May You Cut Off All Lying Lips (Psalm 12:1-8) Series

Last week, we worked our way through Psalm 11. That psalm was written for people to pray, when society is completely falling apart. The foundations are being destroyed, and it looks hopeless. The wicked are too many, and too powerful, and can't be stopped. But in the face of this, the psalmist had total confidence in God. He has taken refuge in Yahweh. And what kind of God is Yahweh? Yahweh is a God who hates the wicked and the violent. He will rain sulfur and brimstone down on the evil doers, and put an end to them. And the upright, in the end, will see God's face.

As we start reading in Psalm 12, today, it's going to have much the same feel. Whoever organized the psalms, and put them in their current order, often grouped them by feel or topic. And here, we kind of naturally read Psalm 12, as a continuation of Psalm 11.

So as we begin today, imagine, again, that society is falling apart. Imagine that the wicked rule, at every level of society. And imagine that things look pretty hopeless.

Of/for the director, upon the eighth. A psalm of/for David.

(1) Help, Yahweh!,

because the loyal one has ceased to exist,

because the faithful ones have vanished from humanity.

Normally in the psalms, people take a minute to kind of get God's attention. They ask God to hear them, to answer them, to see them.

Here, the psalmist gets right to business. There's an urgency to this plea, and so he jumps right in. "HELP!"

This prayer, for help, is the most basic prayer to all people. We've all prayed this, at one point or another. Usually, I'm guessing, in some type of emergency. This is my go-to prayer when I'm about to do something stupid while driving, or when something terrible is going to happen in about 3 seconds. "Help, God."

Here, the psalmist gives two related reasons, why he needs God to help.

The psalmist first says, God needs to help "because the loyal one has ceased to exist."

"The loyal one" is someone who acts rightly toward others, and toward God, within an existing relationship. Ruth shows "loyalty" to her mother-in-law, Naomi, when she chooses death over life, and goes back to Israel with her. Loyalty is something you show your friends, and your family, and God.

And to the extent that all of Israel is part of God's family-- that all people are brothers and sisters to each other-- this is true for how you would relate to Israel as a whole. You have an obligation to be loyal to your customers, to your coworkers, to the people you pass on the street. There is a right way to live toward all these people, given your relationship to them. And that way, is one of loyalty.

And the psalmist looks around, and he sees that this kind of person has ceased to exist. They aren't just endangered; they are extinct.

The psalmist then talks about all this a second way, in line 2:

(1) Help, Yahweh!,

because the loyal one has ceased to exist,

because the faithful ones have vanished from humanity.

There was a time when you could walk around, and see loyal and faithful people. But they've vanished. They're just gone.

In their place, the psalmist sees a different kind of person. Verse 2:

(2) Lies/deceit they speak-- each one to his neighbor-- a flattering lip;

With a double heart/mind they speak.

There is nothing wrong with praising people for doing good. But that praise, needs to be sincere. You can't use words to falsely build people up, and make them like you, and get them to do what you want, only to stab them in the back later. Praise needs to be single-hearted-- sincere. And not double-hearted.

Society as a whole, stands or falls, based on whether or not people are truthful. And if the past year has taught us nothing else, it's taught us that. Who do we know, who will speak the truth to us? The list is pretty small. Joe Rogan. Ron Johnson. Robert Malone. Tucker Carlson. People who are honest, and open-minded, and truthful about what they know, and what they don't know, have become heroes.

And the psalmist around, and doesn't see anyone like that. There is no one who will tell the truth. Everyone's a liar.

In verses 3-4, the psalmist asks God to do something about this. This is how he unpacks his opening plea, that God would "help":

(3) May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue speaking great things,

(4) [the ones] who say,

"By our tongues, we make strong.

Our lips are our iron tool.

Who [is] Lord/Master over us?

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On "iron tool":

English Bibles usually read "et" as "with." "Our lips are with us." Goldingay suggests it means "sword" here, which makes much better sense. Except it's used consistently to describe an iron tool, not a weapon. A mechanic has his tools, as does a doctor, as does the liar.