Psalm 12 - Idle vs. Pure Words
By Bunni Pounds
“’Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?’’’ (verses 1-4)
In Luke 6 - we have Luke’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. His transcription of the Sermon on the Mount given by Jesus is one of the greatest sermons ever given in history. We also experience different stories in the gospels about Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath, the gathering of His disciples, and even His beginning interactions with the multitudes.
What we see from the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry that separates him for every other teacher or religious leader is simply this: Jesus goes after one thing – our hearts.
He breaks through all the conversations concerning rituals, religious traditions, and the words spoken by those who say they knew God but lived life with no power.
There was a difference when Jesus spoke. He had power and transformation behind His words.
Then He lays out a clear picture of what is really going on behind the surface. He tells a story about a good tree and a bad tree and the difference in their fruit. Let us read it here.
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:43-45
Here we have it – the mouth is connected to the heart. The mouth is extremely revealing.
This was not a new concept for the Jews as it is the same connection that David talked about in Psalm 12 – Jesus just gave them even more color on how that manifested in their lives – loving their enemies, not expecting anything in return when someone gave them something and living with humility and meekness.
David starts out in this Psalm feeling like the faithful people are disappearing from his culture and nation. He is not seeing much fruit of the faithful’s existence springing up around him.
Do you ever feel like that?
Do we feel like we, as believers, are disappearing in our culture?
It can seem like we, as Christians, are always on the defense, worried about how our beliefs could be misinterpreted and our families and church communities could come under attack. It may seem like the church is weak and going under, but God has a promise for us – He is about to rise. He has a plan for the Church of Jesus Christ for it to shine.
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” (verse 5)
It is completely natural for us all as humans to yearn for safety. It is human nature.
When we do not feel safe – it affects us all. Remember September 11, 2001 when in the season after that attack on our nation – the movie theatres were filled up. We were all trying to medicate ourselves from the fear. Also, the churches were filling up – because we were afraid, and we needed hope.
We feel uncomfortable and needy when we do not feel safe. We have seen that again in this latest season of a global pandemic in 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
This verse is such a beautiful picture of how God desires us to be safe as well.
The character of God is LOVE so He is torn up by starving children in Africa, people dying of disease, and people committing sins upon others and wounding them. Yet He let’s sin continue on the fallen world until the Day when He is ready to completely redeem it. The belief in the existence of God also solidifies in our minds this thing we like to avoid - the opportunity for choice for every man and woman. If God exists – the only justification for the depravity that we see in this world is that sin also exists, and that people are choosing sin rather than righteousness.
“For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” I Thessalonians 5:3
But the tenderness of God says here “I will arise…… and I will set him (the poor and the needy) into a place of safety which is what his heart yearns for.
God = True Safety.
Even in the middle of chaos, sickness, persecution, and pain – God with Us = True Safety.
This is our ultimate HOPE.
The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men. (verses 6-8)
The opposite of the evil and vile words spoken by the wicked at the beginning of this passage are the PURE words of the Lord. Here is why the Word of God breaks through the noise of the culture. The Word of God cuts through our soul and spirit and brings truth into our lives. They are purified so deeply and so radically that we come to understand that we cannot live without them. We are weak and malnourished if we attempt to live without them.
The commitment by David here is that he commits to keep these precious words preserved, AND He does it!
He raised up a 24/7 Tabernacle that trains up worshippers to speak and sing the Word of God repeatedly at all hours of the day and night - BECAUSE he understands that simple humans forget. They do not esteem the words of the Lord as they should. David understood these words from the mouth of the Lord were the only hope for change in their culture and decided to partner with God in their preservation. If it were not for David – we would not have these words in front of us right now.
So, the question to us today is this – are we sacrificed with idle words OR do we want the pure words of God?
Will we be defined by the words that come out of our hearts through our mouths or will be let God change our hearts and make them pure and holy, so we bare good fruit?
This is the essence of Psalm 12 – idle words versus pure words…
Will we allow God to redeem us from the inside out and therefore impact future generations?
He is speaking to us right now – what will we choose?
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