#690 Plotting To Kill God

Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord 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?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

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. Psalm 12 ESV

To be played upon the 8 string harp, a psalm of David. 

The faithful have vanished - Surely you are not so young in reading this, that you cannot recount the words of parent or grandparent, when they speak of simpler times. Many like to reminisce about the times when a man's hand shake was his seal, that his good name was too valuable to him to risk. I  have lived in places where we did not bother to lock the doors, where the garage could be left open. Don't get me wrong, there was never perfection, it is not that no one ever lied, but it was never that the truth was so lowly esteemed that it became "their truth vs. my truth." There was the truth, what actually happened, and the one not telling this was a liar. The Psalmist probably mourns the lonely hills, misses the companionship of his fellow heroes, warriors that he has learned to trust because they have proven themselves in the worst of times. In the halls of the kings it is now only politicians, and the shepherd is far away from his solitude. The men here speak of people's perception as being their reality, they do not "lie" in their minds, for it is just business. They say what people want to hear to get elected, they stand for little and rise up on words, unsupported by the truth of deeds. Where are the faithful, those who are not only Christians on Sunday morning, those who know the truth may sting but it will not rot the teeth like so many flattering words? What a lonely place, of whispering, of closed doors, plotting, butt kissing, and David would like to see this cut off. 

Silver refined - The Lord's words do not just bare the shine of silver, but compared to the words of men they have been refined seven times. These are the hills upon which we may rise, the mountains to where we may retreat, the word of God sharper is than any two edged sword, it pierces the very soul. There is no comparison with men, all their words fall off, and a thousand times it is better to say what God has said. It may cut me but I will hug it back, I will rest here because it is fixed. It was not what I first wanted to hear, but it is the truth and so it is what I needed and infinitely more valuable than your flattering lips. You have said one thing to my face and a very different thing to my back, but God has heard it all. 

Vileness is exalted - Men hold high trash talkers, praise and envy the violent, admire power no matter how it was got. We esteem the rich who have become so at the price of the needy, who have pretended to care for the poor, who have looked down their nose at the weak. It is all lies here, protect us from this generation, let this wickedness be removed from us, let me only have but one heart, oh Lord. Even in light of the truth they continue with the lie or trade for the next lie. Oh God, deliver me from the lie. 

Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts. 5As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness! 6Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it.…1 Thessalonians 2: 4-6