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In a world corrupted with sin, even the word legit is not legit. Human relations are not spared as they are many times overrun with conflict on account of sin. It is in this very world that we find vain chatterers. We find proud men who like to bring praise to themselves and flatterers who like to lavish insincere praise on others. But when we are loose with the truth the weak are not spared as they suffer greatly at the oppression of the ungodly. Perhaps you have been caught up in these vices in the past either as the oppressed or as the oppressor.

Coming closer home, how many times have we failed in our own words? How many times have we been dishonest with people perhaps when we feared sincerity would put the friendship at stake. How many times have we promised what we did not think about two seconds later, just because we were afraid of appearing weak? How many times have we disappointed others with our words because we wanted to appear well collected?  Have you been disappointed by a compliment that was given insincerely or with misguided information? Well, this was not different in David’s time as we shall see from Psalm 12.

Psalms 12 is a Psalm of David, which he wrote as a lament having witnessed people talking insincerely with one another and the weak being oppressed as a result. David writes asking for God’s help in this situation while praising God because unlike men’s words his are pure and trustworthy. Looking at the previous Psalms, we can say that David knew of the incorruptible and unchangeable nature of God and he believed in him. We see David asking for God’s help when faced with human injustices such as false accusations as we see in Psalm 7. Here in Psalm 12, we see David allude to the purity of God’s words, in comparison to man’s corrupted words. The big idea is that because God is trustworthy, then his words are pure and they can be trusted implicitly unlike the words of men.

For our reflection, we’ll now briefly look at the flow of Psalms 12 using the ESV:

Vs 1-2  David Laments Against the Ungodly

The Psalmist laments about the disappearance of the godly at a time when everyone spoke lies to his neighbor. He speaks about those who use flattering lips. Flattery is such a serious vice as we see in Daniel 11:32 that it is used as a powerful tool by the enemy. Maybe closer home, is to think about how it’s used in politics at such a time as this. Many a time the public seems to support a person just because they are getting a few coins but in their hearts and elsewhere, they undermine the same person. David cries to God on account of those who flatter with their lips and harbor deception at their hearts.

Vs 3-5 He Pleads with God to Judge the Proud and the Flatterer

From verse 3, we see the Psalmist greatly distressed by the boasts of the proud who disregard God. He pleads with God to bring justice against the wicked. In verse 5, God answers him saying he’s the one who hears the cry of the oppressed. When it feels hopeless we see the character of God as one who does not overlook sin but instead he says he will rise to defend and protect the weak.

Vs 6-7 David finds Refuge in the Pure Words of the Lord

In this section, the Psalmist compares God’s words to silver that has been refined in a furnace on the ground purified seven times. This brings a clear contrast between men’s vain words as we have seen in verses 2-4, and God’s pure words. The process of refining silver is indeed long and tedious, but the refiner watches and waits patiently till he can see his image clearly through the end product after all the impurities have been removed. This is what the Psalmist compares God’s word to that unlike the words of men it is without impurities of flattery, lies, and pride. It’s pure and trustworthy.

Spurgeon once wrote;

“The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt, and scientific discovery, and has lost nothing but those human interpretations which clung to it as an alloy to precious ore. The experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat.”

Vs 8 He’s encouraged that though Wickedness seems to Prevail there’s Hope

David seems to be ending this Psalm on a sad note looking at what the wicked continue to do in vs 8. But as we’ve seen:

The Psalmist is assured of God’s protection against this deceptive world, where vileness is exalted among the children of men. His confidence as we have seen in verses 6 -7 comes from the fact that God has promised to bring justice to the helpless and his words are trustworthy. So it’s not a sad note because the godly are not on their own.

Conclusion

Through this Psalm, there is a clear call for us who have believed in the Lord Jesus, to be careful with our words. Let it not be asked in our generation and specific society, where did the godly disappear to? But the big encouragement is that while we cannot always trust the words of men, we have the sure word of the Lord who died for our sins. This serves both as an encouragement as well as a challenge for us on how we use our words. We are to depend on God’s words as believers both as an example for our words and a source of refuge in this wicked world.

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