Psalm 12: 1 – 8
Master of Flattery
1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. 2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things, 4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?” 5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.” 6 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever. 8 The wicked prowl on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Welcome to Kissimmee University where we provide our students with the necessary tools to win friends and influence all others. Our graduate studies in ‘flattery’ are second to none.
Here are some impressive remarks by former graduates;
. I got all the basics down in just a short time as I learned that flattery wins friends and truth get enemies.
. Nothing is harder to resist than a bit of flattery
. Flattery will not hurt anyone, that is if they do not swallow it.
. Flattery succeeds even he best of minds formerly filled by conceit
. Flattery looks to others like friendship just as some people think a wolf looks like a dog.
. Flattery is useful when praise seeks a reward
I have run into a lot of graduates from this school of lower learning, how about you? Flattery is not a favored topic of our Holy Master. In today’s chapter we will see one of His views toward this type of worldly art.
There is one sinful thing that we all cannot get enough of, and that is flattery. Who doesn’t want to hear something nice about yourself? It can almost be an addiction to always want to hear about how great you are. However, there is a big difference between someone just saying something nice to you and the person who anxiously is waiting to butter you up. We are so susceptible. We do not know that this person would betray you in an instance if it benefited them.
In the bible these types of people are referred to as ‘double minded’. It is interesting that this evil person is said to have a ‘heart and a heart’. They say one thing and mean another. It is a person who tells a string of calculated lies. These people have a different agenda than what you may perceive.
They are children of the Devil. Deception is always in connection with the Serpent. As the American Indian’s would say, ‘he speaks with forked tongue.’
From the bible you can see a few guys who loved flattery. Would you like to grow up and be like them? Off the top of my head I can think of two men who loved to hear about how wonderful they are. They love to hear that they are God’s gift to the world. These two guys are Saul and Absalom. In reading about their lives I for one do not want my life to turn out the way theirs did.
If you have had to deal with people who shovel out this type of garbage, then this Psalm was written for you. You are not alone in seeing and despising this type of interaction.
1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. 2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
It is a sad day for all who are trying to follow our Holy Lord’s direction when it appears all godly men have disappeared. As we read in the bible this concern has been an ongoing problem. Look at some of these verses;
. Hosea 4.1-2, “Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.”
We see people consider the way of truth by commenting, ‘The truth is what I say it is’. It is their way or the highway. It starts at the top. Probably the least trusted people in the United States are politicians. They will tell you and promise you anything to get into office. Do you think that they want to serve others or themselves? I know you know the answer.
. Micah 7.2-6, “2 The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. 3 That they may successfully do evil with both hands- The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together. 4 The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity. 5 Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. 6 For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.”
You can see how far this encompasses – right down to members of your own households. Well, thank goodness for my brothers and sisters at church, right? These are probably the worst of the lot. The prophet Ezekiel was commissioned to be a ‘Watchman’. Now you can just imagine someone standing on a wall looking out into the distance to see if any enemy is approaching so he can warn the people. What this guy forgets is that the ‘brother’ standing next to him is ready to stab him in the back.
I have witnessed some guys who try to come off as being righteous. They try to deflect the complements by modestly saying, ‘Oh, it’s not me. It’s the Lord.’ Of course, it is the LORD. What they falsely are doing is saying, ‘The LORD of course has picked me to be His instrument to say and do all those wonderful things you have just said about me.’ Give me a break. There should be a message in the bulletins that says, ‘Flattery – not welcomed here.’
Our Precious Holy Spirit has just informed us, ‘5 Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion.’ In the long run our El Shaddai Is The only One to trust.
. Isaiah 57.1, “The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil.”
. Isaiah 59.12-15,” 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: 13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 15 So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.”
So, if you want to be obedient and follow our Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind, and strength, do not be surprised if people come running to crucify you also.
We see that the situation was certainly bad at the time our Wonderful Holy Spirit encouraged the writer to list these truths. Deceit and falsehood were prevalent. No one could be trusted. Honesty between men seemed to have vanished. They lied, they flattered falsely, they spoke with double tongues, saying one thing and thinking and meaning another. The world seemed totally corrupt. They were bad times. So, the psalmist cries out to Father God, Adoni Yahweh, for help, for deliverance. Surely, He cannot allow things to continue as they are?
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things, 4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?”
I thank Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – for being so Good. The One Who sits in control of all things Is Good, Merciful, Loving, and Caring. I am thankful that He has given us His Word to understand that all this evil will not always be so. Those who have flattering lips will be cut off, as will those with a boastful tongue. They thought they could speak as they liked, they thought that their powerful words would enable them to achieve their own selfish ends, they challenged the right of anyone to be lord over them, and they thought that none could be better than them. But they will inevitably be proved wrong. They will discover that there is indeed One Who is Lord over them.
Very much in mind here are those in authority or seeking authority, those seeking to win people by half-truths and downright lies. It is talking about those seeking to get their own way by the power of speech. Thus, they speak and think arrogantly, prior to their inevitable downfall.
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
Our God Is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. He Is Awesome. He Is present everywhere, All Powerful, and has all knowledge. Wow!
Sinful people fail to recognize that our Supreme Ruler sees all that happens on earth, and He was aware of the oppression of the poor. He heard the sighing of those in need. He saw their panting after deliverance. And because of such things He will arise, and will remedy the situation, and give them the security that they long for. Truth and righteousness will be made to prevail in the end.
6 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
In contrast to the deceit and falsehood of men the words of our Heavenly Father are true and pure, and totally to be relied on. They are like silver which has been refined, yes refined ‘seven times’ (totally and completely), as silver on earth needs to be.
In addition, we need to totally understand that the words of our Great God are so pure that they do not need such a refining process. They are already purer than any silver on earth, even though they are practical and effective on earth. Thus we can always rely on His word to see us through any situation. It has survived through the centuries and will continue to do so. And it brings home truth to the heart.
For those who accept His truths receive a transformation also. The words of YHWH themselves have such a purifying effect, making those who receive them pure.
Look with me at some Scripture passages which confirm this truth regarding God’s Word;
. Psalm 12:6-7, “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”
. Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
. Psalm 89:34, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
. Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.”
. Psalm 119:89, “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.”
. Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
. Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
. Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
. 1 Peter 1:25, “But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Through His word our Holy Master will keep His people and will continue to preserve them through the generations forever. His words are the perfect antidote to unbelief, sin and deceit.
8 The wicked prowl on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
However, sin will continue to walk abroad, the unrighteous will appear to be on every side, and vileness will be exalted among men. They will boast about it. God Is not deceived about humanity. He knows what men are. Thus, must the godly look constantly to the word of God, and God will then preserve and keep them. Please take note that the opening ‘You’ is emphatic, for in the end it is only Adoni Yahweh Who can keep His own and enable them to persevere.
