I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them.
Psalm 12:5 NLT
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things;
4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® NASB 1995
MAIN POINT: God listens, speaks, and acts so we are sure of God’s promises.
The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.” Psalm 12:5 NLT
We worry about about the state of the godly
My tendency is to look at myself first and to see things in relation to my perspective. I’m trying to see what the Psalms say about Jesus. Since the Psalms speak about God, His King, and His Word we know that we are hearing what God has to say about Jesus. Jesus, the Son of David, is the fulfilment of the promises and His Word is the sure word that David writes about in verse 6 of Psalm 12.
I fear that the church may have fallen foul of the world’s philosophy of self-determination.
v.4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
There is a bit of a “name-it-and-claim-it culture” in the church and sometimes that is coupled with the “speak-it-and-it-will-happen mindset.” Heart be warned, this can be just like the pride of the world that God is against. It is the Word of God and not my word that is sure.
God Sees, Hears, and Speaks
So when we hear the voice of God in verse 5, we can be sure it is our King Jesus who is speaking.
Jesus is the Word of God, Jesus is the King of Kings, all authority and power is given to Jesus, it is Jesus who sits at the right hand of the throne of God, it is Jesus who healed the lame, gave sight to the blind and says He was sent to save.*(note) And what does Jesus say? He says he sees what David sees, the devastation of the afflicted, and the groaning of the needy. David fears that the godly will cease to be (v.1) and the faithful disappear (v.1). And it can look like this is the end of the story. Wicked, boastful, arrogant people walk all over the godly, and the wickedness of the wicked is praised in the earth. Doesn’t this match the very situation you experience today?
We can be confident of God’s promise
But God responds and says NO! Don’t believe it. Trust that God will rescue as He has promised to do. (v.6)
Don’t be deceived by the boldness of the wicked.
Don’t be discouraged by your fears and observations.
Be confident in what God says. v.7
Conclusion:
You are not wrong when you see problems for the godly and apparent success for the boastful wicked. But God sees, hears and acts to rescue the oppressed godly. So you can be sure that the word of the Lord will prevail and not the word of the wicked--nor the word of your fearful heart. Keep trusting the promises of God.
Mark 5:36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth”
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Note: Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ….But I say to you (Matthew 5:43-44), How can Jesus add to the word of God? “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses” (Hebrews 3:2-6) so Jesus can sum up the whole law (Matthew 22:40), “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” and (Matthew 7:12) “In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is the mouthpiece of God
8 Philip says to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us”. 9 Jesus says to him, “Am I with you[a] all for so long a time, and you[b] have not known[c] Me, Philip?— the one having seen Me has seen the Father. How is it you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? I am not speaking the words which I am saying to you[d] from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me is doing His works.
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