Psalm – Psalm 12 – 14

Great going!  We have come to the start of our 2nd month of Bible Reading.

If you have hit a bit of a bump and are behind on your reading, it does not matter.  Don’t let that stop you from starting today once again to read.  You know what they say…

“A Word A Day Keeps The Devil Away!”

Ok, I admit, I made that up 🙂

But that is exactly what the Word of God can do if you allow it to dwell richly in your hearts.

It’s Sunday so it is Psalm Day (hey… it sounds the same – Sun day … Psalm day…. geddit? So duh!)

Bible Passage:  Psalm 12 – 14

We Are Called To Confront Moral Decay

Have you ever felt that the world today is lacking in people of faith and integrity?  It seems that everyday, all we read about in the papers or see around us are liars, hypocrites, arrogrant, unkind and just simply nasty people. There seems to be no good man around.

In Psalm 12, David also perceived this.  Look at what he says in verse 1.

“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!”

But in Psalm 12, David sings that even when soceity breaks down, the promises of God remain true and trustworthy.  Can you look out for the promises that David sings about in this chapter?  Can you also see why David is so sure about this?  My answer is at the end of this posting.

God Has Not Forgotten

Then in Psalm 13, we read about a situation that I am sure most of us have faced with one time or another.

We are in the midst of our troubles and uncertainties.  We are anxious and we need God’s guidance and loving voice.  And yet, despite all our calls to God, He remains silent.

And in His silence, we have a sense of loneliness and abandonment.  And this is exactly what David expresses in this psalm.

And yet, despite the silence, David ends the psalm with confidence that God will eventually respond.  Do we have that faith?

The Folly of Unbelief and Sin

The psalmist openly declares in Psalm 14 that…

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

I learned a new term the other day.  Someone said that in the world today, there are a lot more ‘practical atheists’ than self-proclaimed atheists.

What is the difference?

Self proclaimed atheists are those who openly claim that they do not believe in God, i.e. the ones that you and I know are people without any religious faith.

But ‘practical atheists’ are those who acts as though God does not exist, even though they proclaim to have a faith.  In order words, they believe in God but act immorally.

Both views of God ar foolish and self destructive and this pslams reminds us that even though we act as if there is no God, God’s eyes are still on us and sees what we do or say.

One Interesting Fact

Read Psalm 53 now.

Did you notice anything?

Read Psalm 14 now again.  Then Psalm 53.

Ok… put it side by side.

Hey!  Did someone copy Psalm 14 and pasted it in Psalm 53?  They are practically identical except for…

That’s for you to tell me!

So Why Was David So Sure God Will Keep His Promises?

Nope, I did not forget my promise to reveal what I found out in Psalm 12.

The picture gives us a clue.

Read Psalm 12:6 – “The words of the LORD are pure words”

God’s word is not like any other book on earth.  It expresses the heart and mind of the Lord and can be trusted beyond any shadow of doubt.

In times of a storm, it is an immoveable anchor.

This Word is like silver, purified seven times!

The process of purifying silver is often an unpleasent one as lots of fire & heat, dirt, removal of slush and impurities and back breaking work are involved.

But what remains is pure and of great value.  Much like the word of God.