Help, Lord!

For example, if you want to know something about:

• LAW AND GRACE, the apostle Paul would be the one you would want to talk to.

• SUFFERING AND AFFLICTION, Job would be the one you would want to talk to.

• ESCHATOLOGY, you would want to consult John, the revelator.

• But, if you wanted to know something about DECEPTION, you probably would want to turn to the book Psalms, and talk to David.

Why? Because he was a man who was deceived MANY TIMES, by MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

From the time David was a young man, he had to deal with deception. This explains the fact that we see so much sorrow in his life as we read through the book of Psalms. For example:

• When he was in King Saul's court, many lies were told to King Saul about him. Some of those who told the lies were people David had thought were his friends.

• When he was fleeing for his life from King Saul, we read in 1 Samuel 23, that David saved the people of Keilah from the Philistines. But those same people were ready to turn David over to King Saul. We read in 1 Samuel 23:12, "Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up." That must have been a big disappointment, to be DECEIVED by the people of Keilah, after he had saved them from the Philistines.

• Also, in this same chapter, Ziphites tried to profit financially by selling David into the hands of Saul.

• Absalom, David's own son, conspired against him to try to take his own throne from him.

• Ahithophel, David's long-time friend and counselor, literally sold him out lock, stock, and barrel.

• When David was king, many came and deceived him so they could get special favors from him.

No one can tell you any more about deception than David. In fact, he knew so much about deception that it motivated him to write Psalm 12.

We want to look at THREE things in this Psalm. First let’s look at -

I. HIS PETITION

Through all the deception that David had been through, he was hurt many times.

There are people who have been hurt so badly in relationships, that they find it very difficult to believe that there is anyone they can trust. For example-

• There are people who have come out of a nasty marriage relationship, and now they are afraid to enter another relationship.

• There are people who at one time had been active in a church, and they were so wounded spiritually by those who claimed to be spiritual, that they are now afraid to become active in a church again.

• There are pastors who have been so hurt by the people they ministered to, that they are reluctant to ever take a church again.

• There are a lot of hurting people in our society who have been seriously injured emotionally, and now they feel they have been forced to live alone in a small world, because they cannot trust anyone!

David, who was battered by so many, came close to being destroyed this way. We can see that in Psalm 12. We see in verse one that he had reached the place where he thought...

A. THE GODLY MAN IS DEPARTED FROM THE EARTH

Look at verse 1, David said, "...Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men."

Notice, David began the Psalm by crying out, "HELP." We can almost visualize David looking up to heaven, and saying, "...Help, LORD..."

Illus: David was like a drowning man who was going down for the last time, and he screamed out to God for assistance - "...Help LORD..."

WHY DID HE SCREAM FOR HELP? We do not have to depend on conjecture. He said it was because, "...the godly man ceaseth..."

As we look around us, many times it seems that we are surrounded by the UNGODLY, in great numbers.

In fact, there are so many UNGODLY compared to the GODLY, at times it seems there are no godly.

Illus: In the Old Testament, we read of another great man named Elijah, who felt the same way David felt - that there were no more godly men left on the earth. He was talking to the Lord about the situation and said, "I, even I only am left."

David had been DECEIVED BY SO MANY, that he was convinced that at this time in his life, NO MORE GODLY MEN EXISTED ON THE EARTH.

That was why he told the Lord, (Paraphrase) "THE FAITHFUL MEN OF GOD ARE DEPARTED FROM THE EARTH." Also, look at...