Psalms 12:1

The Bible says in Psalms 12:1-2, “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.[2] They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.” What made things bad in the time in which King David lived 3,000 years ago? There were not enough believers: “the godly man ceaseth” and “the faithful fail.” That same thing happens all the time. There are people who once were godly and once were faithful, but they fell away and stopped following Jesus. They stopped confessing their sins daily. They took their eyes off Jesus. They stopped going to a good Bible-teaching church. They became carnal instead of spiritual. What do you do when you see people all around you like that? You do what David did and you do the same thing for any other problem in this life: you turn to God and say, “Help, LORD.” The problem becomes evident by what the backsliders talk about: “They speak vanity.” In other words they do not talk about the things of the Lord. They talk instead about the things of this world, and things that are of no eternal value. And it is even worse than that: “with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.” Flattering is a type of dishonesty because what is said is only to please others, avoiding the truth. A “double heart” refers to the fact that you never know what they are going to say. They might say what they should sometimes, but at other times they say the worst of things. That is because they do not have a single purpose to serve the Lord Jesus, and they are not resolved to serve Him no matter what. Those who are following Jesus want to find others who are like-minded. And we need to be constantly seeking the Lord’s help to be able to endure these who have ceased following the Lord and who have fainted in the way.

The Bible says in Psalms 12:3, “The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:” God does not like flattering lips. God likes truthful lips. God does not like pride in man. God likes humility. God has a future planned for those who use flattering lips and those who are proud of heart: Jesus will cut them off. That is why we do not take vengeance, and why we pray for lost souls. They have a terrible future unless they repent.

The Bible says in Psalms 12:4-5, “Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?[5] 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.” Verse four shows three things that wicked people say to themselves that keep them in a lost estate. First they say, “With our tongue will we prevail.” They actually think that their lies are working because they seem to be working for a short time. Secondly, they say, “our lips are our own.” They know they have a free will, and they are going to keep that free will in order to live their life the way they want to live it. In other words, they are not going to surrender to God. The third thing that they say is, “who is lord over us?” They are totally unaware of God’s existence and God’s control. Jesus is Lord over them. Their heart will stop beating one day and they will kneel before the Lord, and then they will find out the hard way who is Lord over them.

The Lord watches what is taking place on the earth, and then the Lord says, “now will I arise.” Even though God has given man free will, there comes a time when God will intervene. According to verse 5, God will intervene on the behalf of the poor and the needy. God knows and God cares. Now is the time of opportunity and freedom, but later will be the time of judgment.

The Bible says in Psalms 12:6-7, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.[7] Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” King David made a statement about the Bible that every Christian should know if they have just the basic teaching about the Word of God: “The words of the LORD are pure words.” You can use many great adjectives about the Bible, and they are all true. The Bible is pure. The Bible is true. The Bible is without error. The Bible is good. The Bible is without contradictions. The Bible is our spiritual food that we need daily. The Bible is the only book that comes directly from God in heaven (God-breathed): through the Holy men who were moved by the Holy Spirit. We know that it was an act of God to give us the Bible. Actually, there were sixty-six acts of God to give us the Bible because there are sixty-six books of the Bible. Many people rightly emphasize that those original writings were given by God. But not only did God give the original writings, He also preserved the writings. That is the important point that King David makes in verse 7: “Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” What good would it have done for God to have given the original writings as pure writings, but then not to have preserved them? Of course, God preserved His Word. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” God not only used those who gave us the original writings, but God also used the scribes during the centuries to preserve the Word just as God wants us to have it. Because of this preservation, we have God’s Word without error. What good would it do to give His Word and then not preserve it? Anyone who thinks that the Word of God was not preserved, has become humanistic in their views and the result will be a lack of faith. You must be able to hold the Bible up and say, “Every word of this book is true, and there are no errors in it.” True faith is based upon the Bible. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” That means that up to the Textus Receptus God preserved the Greek texts, and so the translations that are based upon those Greek texts are the translations that we want to use. That is one of the reasons to use the King James Version of the Bible because it is based upon the Greek texts that were preserved and extant through the centuries.

The Bible says in Psalms 12:8, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” What does it mean to “exalt” vile men? It means to elevate them to positions of power and influence. In a democracy people might vote for the wrong person. In Hollywood a “vile” person might get exalted. Just because they are talented does not mean that they are good. They might be talented and “vile,” and thus are given a voice and an influence greater than most individuals. People tend to follow leadership. Remember that people are like sheep. Not many have a firm foundation and a strong backbone. Not many are the servants of Christ. A vile leader will set the stage for more evil to follow. They will put other vile people under them and the system will get corrupted even more. It will be wonderful when Jesus returns and takes over the leadership of the world as the King of kings. In that day we will have the best of leaders. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

___________________________________________________