Sunday Scripture

 

We're continuing with our ongoing series on my simple study of Psalms.  You can see a copy of the journal here: The Book of Psalms 1-50 or you can find all the resources right here on Women Living Well, Psalms 1-50.  I'm attempting to SOAP each Psalm too, though some of them are longer so I will likely only do a selected passage from many of them. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Each psalm's study also includes a reflection question, which I will attempt to journal an answer to.  Today's study is from Psalm 12.   I chose to SOAP verses 1-7.  Here goes:

S= "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
"They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
"The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
"Who have said, With our tongues will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
"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."  (Psalm 12:1-7)

O= The biblical heading of this psalm is "To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David."  In the NKJV, the heading reads "To the Chief Musician.  On an eight-stringed harp.  A Psalm of David."  C.I. Scofield, in the Scofield Study Bible, gives Psalm 12 the title of "The scourge of sinful speech."

It seems to me to present a contrast between the evil words of sinful man and  the pure, tested words of God.

David says: Help, LORD;
• for the godly man ceases;
* for the faithful among the children of men fail;
        * Each of them speaks vanity with his neighbor
        * They speak with flattering lips
        * They speak with a double heart.

He states that
• The LORD will cut off all flattering lips
• The LORD will cut off the tongue that speaks proud things, such as:
    * "With our tongue we will prevail";
    * "Our lips are our own";
    * "Who will rule over us?"

The LORD says:
• Now I will arise for the oppression of the poor;
• Now I will arise for the sighing of the needy;
• I will set these people in the safety they are yearning for 

(The phrase "from him that puffeth at him" reads "for which he yearns" in the NKJV.  Quite a difference! For my purposes, I am just going to go with the NKJV wording as it makes sense.)

I am assuming though that "him that puffeth at him" means "he who threatens in a blustering way."  From C.H. Spurgeon's comments, it seems like this is likely the case.  He noted in a sermon on Psalm 12:5 that "sometimes, the children of God get so much grace, and so much faith, that those who puff at them may keep on puffing, but the godly are far above it all."

David declares:
• The words of the LORD are true words,
Like silver tested in a furnace of earth;
Purified seven times.

• You will keep Your people, O LORD;
• You will preserve them from this generation forever.

  (I am not SOAPing verse 8, but it's a description of "this generation" in verse 7 -- the wicked who walk on every side, and the vilest men who are exalted.  Up until recent weeks, this sounds like the perfect description of our culture.) 

Now, here we go with some cross-references: 

For "godly man" (v.1) -- "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come."  (Isaiah 57:1)

"The good man is perished out of the earth; and there is none upright among men; they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net."  (Micah 7:2)

Cross-references for "speak vanity every one with his neighbor" (v.2) -- "And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity; his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it."  (Psalm 41:6)

"Whose mouth speaketh vanity; and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood."  (Psalm 144:2)

Cross-references for "flattering lips" (v.2) -- "For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue."  (Psalm 5:9)

"Their tongue is like an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit.  One speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he lieth in wait."  (Jeremiah 9:8)

"For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own body, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent."  (Romans 16:18)

Cross-references for "double heart" (v.2) -- "Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, fifty thousand who could keep rank; they were not of double heart."  (1 Chronicles 12:33)

"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."  (James 1:8)

Cross-references for "flattering lips" (v.3) -- "Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man."  (Job 32:21)

"He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets; therefore, meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips."  (Proverbs 20:19)

Cross-references for "tongue that speaketh proud things" (v.3) -- "They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly."  (Proverbs 17:10)

"Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed."  (1 Samuel 2:3)

Cross-reference for "the oppression of the poor" (v.5) -- "When He maketh inquisition for blood, He remembereth them; He forgetteth not the cry of the humble."

Cross-references for "now will I rise" (v.5) -- "Now will I rise, saith the LORD, now will I be exalted, now will I lift up Myself."  (Isaiah 33:10)

"Arise, O God, judge the earth; for Thou shalt inherit all nations."  (Psalm 82:8)

The LORD says He will arise "for the sighing of the needy."  Spurgeon wrote an entire sermon around this titled "The Power of a Sigh".  Here is just a paragraph or two from that sermon: "Note that as the Lord hears our sighs, those sighs touch His heart. The wicked have been puffing at the godly, they said, “Our tongues are our own, who is the ruler over us?” The Lord took no notice of them, but let them blaspheme if they would. But there arose the sad sigh of His children and that touched Him, He could not bear that. It seems to me a very wonderful thing that the Almighty, the Infinite, to whom the heaven of heavens is nothing, who takes up the isles as a very little thing, to whom all this system of worlds is but as the smallest grain of dust that does not turn the scale, yet is, as we say, “all there” when His children sigh, and His heart is touched, His heart is moved, His whole being is full of an infinite compassion."  Oh, did Spurgeon ever have a way with words!

Cross-reference for "safety" (v.5) -- "He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many with me." -- (Psalm 55:18)

Cross-references for "the words of the LORD" (v.6) -- "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."  (Psalm 19:8)

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proved; He is a shield to all those who trust in Him."  (Psalm 18:30)

"Thy word is very pure; therefore Thy servant loveth it."  (Psalm 119:40)

"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield unto those who put their trust in Him."  (Proverbs 30:5)

Warren Wiersbe breaks this psalm down into three sections which he labels "David's words" (v.1-2), "man's words" (v.3-5), and "God's words" (v. 6-7).

Concerning David's words, he writes: "In the previous psalm, David saw the foundations failing; in this one, the faithful were vanishing from the earth.  The godly remnant was getting smaller and smaller, and David was feeling very much alone.  No wonder he cried out, 'Help, Lord!'

Concerning man's words: "What made David conclude that godliness was on the decline?  The way people spoke.  David heard flattering words, proud words, and oppressive words, and he knew that God was displeased."

Concerning God's words: "God's Word is pure, proved, and preserved, and you can depend on it.  So much of what man says is cheap and temporary, but God's Word is like pure silver that is valuable and lasting."

A= When things seem to be falling apart around us, we can cry to the Lord for help.  Honestly the description of the ungodly fits our culture in today's world.  So much vain speech, so much rejection of God and His standards.  Sometimes the rhetoric is literally sickening.  

But we can trust God to deal with them -- and we are beginning to see that happening in our country today.  His word is true and trustworthy.  He will protect His people and will deal with the wicked.

P= "Lord, how I thank You that when things seem to be falling apart in our world, we can look to You and cry to You for help.  Even though the wicked proudly proclaim that their lips are their own as in this psalm, we know that this isn't true.  You see all, and all are accountable to You.  You will deal with them, and You will protect Your people.

"I praise You for the pure, tested truths of Your Word.  I praise You that it is completely trustworthy.  Help me to live by the standards of Your Word and to speak truth every day.  I pray in Jesus' name, Amen."

Reflection question: David lived in a generation full of deceivers and prideful people.  He contrasted their words with God's.  God's Word is pure.

As a believer, how can you be accountable to speak truth with every word that you say?

My response:  I can commit to taking God's instructions concerning our speech seriously:

🌲"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."  (Colossians 4:6)

🌲 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."  (Ephesians 4:29)

🌲 "Wherefore, putting away lying, let every man speak truth with his neighbor."  (Ephesians 4:25)

Warren Wiersbe asks, "In our 'age of communication', are you able to discern what is true and right?  When you speak, is it communication or manipulation? ... Let your words be controlled by the Word and God will make your words valuable."  His advice will definitely help me be accountable to speak truth with every word.

And there is our simple study of Psalm 12:1-7.  I hope it was a blessing to someone today!