Daily in the Psalms : Psalm 12 DARK AGES Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: 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 have 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. 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 wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. Psalms 12:1-8 Many times discouragement can come from individual or specific circumstances in our lives. But in this Psalm David is discouraged by the falseness and hypocrisy if his time, by society in general turning away from God. The time of David was one of the greatest times in history up to that point, especially for the nation of Israel. Yet in this time those that were spiritual saw great corruption. It makes no difference what our surrounding circumstances may be; we have to always look through the eyes of holiness. David was surrounded by great literature, great commerce, great statesmanship, great advances in music, breathtaking architecture, and powerful military might. But in the midst of all this splendor, David moans, sighs, and cries out to God. The true glory of any nation is their moral consciousness and purity. When a nation loses or destroys their morality, all other glories will grow dim in the eyes of God’s people. David saw palaces, people, chariots, jewels, and gold increase, but he also saw spiritual, honest, true-hearted men decrease. In fact, he feared that they would disappear completely. Such a situation ought to grieve all Christians. Paul felt the same in his day as he looked out over the great city of Athens and saw the museums, art of every kind, statues, and palaces, but his heart was stirred within him because the city was wholly given to idolatry. As we observe the magnificence of our great nation, we must weep over the corrupt morals, decayed faith, depraved minds, demented youth, defiled religion, defiant government, and defeated Christians. We have an abundance of poets, philosophers, commanders, artists, orators, millionaires, celebrities, and stars, but there are so few Godly men and women. The golden and jeweled society that we live in is so quickly turning into dust and ashes. How sad is this so-called Golden Age! What earthly man calls golden, Heaven may record in its Book of Lamentations There are three stages of society making claims of advancement: FIRST – It claims that needs are being supplied, the poor are being helped, knowledge is increased, prejudice is eradicated, and humanity is spread. SECOND – It claims increase convenience, increased numbers, art and science is advanced, laws are more just, and people are happier. THIRD – Nature is changed, wealth is increased, luxury is premier, effeminate men predominate, and principles are compromised. In David’s day society seemed to be entering into this third stage. David makes some charges against the people of his nation: THEY LACKED FAITHFULNESS - Faithful people that were honest and could be counted on were hard to find. Do we not see this same problem in our present society? Every day we hear people complain about the dishonest dealings of people in business and the big companies. We constantly hear complaints of a lack of workmanship and quality. An honest days work for a days pay seems to be a thing of the past. THERE WAS UNTRUTHFULNESS - Insincerity and outright lies ruled the day. Again, is this not the prevailing problem in our day? From those in highest government to those that receive help from that government, deceit is the name of the game. It is fast becoming difficult to trust anyone. Even in times of national disaster, thieves are out to take advantage of everyone they can. It is gotten to the point that we expect such activity. THEY WERE FILLED WITH PRIDE - The people were consumed with talking big about themselves. That has become an obsession of our day. The more you can build yourself up, the more people respect you. That building usually comes as a result of tearing down others. THEY WERE BOASTERS - The declared themselves to be absolutely free and exalted above all authority. This kind of pride, arrogance, and defiance is sweeping our society today. Most people do not see themselves are subject to any authority. Everyone talks about “THEIR” rights, and has very little or no respect for others. Anyone who disagrees with them is somehow inferior and unworthy. THEY TREATED GOODNESS WITH CONTEMPT - We often say it this way, “Good is seen as bad and bad is seen as good.” Those that stand for righteousness are labeled as troublemakers, and those that promote evil are seen as peacemakers. Good people are fast becoming the persecuted in our society. The way of every high civilization is to think lightly of sin. Because of their pride and sensuality and their rejection of absolute truth, they commit the darkest transgressions. Someone has said, “The height of the mountain determines the depth of the valley and the intensity of the light determines the emptiness of the darkness.” The wealth, freedom, education, and greatness of our nation has caused us to increase our desire for wickedness and decrease our desire for righteousness HOPE IN THE DARK AGES 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. Psalms 12:6-7 David cried, “HELP LORD?” Our effectual prayer and our voice for right must be heard. The cry today is for us to be nice and not to rock the boat. Those that claim to be Christians have been duped into believing that it is a bad thing to offend the wicked. The loud Preacher is condemned and the radical Christian is shunned. We are doing the opposite of what God intends for us to do and the opposite of what this wicked world needs for us to do. The words of man are confusing and impure, but God’s Words are free from all contradiction. Man’s words are filled with ignorance, prejudice, falsehood, passion, and insincerity, but EVERY Word of God is true and righteous altogether. The words of men are nothing but clouds of smoke from the earth that obstruct our vision and cause us to stray, but God’s Words are the shinning lights of Heaven, pure, cloudless, and always leading us to safety. God help us to shun the words of man and always seek and obey the Words of God. Too many are ruled by the flesh and deceived by the words of man. The Spirit can clear our eyes and draw our minds to the Word of God. We can hold in our hands, the very Word of God. It has been tried over the span of time and the trials of opposition, but it has always come forth as pure gold. Our King James Bible has been discussed and analyzed, its authority questions, its accuracy doubted, its inspiration condemned, and its merit denied by the best Satan can come up with. Yet it stands and has been proven in the hearts of believers time and time again. After the smoke of hatred and contempt is removed, there has been NO credible evidence established against this Blessed Book. Stars nor stones can condemn it. Chemists can’t dilute it. Some of the greatest scientists have died trying to discredit it, only to have their hopes dashed by Divine Revelation. The Bible always delivers what it promises. The critics claim that the Bible is false in fact, false is philosophy, and false in morals, and it will only harm society, yet every time it is put into practice, it saves, it satisfies, and it sustains. Our great civilization has its root in the truth of the Bible. It has changed every pagan land it has been given to. It improves the intellect, the morals, and the contentment of any man that will believe it. It is exactly what every man needs. It gives light, pardon, liberty, purity, and joy. It saves from sin, delivers from misery, gives relief from fear, removes guilt, and gives a dying man peace. It is the tree of life whose fruits satisfy the soul. It is the healing of the nations and the hope of the world. Again, it is just what man needs and ALL that man needs.
The Bible is as precious as purified silver.
The glory of this Book never fails and it will never fail us.
So Glad To Be So Saved
Danny "Preacher" Bezet
|