We turn in the word of God to Psalm 12. And our theme this evening arising from this psalm is hope in days of declension. Hope in days of declension, or perhaps we might say hope in hopeless days. The difference between mankind and animals is seen in words. Animals make sounds, mankind speaks. Words mark out our existence. But as we shall learn from this time, they are also a barometer of a culture. The language of public discourse indicates a declining culture or an improving culture. And when in our own culture leading personalities tell us that swearing and blasphemy are good, surely we see a culture in decline. Psalm 12 is a description of a society in decline, but it is not all hopeless. Let's follow the psalmist in this psalm. First of all, when godliness declines, public discourse is debased. Verses 1 and 2. When godliness declines, public discourse is debased. The psalm begins with a cry for help. Help, Lord! It's a plea for God to act, but to act in a specific way. The margin will show the underlying meaning of the Hebrew used It's a cry to God to save. But why is salvation? Why is this help so necessary? Why is he crying to God for this? Help, Lord! Save, Lord! It's a striking cry. But why does he make it? because godliness is decreasing. For the godly man ceaseth. The word ceaser has the idea of coming to an end. The godly seem to be coming to an end. It's as if he looks around him and he says, where are all these godly people that I once knew? They seem to have passed away. Who is taking their place? I don't seem to see any. It's a frightening picture, isn't it? For the faithful feel. There the word feel is similar. It means to vanish, to disappear. I see God's people becoming less and less in number, fewer in number than ever before. They're becoming a rarity. It's an alarming situation. Their presence is no longer felt. Their presence is no longer real and apparent. These are days of great declension. He says the godly cease from among the children of men, the faithful fail from among the children of men, driving home for us the decline in numbers. Perhaps there's an underlying idea, a declension spiritually amongst the godly. They're not as godly as they once were, but the overall thrust as a general declension in numbers. Fewer and fewer. Can we not identify with such a sad predicament? We read church history in this land, we don't even have to read it, just take a drive through our towns and villages. See how many meeting houses exist, and yet how many of them are empty. I took a photograph of one recently in a different place. It's been turned into a funeral home, and I thought, how appropriate. It is appropriate. When we look at a land and see death everywhere, The godly are getting fewer. There's a second reason. Because public discourse is debased. They, the children of men, speak vanity, every one with his neighbour. With flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The children of men speak vanity, they flatter, they speak with a double heart. Language has become debased. Language has declined. It has been reduced to these things. Vanity, flattery and deception. Words have lost their meaning. They've lost their substance and their value. The very integrity of language has gone. Language is no longer used to convey worth, knowledge, guidance and help, but language is now used in relation to everything that is silly, pretentious, phony and deceptive. That's what the psalmist is saying. Everything that is silly, has become paramount in public discourse. Silly things, flattering things, deceptive things. Public discourse has become the base. In other words, she's saying the average conversation has been reduced to silliness. There's an ugliness about public discourse. There's an unpleasantness about public discourse. Words that are so important and so precious become meaningless. Triviality is being communicated. Everywhere he goes, wherever he listens, What does he hear? The children of men and their conversation is just silly, pretentious, deceptive. And as the psalmist sees these twin things occurring, the declension of the godly fewer in number, public discourse being debased, The psalmist says, here is what is needed. We need God to act. We need God to do this great work in the lives of men and women. We need salvation because salvation shall transform everything. It will transform language and speech. It will transform numerically the numbers of the godly. We need God to act. We need God to help. We need God to change men and women. Because salvation transforms people, doesn't it? Transforms sinners. whether those sinners were polite, cultured, educated sinners or outwardly blaggards and drunkards and vile. Salvation changes. This is what we want, isn't it? This is what we want for loved ones when we see them stalking and pursuing the broad road that leads to eternal damnation. We listen to their discourse and all they can think and talk about is self, material things, pleasures of this world. But salvation would change them. All who are sealed here this evening, salvation changed you. For the believer, words become important. We are careful with words. Salvation has done that. C. H. Spurgeon says, when godly men decay, the whole commonwealth will soon go rotten. And we see that. The commonwealth is rotten. Every lure of society has become rotten because the influence of godliness and godly men and women isn't there like it used to be. And we have seen that in our own day and generation. We can remember When we were young and children and someone out playing said something wrong, adults were not just embarrassed, they came along and clipped that youngster round the ear and said, wash your mouth out. They weren't embarrassed to say that. But now, we see children and they curse and they profane And adults laugh. They think it's stunning. Listen to our little Johnny. Salvation, however, would transform it all, wouldn't it? When godliness declines, public discourse is debased. But secondly, when wickedness increases, language becomes blasphemous. Verses 3 and 4, the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh pride things ye have said, with our tongue will we prevail. Our lips are our own, who is Lord over us. Not content with flattery, they become arrogant. That's what happens when things become debased. The declension moves from silliness and pretentiousness and deception to arrogance. And two things are said in particular. First, with our tongue will we prevail. They believe the wicked believe, that is, that they can talk anyone into anything. It doesn't matter what they say, the saying of it will automatically produce acceptance. Who would dare criticise? Who would object? There's an instant Annoyance if anyone should object to anything that the ungodly say. We will prevail. What we say will be accepted. And second, our lips are our own. Who is lord over us? They are convinced Or at least they convince themselves that they're answerable to nobody higher than self. All of which means that they're convinced they're so mastered the art of discourse they can say what they like and get away with it. Again, you can prove this in our culture. The average radio phone-in. And you get all kinds of Strange people ringing in, pontificating, demanding to be heard, demanding that their opinion is as valid as anybody else's, no matter how bizarre, no matter how crazy it is. And how dare anyone contradict them? How dare anyone say that their opinion is silly, is wrong, You see, the ultimate mark of wickedness is the public denial of accountability to God. They dismiss God's lordship over them. They un-God God. And that's where wickedness leads. Atheistic discourse starts by being trivial. and it ends with a public denunciation of the very existence of God. As we look at this, as the psalmist portrays it for us, it is all very disheartening, isn't it? It is most discouraging. And we look at a parallel with our own nation, and we hang our heads in despair. How dreadful everything is. And it is dreadful. How rotten everything is. And it is rotten. Well, what shall we do? Shall we simply roll over in despair and say, well, it's all finished. I wish I were dead. Well, I suppose there's a right place for wishing we were dead, but this is not it in the midst of this. No, we must come to the third point. God remains the believer's comfort. God remains the believer's comfort. Three things the psalmist tells us. First, God's judgment is certain. Verse 3, the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips. and the tongue that speaketh proud things." You see, man's words matter. God either approves or disapproves of what men and women say, of what teenagers say, of what children say. Words matter to God. And God disapproves of splattery, egotism, narcissism and atheism, all these things that are being communicated, God disapproves of it all. And so as the psalmist looks around him and sees all this declension, he gets a foothold, doesn't he? A place to stand, in which he will remain steadfast in the midst of declension. And here is his first foothold. God's judgement is certain. You know, we sometimes forget that. I'm almost tempted to say we sometimes disbelieve it. Because we look around us and we see all that is going on and we see the wicked and they become ever more brash and bold and outspoken against spiritual things and godly things and the kingdom of heaven. And their boldness and their arrogance is unbounded. And though we may intellectually subscribe to the doctrine of judgement, Sometimes that's as far as it goes. It's a sort of idea out there. Yes, it's founded in scripture, but it doesn't influence us in the way we think about things. Psalmist says, help Lord, see of Lord. Why? Because judgment is certain. That's why. Judgment is certain. Secondly, God's involvement is guaranteed, verse 5, 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 psalmist was not a deist. Deism was and is the idea by some that yes, God exists, but He sits on the periphery of the universe, he observes what's going on, but does nothing. You get it in Thomas Hobbes, the English philosopher, you know that, Duke of Leviathan and other works that he wrote. The idea that the universe is like a giant machine which God wound up and then sort of set it on the mantelpiece and on it goes, just following its own laws. Zalmust never believed in deism, that God was a mere bystander. To the contrary, he is actively involved in human affairs and he looks upon the poor, the needy, that is, the godly and the faithful who are declining, who are failing, who are vanishing away, and there comes a point when God says, Now will I arise, now will I arise, I will set them in safety from him that puffeth at him. That's a nice phrase. Here are the wicked, they push out their chest and they blow words at the godly. all that hot air that comes from them. They blow it upon the godly and they blow it against God. In their arrogance, they think they're invisible. God has nowhere to be seen. But just at that moment when it seems as though the godly will just ultimately be annihilated and disappear, the psalmist says, God will come, God will intervene, God will save, he says. Oh, help, Lord, he says. Is it not now the time? Have we reached that point? Has the oppression and the sign reached its peak. For when it does, God will arise. The idea there is of a monarch. He sees his citizens attacked and he rises from off his throne and sends his army forth. He comes to conquer his foes. Santa says, Hope Lord, the hour has come. You are always involved. Now arise. Just when the wicked think they have succeeded, God undoes everything. God's Word is secure, 6 and 7. The words of the Lord are pure words. You have the words of the wicked and you have the words of God. And the psalmist makes this glorious contrast. And Samus had before him, remember, the written words of God. He had his own copy, as they all did, and as multitudes did. And in comparison with the corrupt, silly, vain, empty, pretentious words of man, the pure words of God. words from God inspired, permanent words that endures forever. In comparison with the fleeting words of man, he had the preserved words of God. Like the words of Spurgeon on this, the Bible has passed through fire of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt and scientific discovery and has lost nothing. Whatever man may say, the word of the Lord remains unchanged. arm-feeling, steadfast. And so the psalmist takes his third foothold, so to speak. He is building his defences, judgment, involvement in the words of God. And with that word of God, he says, Lord, help But there is a postscript to this that's in verse eight. The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted. Vileness has consequences. And if we take The Frears translated vilest men in a general sense this evening in terms of vileness. When vileness becomes a norm, criminals and criminality abounds. That's what he says. The wicked walk on every side. They encircle. A criminal encircles. Because vileness has become a norm in a culture. Verse 8 is a warning. It's a warning to the church. Don't neglect and ignore what's going on around you. Don't throw your head in the sand and think, well, I'm alright. You know, me and my small corner, we'll be fine. No! Why is it godliness is declining? Because vileness has become a norm. It's a warning to us not to dismiss the importance of words, the role of language in society. It's a barometer of where that culture is at, of where that society is at. Well, let's come to application of this. Two things I leave with you. First of all, naturally, salvation changes a sinner's speech. Salvation changes a sinner's speech. Psalm 45, verse 2. The second clause says, Grace is poured into thy lips. In Proverbs 15 verse 26 we read, The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. Isn't that a nice contrast? Thoughts, words. The wicked, the godly. What's it like to be a Christian in society? Living the Christian life, listen to the words of the godly, they are pleasant. There's something delightful about a Christian's language. But Greece has brought that about. If we go back to the Psalmist, Psalm 37 and verse 30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. Verse 31 tells us why. The law of his God is in his heart. The conversation of the saved is unique in one sense. What has happened is Their whole vocabulary has been elevated. Their conversation has been elevated. They think differently. They speak differently. So the Apostle Paul urges believers in Colossians 4, 6, let your conversation, or let your speech rather, be always with grace, seasoned with salt, your speech, because speech is important, but he adds a reason that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. We need to tell Christians, not only that salvation saves your soul for all eternity, But grace does something even to your very speech. So we should correct our own speech if it is wrong, if we say things that are unbecoming as a child of God. There's a sense in which our speech is to be different. I always like that little bit in Pilgrim's Progress. You know, whenever the believers went down to Vanity Fair, And one of the things they noticed different, not just their clothes were different, their dress, not just that their values were different, but their speech was different. They spoke the language of Canaan. The ungodly couldn't understand what they were saying. Then secondly, for all of us this evening, pray like the psalmist. Help Lord, O come and save sinners. This is the greatest thing every believer can do. The church is looking for remedies, answers, cures. What can the church do next that will somehow or other transform the situation? Maybe we need a new Bible translation. People get excited about that. They say, oh, we've got it really cool. People are going to read it. Maybe we need to change our worship. Oh, this is fantastic. They get excited about that. Can we do something else? What else can we do to make it all exciting and interesting to sinners? Sinners are becoming less interested and less interested. What is the single greatest thing every single one of us can engage in that will be more important, more valuable and more, shall we say, successful, if I may use that term for the moment. It is prayer. Help, Lord. Are we good prayer warriors? Are we laying hold upon God? grasping as it were the horns of the altar, saying that we will not let go until God hears us. Our forefathers knew something about this. Things were like what the psalmist described, taking for example the early Puritans. They went to prayer. God raised up a generation of godly people. They just seemed to come from everywhere. An entire generation of men and women seared by God's grace. and he sent them great preachers. What was it like before God did all of that? Listen to a Puritan, a man called Walcombe, 1612. Listen carefully to his description of what things were like. Consider our markets, our fairs, our private contracts, shops, sellers, weights and measures, promises and protestations, political tricks, villainous Machiavellianism, or enhancing of the prices of all commodities until whether Sam 12 may not be as fitly applied to our times as to the days of the Samist, in which the feigning, lying, facing, guile and subtlety of men that provoked the Samist cries out in our day. Our forefathers saw declension and they turned to God. They didn't say let's try this gimmick and that gimmick. They turned to God and they took the words of the psalm, as simple as they are, Unforgettable. They don't require a PhD in English. Help Lord. Two words. Save Lord. And then he adds the reasons. The godly man ceases. The faithful fail. The children of men speak vanity and lies and flattery and deception. and they boast in their arrogance. There is no other Lord over them. There is no Lord over them. Help, Lord. Friends, the greatest thing you and I can do from this day forward in recognition of the spiritual declension of our age to dedicate ourselves to following the steps of the psalmist, help Lord seeth. O may we be dedicated to this and resolve that we will cry to God until we see him arising and overthrowing, overcoming and transforming. Amen.