Psalm 12 - Final

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Overcoming the World’s Words
INTRODUCTION
War of Words
Dad always said, “When someone is speaking real sweet to you, you better put your hand on your wallet.” Life would be much simpler if we did not have to interpret everyone’s true intentions, wouldn’t it? When you stop to think about it, interpreting the intentions of others can become so time consuming that many simply don’t try and stop relating and trusting others. As we will see in this morning, God’s word is the only word that can be trusted and its intentions perceived as pure.
Psalms reflect real life situations, and we will be able to connect with the timeless issues; therefore, it is a book of practical theology.
Psalms reflect real life situations, and we will be able to connect with the timeless issues; therefore, it is a book of practical theology.
Context: To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
This is a lament Psalm, which means that king David is lamenting over something. In this case he is lamenting over the ungodly use of words among the people in their covenant community. “Worthless fellow” (c.f., ) addressed in the context of covenant ratification and purging of evil. David is praying for the professing “covenant community members.”
BODY
Our proper contextual comparison would be the faithful Christians lamenting over the way words are used in our “80% Christian nation.”
BODY
3 aspects to this lament Psalm that can help the faithful persevere in the world today:
I. Prayer of Deliverance from Impure Words (1-4)
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
A. Cry to God (1)
1 Save (imperative), O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
1 Save (imperative), O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man (synonomous parallelism).
No faithful covenant keepers. Moral collapse.
Cry out to God…not each other.
B. Condition recognized (2)
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
Everyone seems so nice, but they are two-faced.
“A man would rather face a lion than a liar” - Spurgeon. At least you know what you are up against. A wolf looks like a dog, but its not. A liar looks like a friend, but he or she is not!
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
C. Petition Made (3-4)
3 May the Lord (not me!) cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
It is our 1st instinct to vindicate (or set straight) for ourselves and others when we see the effects of impure speech, but David gives us a different prescription.
Every injustice seems to generate within our culture a new petition that his sent to Capitol Hill, but we must send our petitions to the King’s Hill!
When there is injustice in the church - go to your prayer closet!
in the church - go to your prayer closet!
When there is injustice in our culture - go to your prayer closet!
When there is injustice in our country - go to your prayer closet!
Transition: Why pray? Because he promises to deliver.
II. Promise of Deliverance from Impure Words (5)
5Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will (imperfect) now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
כִּֽי־ The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a wayside cave, expecting his enemies to find him soon.
Psalm 72:12–14 ESV
For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
The story has been told of a believer, Frederick Nolan, who was fleeing from his enemies during a time of persecution in North Africa. Pursued by them over hill and valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a wayside cave, expecting his enemies to find him soon.
Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the little bug had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The pursuers arrived and wondered if Nolan was hiding there, but on seeing the unbroken and unmangled piece of art, thought it impossible for him to have entered the cave without dismantling the web. And so they went on. Having escaped, Nolan burst out and exclaimed:
“Where God is, a spider’s web is like a wall,
Where God is not, a wall is like a spider’s web.”
Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
God has given his Word that he will deliver. Do you believe that his Word is trustworthy?
So pray about injustice, not pout!
Transition: David believed so!
III. Expressed Confidence in God’s Word (6-8)
2 characteristics of God’s Word:
A. It is pure (6)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
B. It is protective (7-8)
7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
The man scared in the storm that could not read opened the Word of God and laid it on his chest during the storm. He literally had confidence that the Word would protect him.
On a scale of 1-10, how expressive are you in your confidence that God’s word is both pure and protective?
CONCLUSION
We overcome the words of the world by the Word of God!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and he came to take your place on the cross.
Have you met him?
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