It’s so wonderful when the Word of God speaks to us in a new and fresh way. Over the weekend in my personal Bible reading Psalm 12 jumped off the page for me. As many times as I have read it, it is more meaningful to me today than ever before. First please allow me to share a little background.
To be perfectly honest, every Biblically faithful pastor and every serious Christian in the United States is wrestling with some difficult questions: How do we live as Christians in a culture that is increasingly hostile to what we believe? How do we have a Biblically faithful church going forward in the cultural realities of today’s world? How do we reach people for Christ in our culture? Those are just three examples of many questions that I (and many others) am asking. While I have not been in despair over them, I am burdened by these questions. Every single day these questions are on my heart. Now you can understand why Psalm 12 spoke to me in such a profound way. Here it is…
“For the choir director: according to Sheminith. A Davidic psalm. Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race. They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks boastfully. They say, “Through our tongues we have power; our lips are our own—who can be our master?” “Because of the oppression of the afflicted and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up,” says the Lord. “I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.” The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times. You, Lord, will guard us; You will protect us from this generation forever. The wicked wander everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.” (Psalm 12, HCSB)
Verse 1 is clear that David went through a time when he felt as if the faithful had largely disappeared. Then in the verses that follow, David tells us why he felt that way. Many committed Christians feel this way in our day. The parallels between our culture and what David describes here are uncanny. For instance, look at verse 4. We live in a day when politicians, media icons, entertainers, and other influential people use the power of words to shape the culture – in the wrong direction! Like those described in verse 4, they steadfastly believe they are their own master and determine their own destiny. While there have always been people like this in America, it seems that now they are almost totally in control of every lever of influence in our culture. Yes, times are changing quickly. Like David, we see it. We feel it. It’s easy to begin to feel despair and doubt.
Did you notice where David went when confronted with these realities? He went back to the pure words of the Lord and His protection. The cultural realities that David faced drove him back to the Lord and the Word. That is where the answers to his struggle were found. In the same way, as we wrestle with very real questions today, it is my prayer that we too are driven back to where the answers to our struggle are found.
HE is faithful!
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