God, Save Us From The Wickedness That Surrounds Us (Psalm 12)
We are now in the thick of Sodomy Pride Month and everywhere you turn there will be perversion. It will be there when you turn on the television. It will be there when you go shopping. It might be on your child’s favorite cartoon, which was illustrated by Blues Clues this past week. And all the while, those who hold to a biblical morality are labeled bigots and homophobes. This further illuminates the fact that we’ve known for a while: more and more we find ourselves getting pretty lonely in a society that is completely off the rails wicked.
I am certain that many of you run headlong into this godless society Monday through Friday and find only a little respite from the wickedness of our culture as you join to worship the Lord alongside God’s people on Wednesday and Sunday. And then you must go back to do it again the next day. So, you have probably uttered something similar to that of David here,
“Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.” (Psalm 12:1 ESV)
There is a message of hope that comes out of this situation. It is that God is faithful to His people, even when it feels as if we are alone.
God, Save Me For The Faithful Are Gone (Psalm 12:1-2)
David looks around and it seems that the godly have vanished. Wickedness is everywhere and it is in abundance. And this leads him to despair. Yet, this despair of the current situation did not lead him to wallow in self-pity. It led him to pray to the only One who could make things better.
We feel deeply the emotions found in this passage. We watch sin and sinfulness run rampant and grow in the land that we call home. But this is not a new emotion. It is one that has been felt time and time again by the faithful.
The Non-Christian, in our day seems to be quite happy about the developments taking place today. But, time will reveal the misery that occurs when the godly are few and the godless reign. The growth in unholiness will result in a growth in misery that has already become evident to God’s people.
But, cheer up Christian. It should give you some confidence to know that you are not the first person that has felt the pain of seeing wickedness run rampant in the world and feel alone. Know that it is okay to feel those emotions. Just know that you are to go to the Lord with them. Our response is not to wallow or hid e in fear, but to cry out to God amid all of it for protection.
As I thought about this message I realized that it was very likely that the older members of our congregation would be the people who most felt this. It has become evident to many people who look at such things that in America there was a tremendous surge of Christianity in the Post World War II era. In fact, most would say that it was at that time that America had more adherents to Christianity as a percentage of the population than at any other time in history. With that being the case, it is quite likely that they see it most clearly and feel the pain most of all. But, the response is the same. We don’t wallow in fear and misery. We go to the Lord.
And parents, these developments have causes us to have real fear about the coming days. Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents all look around and see the developing wasteland and wonder what things will be like for the upcoming generations. If we’ve slidden so far down of late, what will happen by the time they are adults?
Yes, we have reason to fear. But again, like David, we turn to the Lord for rescue.
As a church we need to be the calm amid the storm. The shelter where the faithful come together and hear from God in His Word, sing praises to His name, share our burdens with one another. We come together and realize that even though it feels as if we are alone when we go out into the world, we do have faithful people who love and care for us who also serve the Lord. There are more faithful believers than we once thought. And while at Church we get to be near them, love them, care for them, learn from them, and support them.
God, Stop This Wickedness (Psalm 12:3-4)
Again, I think we can all relate to the sentiment here. God, please stop this wickedness. Please end it. The sin was running so rampant that David saw in them a people who were living in abject rebellion against God and did so with great pride and arrogance. They paraded their sin about the town and bragged about what they were doing. And David just wanted it to end.
We pray for God to put an end to the wickedness. As people parade about, acting as if there is no Law to abide by and no God to uphold that Law, we pray for God to make an end of the horror that runs rampant.
And the Non-Christian who runs around as if he has no master to obey needs to rethink his life. You do have a master over you and He is God. You do not think or act as if that is the case, but there is. And there is coming a day when He will put an end to the sin that he is currently allowing to take place. But now, right now there is still time to trust the Savior. There is still time to turn to Him who has provided a way of forgiveness for you. You have lived your life in rebellion against God and by all rights, you should be punished for that sin. You have rebelled against God’s Law and deserve eternal death for it. But God made a way for you to be saved from the wrath that is to come and it is through the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life on behalf of all who would believe and died a sacrificial death to pay the punishment for all who would ever believe. And He rose from the grave three days later accomplishing our right standing with God. And we respond to this message by turning from ruling our own lives and trusting in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Right now is the time to trust the Savior.
Christian, we are not told of the content of the prayer. In other words, we don’t know if David was asking for God to reign down fire from Heaven, conversion of sinners, repentance, or something else. We do not that he was praying for the end of the sin.
Given our place in time and history, we know what we should be doing in this instance. We should be praying for the end of this wickedness that is running rampant. We should pray for an end to the boasting and pride of sin in our day. We should pray for the gospel to go forth and change hearts and lives. And we should also pray for God to bring judgment and end the sin that runs so rampant in our society.
God’s Promises Are True And He Will Arise (Psalm 12:5-6)
God will arise to defend His people. “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.” (Psalm 12:5 ESV) God’s people are being abused by the wicked, and so God will arise to defend them. And we can trust that He will do this because His promises are true. They are completely trustworthy. They have been tried and found to be true like silver that has passed through the refiner’s fire (Psalm 12:6).
Though things look dim, we don’t see things through the lens of naturalistic secularism. We see things through the eye of faith. We know that God exists and that He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. We know of His nature and His character, and we know that His promises are true. Therefore, we trust Him to arise and give us safety.
Christian, trust the Lord. Amid all the changes that are taking place in our society, trust the Lord. We live in a tumultuous time. There is a great shift in our society, and we don’t know how things are going to shake out, but through it all we trust the Lord who is good and in control of all things.
Parents, teach this trust to your children. As things get hard, trust the Lord. When things look scary, trust the Lord. When they are scared, teach them to pray.
We don’t know, as a church the sort of freedoms we will be left with after these changes take place. But we trust God through it all. We trust Him. He has established His Kingdom and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
God Will Protect Us From The Wicked (Psalm 12:7-8)
The Psalm ends with incredible confidence. The Lord will keep His people safe. He will protect them from the wicked even though the wicked abound.
Does this mean that we will never suffer? No. Christians suffer all the time.
It does mean that we can endure whatever come our way knowing full well that God will, in the end, protect us. And if the worst should come in this life we will see Him face to face.
We look around and worry. But we do not fear. We do not fear because we know that God will protect us. The darkness may be overcoming for the time being but this will not last forever.
Conclusion
Living amid a godless society is difficult. The abundance of wickedness on all sides can really wear on us. It can also make us feel like we are completely alone. But in this Psalm we do find a message of hope. It is that God is faithful to His people, even when it feels as if we are alone.
R. Dwain Minor