Psalms 12
The Bible says in Psalms 12:1 To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the
children of men. There is no one in this world that does not ever need help
in life. Of course, spiritually we all need help. The word help means to rescue, to deliver and to give
victory. The word help is even translated
Saviour. Isaiah 60:16, Thou shalt know that I
the LORD am Thy Saviour and Thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
The greatest Help that God has given man is
through the Saviour Jesus. By fulfilling the law and then paying the debt that
we owe for sin and by being judged for our sins on the cross of
That is Why Psalms chapter 1 says, Blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the
ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners. One of the reasons that this
is especially true is because there are many who start serving Jesus but then
stop. To start something but then stop in the middle of a work is a complete
and utter waste. An Olympic athlete does
not stop in the middle of a race and quit. What if there was a fire and the
firemen showed up, but in the middle of putting out the fire they quit? The
building would still burn down. Jesus said in Luke 9:62, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the
Jesus also gave the parable of the sower and the
seed, and He said in Luke 8:5-8, A sower went out
to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden
down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as
soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And
some fell among thorns: and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And
other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.
Luke 8:11-14, Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the
devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe
and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in the
time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which,
when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
The word ceaseth
which is used here in Psalms 12 is used elsewhere in the Bible to mean performeth and perfect:
meaning to complete or come to an end. Psalms 57:2 says, I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth
all things for me. Psalms 138:8 says, The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me,
thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
How opposite men are to the way God is. Where men cease and fail, God never
does. That is how we know that Jesus is God. No man on this earth could have
fulfilled the law except Jesus because He is God. His life is the example of what
a mans life should be. He never ceased and He never failed. Therefore, when He
hung on the cross, He was able to say concerning the will of God, It is finished (John 19:30).
The amount of damage that is caused when men, who
start serving God, cease and fail is hard to imagine. The formula for success
is really very simple because we know that God performs and perfects. You are
going to fail, but what will keep you from ceasing is failing to keep your sins
confessed. First John 1:9 says, If we confess our
sins then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. When it comes to serving God the only failure that
is a true failure is not failure itself but rather the failure to repent and
try again. That is why a man should not be measured by his failure but by his
faith. It is not how many big things you appear to be doing for God that
counts, but how consistent you are. Jesus said, He
that is faithful in little is faithful in much.
Sometimes the Christian life seems like a long, long journey. In reality
it is but a short sprint. How many souls that lay chained in darkness and
dependent upon you not ceasing, only God knows. If you fail, repent, but do not
cease; and in the end you will have won the victory.
Psalms 12:2-5, They
speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a
double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the
tongue that speaketh proud things: Who hath said, With our tongue will we prevail;
our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for
the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in
safety from him that puffeth at him. There is
a saying, the pen is mightier than the sword. Words have power, influence, and
effect. You can either use the words that you say and that you write to
accomplish good things, or you can use the words that you say to accomplish
selfish things. Any time you speak, you are exerting influence and power even
if you dont intend to. Such is the nature of speech. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. But sometimes men will say one thing, even good things, but in their
heart they will be purposed for evil. In fact this is how some of the most
evil, murderous, power hungry men in the world have gained their power over
entire nations; simply by the words that they say.
Jesus said that one of the greatest
commandments is to love thy neighbor as thyself. Certainly you should not use
the words that you say to oppress, take advantage of, manipulate, or even to
get revenge on your fellow man. Of course we have failed at times at saying the
right thing. But the real problem is not that men fail, but that there are too
many who purpose in their hearts and think that with their tongue they will
prevail. In other words it is just
another way of men rebelling against God. By using their words they attempt to
destroy the truth. That is why you find
governments and schools attempting to use both written and spoken words to
influence and to change what people think from the time they are children; so
that they can prevail against God and against the truth over the earth. They
have said, With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own: who is
Lord over us? But they are wrong. They will not prevail against God. Man is
but dust. He cannot defeat the Eternal Almighty God. Our lips are not our own
because Jesus is Lord.
Genesis 7:18 says, And
the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark
went upon the face of the waters. The only one who is going to prevail
is God himself. Zechariah 10:12, And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall
walk up and down in His name, saith the LORD. In this verse the word prevail is translated strengthen. It is true that words have power and
influence. God made it that way. But the words of man cannot prevail. They are
not powerful enough. There are no words more powerful than the words of God.
These are the words that will prevail: these are the words that will endure
generation after generation. And these are the words that will strengthen those
among men who hide them in their hearts. No other words, certainly not the
words of men, can take their place.
This is why the very next verses go on to say in
Psalms 12:6-7, The words of the LORD are pure
words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt
keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Notice the two things these verses say about Gods Word: they are pure words
and God will preserve them forever. The word that is used here for pure can
mean morally clean. It is the same word used in reference to the pure gold used
in the making of the Ark of the Covenant.
We also know that the number seven is used in the
Bible to symbolize perfection. God created the world in 6 days and rested on
the 7th. The Words of the
Lord are pure words. They are clean words. They are perfect words. There are no
errors in them. God does not make mistakes. He is Holy. God said here that He
will preserve them. And we know that God always does what He says. Jesus said
in Luke 21:33, Heaven and earth shall pass away
but my words shall not pass away.
In the
previous Psalm, Psalms 11:3, we read the verse that says, If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous
do. Jesus is the cornerstone of the foundation. And the Word of God is
the rest of the foundation. There will always be countless attacks against the
foundation because if the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?
The wicked have bent their bow and they will attack your foundation. They
believe that they can prevail with their tongue, and so they will use their
words, both the verbal and the written, to teach, to indoctrinate, to brainwash
and to deceive people concerning the truth. They will deny the divinity of
Jesus. And they will deny the purity of Gods Word. There are thousands and
thousands of lies given to history and written with pen to attempt to deceive
people regarding these truths. But for all the false Christs and for all the
false documents, there is only one Jesus and one Bible.
At the root
of every false religion in the world you will find there is a denial of the
deity of Christ and the purity of the Word of God. It comes in many shapes and
forms but it is all the same thing: an attack on the foundation of the
righteous. Gods Words are pure and He is going to preserve them. The
preservation of Gods Word is not dependent on man but on Him. Just as
salvation is dependent on us trusting in what Jesus has done for us. You cannot
lose your salvation once you have turned from your sins and turned to Jesus.
Eternal security applies to both Gods children and His Word. Gods Word is as
eternal as He is. If you begin to doubt this then you just might begin to doubt
anything, even your own salvation. To be pure is to be clean. To be clean is to
be without error. To be without error is to be holy and perfect. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in
a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou
shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The tongue of man
will not prevail. But the words of God will because they are pure and they
endure forever.
Psalm 12:8, The
wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. To be
exalted means to be praised. It can also mean to be given a position of power
over something. Genesis 14:22 says, And Abram said
to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high
God, the possessor of heaven and earth. Here the word exalted is translated lift up. Who do you
praise? Who is your role model? Whom do you allow to have authority and
influence over you in your life? Abraham exalted God. More specifically He
exalted the LORD, that is to say, Jehovah who is Jesus. Who should be exalted?
Jesus should be. Any time men are exalted there is a great danger because men
are sinful and imperfect. How is it that men come to power? Other men give them
that power.
In reading verse 8 of Psalms chapter 12, we should
come to realize the importance of praying for those who are in positions of
leadership and also of praying that God will lift up godly men to positions of
exaltation. The more that evil men are exalted or have authority the greater
will be the influence of wickedness upon any society or individual. Beware of
the wolves in sheeps clothing. Sometimes it can be very hard to tell the
difference. But one thing is for sure, they will be people who think that with
their own tongues they can prevail. They will not be people who understand or
value the pure words of the Lord which endure from generation to generation.
Perhaps one of the reasons there are too often
rulers in government is because the Christians do not pray enough for the
leaders. First Timothy 2:1-3, I exhort therefore,
that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. How often do
you pray for those who are your leaders? The
wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.
In the end whose words shall prevail? The pure
words of the Lord which are as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified
seven times. Who should be exalted? Jesus should be exalted because He is the
Christ; both the Saviour of this world and the one who is our righteousness.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2011 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved