn from the places we fall down, and has we pick ourselves up, we remember not to do that again.
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