I would invite you to turn with me in your Bible to Psalm 12 as we continue this brief journey into the Psalms that we started last week. We're calling this morning's sermon, Trusting God when Assaulted with Words. Trusting God when Assaulted with Words. And I want to read you something that comes from Spurgeon in the introduction of what is really his magnum opus on the Psalms. Spurgeon wrote a book called The Treasury of David, in which is basically a commentary on the Psalms, and it incorporates so much work and so much time, and probably if there's one book that you would read that Spurgeon wrote, perhaps this would be it. And in the introduction to Treasury of David, Spurgeon writes this. Listen, because I want you to see how this connects to his life. He said, whenever you look into David's Psalms, you will find somewhere or other you will see yourself. You never get into a corner, but you find David in that corner. He said, I think I was never so low that I could not find that David was lower, and I never climbed so high that I could not find that David was up above me. Now when he wrote those words, it was sometime in or before 1869. If you look up and you see when the book's published, it's published 1869. And it was something around 20 years later, there near the end of his life where he found himself low and really in a corner like he talks about there, where he was embroiled in what was called the downgrade controversy. You would think as his life went along and you saw just faithful ministry and faithful preaching of doctrine that at some point things would have been easy and things would have gone quite well, but that wasn't the case at all. Really, you could sort of sum up the downgrade controversy, I think, in this way by saying that Spurgeon was really defending a high view of God, a high view of Scripture, a biblical view of man. And if you look at the essence of what's being dealt with there, he was proclaiming the essence of the gospel being what we've come to know, the essence of the gospel. It was being attacked. As that controversy unfolded, it really became clear that while nobody was rushing to the pulpit at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, or storming the front door of his house, or waiting for him in a dark alley in London, there were multiple people that were attempting to take him down with their words. Many were attempting to make him an object of ridicule and to discredit him. One newspaper reported that Spurgeon's position was because of, quote, the worst stage of depression concerning the doubts of the day. Spurgeon had been very clear with people that he had experienced bouts of depression, and it was like in this moment where he was in the midst of this controversy, they were exploiting him because he had said that and saying that it's because of his depression that he was acting in the way that he was acting. Now, another concluded their opinion on the matter being this, that it was because of his sickness and age had weakened his intellect. Another published an article saying that he was, quote, simply intellectually incapable of appreciating the advances of modern thought. The prince of preachers was under attack. He was assaulted by the words of his enemies, and they were attempting to discredit him with slander and lies. And this is where God's people sometimes find themselves. This is the very place where sometimes Christians find themselves in this world. And this is where Psalm 12 really rushes to our aid. Look at Psalm 12. For the choir director, upon an eight-string lyre, a psalm of David, verse 1. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be. For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another. With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things. who have said, with our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will set him in the safety for which he longs. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them. You will preserve him from this generation forever. The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men." Now, as we look at that, I want you to think about what you're frequently presented with in Scripture. Oftentimes, we are warned about the propensity to sin through our speech, that from your mouth and from my mouth can come hate and lust, we can express unrighteous anger, and we can deceive others. Psalm 3413, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Proverbs 614, a worthless person is a wicked man, is the one who walks with a perverse mouth. Matthew 1518, the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." And then if you've thought about this or given consideration to this before, you know that we're warned about the very same thing multiple times in the book of James in the New Testament, where we're told in chapter 3 that the tongue is like a fire, that with our tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. So Scripture goes to these great lengths to tell us over and over again, repeating the point so that it may be clear that the sinful words that we as believers can let loose from our mouth can be just as devastating and destructive and deadly as your sinful actions, really, if not more so, that as believers we must be mindful of our words. Now look at Psalm 12 again, and I want you to see what's going on here. Psalm 12 really puts you on the other end of all of this. Psalm 12 puts you on the receiving end, in the place of the one who's being wounded by the words of someone else. So David, as we come to this psalm, I want you to see what's going on here. After last week, we're at the very next psalm, and David has another enemy that's seeking to wound the godly man. In Psalm 11, you'll remember that it seems it's really physical in nature, that the tip of the arrow is aimed at him in that psalm. But you come to Psalm 12, and it's a bit different than that. It is the words of others that are attempting to take him out. My guess is that many of you have not been hunted down by those that are ready to take your life like David in Psalm 11. That many of you have not experienced that sort of a physical danger where we looked at last week that the bow was drawn and that the arrow was notched and it was aimed at you. But on the other hand, if I was guessing, I would suspect that many of you have probably been the object of gossip and slander that was intended to either inflict harm upon you, to discredit you, or in some regard to take you down. That there have been those times where you've stumbled upon their whispers that abruptly stopped when they saw you walking into the room. That you've experienced circles of family or friends that distance themselves from you after they heard gossip about you. Maybe even that there are those that you once knew as close friends that have been drawn away by the deceit and flattery of others. That's what Psalm 12 is sort of addressing here. It's very real, it's very practical, and it has to do with all of us. Now look at the subscript there. It doesn't give us a context as to when this was taking place in David's writing. It doesn't tell us what may have prompted him kind of responding in this way, but I want you to turn with me to 2 Samuel 15. There's one situation that I think very well could have been the basis for this psalm. There's really multiple situations, as we'll see, but I think this situation really highlights what's going on here. In 2 Samuel 15, if you've read through 2 Samuel, you'll remember that David has served as king for a number of years already, and his children are grown, and at this point there's serious problems in his family that David would have failed to address at this point. By this time, Absalom has killed his brother Amnon for his wicked deed with his sister Tamar. And after that event took place, Absalom fled. He got out of there. But by 2 Samuel 15, he's returned. And in the chapter before that, he's prostrated himself before David. And David has come along and responded to all this by kissing his son and, in a sense, sort of welcoming him back. But you get to 2 Samuel 15, and all's not well. Look in verse 2, and you see what's going on with Absalom here. Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate, and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, "'From what city are you?' And he would say, "'Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.' Then Absalom would say to him, "'See, your claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king.'" Moreover, Absalom would say, oh, that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has any suit or cause would come to me and I would give him justice. And when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. In this manner, Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel." So do you see what's taking place there? Day after day, Absalom rises early, he goes out to the gate of the city to slander the king, to cultivate lies so that at the right time he might take down the king without ever actually having to draw his sword. If you look there in verse 7, he then goes to his father at some point, he goes to his father David the king, and he lies about his intent on why he wants to be gone for a little while. He seeks permission to go out of the city, where in reality he's going to finalize his rebellion against David. So as the chapter proceeds, the lies then are really in full bloom. The king is running for his life, and he's being assaulted there by gossip and lies and slander that are intended to inflict much harm. The question then, I think, comes about is how does the godly man deal with all that? What's a faithful response? What does one do if they're trusting the Lord in such a time that you would encounter like this? What's a faithful response? And this is where Psalm 12 takes you. To hear the prayer of the godly man in such a situation as this, a man who has a high view of God that we looked at last week, a high view of Scripture that understands Scripture, and all of this is directing his response when he's assaulted by the words of the enemy. What is it that you find the godly man doing? Well, the first thing that you see in verses 1 through 2 is that he seeks the Lord for help. That he seeks the Lord for help. The humble plea from David comes there in verse 1. Help is an imperative, and so it comes with all that force that it comes with an imperative. You must help. This is the first word in Hebrew, just like it is in the first word here probably in your Bible. It's derived from the root word that means to save or to live or deliver or to vindicate. It's in the first person plural, which is important because what does that mean? He's not asking only for himself, but he's asking for the whole community. Help all of us, Lord. Help us. He's asking Yahweh for help on behalf of the people. Now stop for a moment even there and just consider what's going on here. I want you to ask yourself, who is this that's asking for help? This is coming from a man who multitudes would have been looking to themselves for help. As Absalom is standing at the gate, all these people that are coming there are not seeking actually to be helped by Absalom or anybody else, but they're wanting the king to help them. Why would they look to David for help? Because David is a man who has authority and power and resources and wisdom and influence, and who throughout his history, in view of all of these people that are there, has demonstrated a unique relationship with God. It is right that the people would look to him for help. But what I want you to see here in this very first verse is that this is a sovereign who is asking the sovereign for help, not only for himself, but really on behalf of all of the people, and that this in and of itself what he's seeking here is a demonstration of profound humility, a demonstration of acknowledging that there is a greater authority with a greater power that has greater influence, that has far greater wisdom than he has. It really takes a man that possesses something that's most rare among kings and even rare among most people to come and to ask Yahweh for help. What is it that you have to possess? Humility. You have to come in humility and in so doing acknowledge something of your lowly position. Well, numbers of people sought help from David. 2 Samuel, again, if you're still there, chapter 8 verse 6, chapter 8 verse 8 makes it very clear that the Lord helped David. Certainly He's aware of this. So in humility, He's acknowledging His limitations here. His dependence as a man in the greatness of the divine. He seeks help from His God. Christian, that ought to be the most natural response that comes from any of us. who has a high view of God, a biblical view of man, and a clear understanding of the gospel, that you can come to Yahweh in humility and you can seek His help, that we would be quick to do this, that this is where humility that's being cultivated in us would actually lead, not to automatically try to go fix the greatest problems in our life, but to the one who's fixed the greatest problem in our life, that we would be quick to seek help from Yahweh. Now seeking help here, this is his priority, and if you just note how he lays things out here in the text, it comes right before this sobering assessment that you get in the second half of verse one. Why is he seeking help? Well, this is what's going on around him. Look at the verse. For the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. David is substantiating his plea. Why is he asking for help? He's telling you right here. If you consider that Psalm 11 is right on the heels there of Psalm 12, and I think it's just a wonderful thing to take them one right after the other and see how they link together, it is as though the wicked men have taken out the upright in heart. David is looking around him here in this moment, and he's realizing there's not as many around him as there once were, that the faithful around him have vanished. The ones that you would really want to find surrounding you, they've disappeared. And guess what? That's a cause for alarm. If you see that they've taken out this faithful man and this faithful man and this godly man and this godly woman, all of a sudden you might be thinking, well, I wonder who's next. And all of that has led to his cry for help. And he describes next in verse 2 those that have led to his cry for help and those that have caused the disappearance of the godly. They're described there in verse 2. The shocking cause are these people, and he describes them this way, they speak falsehood to one another with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. This is an assessment of the enemy. And it's not only looking at the enemy, but it's also really an assessment of their weaponry. What is the enemy using to take out the godly people around him? And he identifies it this way, it's their speaking, it's their mouth. They're falsehood. They're deceiving one another. They're deceiving in what they're saying, and they're spreading lies, and this has to do with one another. They are propagating lies to achieve their ends. They are not concerned on both sides of this. They're not concerned that they're giving out false information, and they're not concerned that they're actually receiving false information. Look, listening to lies is dangerous. It's demonstrated here in Psalm 12. So you have falsehoods and you have flattering lips. In its most literal sense, this basically means smooth lips. We could say, I think, that they have a command of the language such that they can manipulate others with their words. Their words are really filled with such fluff and flattery that it conceals the lies and slander. One commentator, I think, helpfully described it this way. He said, quote, speech that exploits the ambiguities and complexities of language to shade the truth. Speech that exploits the ambiguities and complexities of language to shade the truth. And what's the source of all this? Well, he tells us a double heart, that their heart is taken up with falsehood and it's coming out of them in this sense of hypocrisy, that there's a heart that demonstrates itself that, oh, I'm doing the right thing, but it's really masking this other heart that they have that's wicked. If you look in the Hebrew text, it brings up the word heart there twice. Instead of saying double heart, it describes two different hearts taking place right here behind all of this. If you think about David's life, what he's describing here, again, if it has to do with Absalom, it fits. If it has to do with Saul, then this is nothing new. As the preaching group got together last week, we looked at some of this. I'll bring it to your attention because I think it just has to do with Psalm 12, or 1 Samuel 24, verse 16 through 20. We looked at it a while back. Saul is crying out to David after David had spared his life, after Saul had been trying to kill David. And you'll remember what comes from Saul's mouth is this, is this your voice, my son David? And he says things like, you are more righteous than I. And somebody brought up in the group last week, they said, That just is this uncomfortable feeling that he goes back and forth and back and forth and Saul can sound so nice and sweet and at other times so nasty as he's trying to kill him. Okay, all you people who love toking. They brought up Gollum, right? You remember Gollum in the movies could have those moments where he's kind of trying to be, and you're thinking, well, maybe something's changed in him. Well, in his heart, nothing has changed, but he can flatter with his lips, and you see that same sort of a thing taking place there with Saul. Well, we'll see when we get together next time, 1 Samuel 26, is Saul still after David, and he says to him this time, David, I've sinned. Return, my son, for I will not harm you. And guess what? David doesn't return. Because he knows what's behind the speech there. What was going on? Saul was feeding lies to others about David, then flattering David with his lips, and all of it was coming from this double heart. And when you look at those accounts, it's deadly. It's deadly. John Calvin said, certainly falsehood and defamatory statements are more deadly than swords and all other kinds of weapons. Look, if somebody's coming after you with a sword, at least you can see them coming after you with a sword. And if somebody strikes it into you, at least you can feel the pain of it immediately. When you're talking about gossip and slander and all these things, they're doing it behind your back and you don't even know it's taking place. They're taking you down in the eyes of others. That's why this is so nasty and dangerous and deadly. And apparently in Psalm 12, it's been effective, has it not? The faithful have disappeared from the sons of men. Christian, all of us are vulnerable to such an attack as this. Think about it in terms of the gospel accounts of Jesus' life. Long before Jesus was nailed to a cross, the religious leaders started all of this by doing what? By speaking falsehood to one another with flattering lips and with a double heart. They began speaking and spreading lies. Surely this is not the Son of God. Surely everything he is doing is because he serves Satan. He does what he does because of the devil. And what then did they do? They decided, well, let's set traps for him and try to catch him with his words. And they counseled in secret, talking to one another about how they might kill him. And then, as you go through those accounts, what does your master tell you in Matthew chapter 10 verse 25? He says, it is enough for the disciple that he becomes like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they have called the head of the household Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household? You ought to anticipate this. Who knows? Eternity will only be able to tell us how many godly men and women have been taken out by slander and gossip and lies from the enemy. Surely, you are going to find yourself in this position more and more as a Christian worldview becomes an increasing oddity to our culture, and they don't understand what you're talking about, or why you think the way that you think, or why you would submit to an ancient book. And when you find yourself in that spot, as a member of your master's household, just like he said in Matthew chapter 10, where are you going to go for help? Psalm 12 is showing you. And when you think about it, and you understand what's going on with the lies and the falsehood and the slander and the gossip, there's really no other place that it would even make sense to go. Because only God knows what the wicked are saying, and only God knows what they're plotting in secret, and only God knows what lies they're cultivating about you. You don't know men's hearts. You don't know what they're saying in secret. You could never know what your enemy may be conspiring behind your back. And that's not a reason to panic. That's a reason to trust God who is omnipotent and who knows all of those things. A godly man in humility trusts God by seeking His help. What else does this guy do? What else does David do here? Number two, he petitions the Lord to act in verses 3 and 4. He petitions the Lord to act. Look at verse 3. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things, who have said, with our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? So instead of immediately going out and trying to remedy all of this, something else becomes priority to this guy. Instead of defending himself against the words of his enemy, his priority is to ask the Lord to respond to what is happening. And what he asks for here is really a punishment worthy of the crime. Look at it. Cut off their lips and cut off their tongues. That would remedy the situation, would it not? And if all the wicked had their tongues and lips cut off, there'd probably be a lot of us in here without tongues and lips, and it'd be an awful quiet world, would it not? He is striking right at the heart of the problem, that the weaponry that they're using to take out the faithful would be removed from them. It'd be like Psalm 11, take the bow out of their hand. Take the arrow out of their hand. Remove it. Why? Look at what he's saying here. Because it's not only deadly to the psalmist, but their tongue and their lips are also what's fueling their massive idolatrous egos. They say this, with our tongues we will prevail, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us. They are weaponizing their sinful speech. Their tongues are subject here to no other authority but themselves. They do not tolerate authority. They do not tolerate authority, but instead, they're professing their autonomy. And they've put themselves in the place of God, and their tongues are only expressing their idolatrous worship, serving their own interests. In some sense, I think when you read this, it's a bit of like the whole name it and claim it sort of thing. With their tongues, we will prevail. That they think we can speak this, it's going to happen, that their tongues will give them the victory. They think they can control their tongues and put them into battle on their behalf in order to prevail, What they fail to realize is the very thing that we've been looking at in Romans, is that their tongue is only a tool of their master, the devil. So look at what's going on here as well. Not only does the psalmist petition the Lord to act on his behalf, but also the Lord's behalf, because this is also an attack that's directed upon Him. This is part of the rebellion against God. Look at what they say. Who is Lord over us? Who is the Lord over us? And certainly what's implied from that is really nobody is. What? Not Yahweh and not Yahweh's King. Neither. So Christian, if we cry out to the Lord in trust to help us. then it's really only fitting that we would petition the Lord to act, to respond, to do something in such a way. And when we do that, I think we can be sure that if the speech of those who hates us is truly sinful, then this is all more of an affront to God than it ever was to us. And this is what David is responding to here. So David seeks the Lord for help, he petitions the Lord to act, and in verse 5, he knows the Lord will respond. Number three, he knows the Lord will respond. Having petitioned the Lord, having heard David's words, we've received those in the psalm, and having even heard the words of the enemy here, look whose words you now hear. Now, verse 5, Yahweh is speaking. And he says this, because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord, I will set him in the safety for which he longs. There are four truths the Lord makes clear when He speaks in verse 5. Yahweh here sees the devastation of the afflicted. The second would be Yahweh hears the groans of the needy. The third would be Yahweh rises to set them in safety. And the fourth would be Yahweh knows the longing of their heart. And the longing of their heart is the safety. The longing of their heart is this salvation, is this deliverance from the situation that they're in. So if the wicked spread all of these words that afflict the man, then here are the words of Yahweh. They actually come in verse 5, and Yahweh's words do something much different than afflict them. They actually come to the weary soul and offer relief. The words of the Lord offer relief. The Lord knows everything that's going on. The Lord hears the godly man's cry for help and the call to act. The Lord knows the longing of his heart, and the Lord will set him in safety. That ought to bring us all the way back to Psalm 11 verse 1, in the Lord I take refuge, that He is a shelter, He is a rock, He is this place of refuge, of protection for His people. So here, the words of Yahweh, they set at the center of this psalm, and they're really a relief to the godly man. They're so radically different on how they minister to his soul than what's taking place with the words of all those that are around him that are taking out the faithful. To hear those words, look at what he says there, now I will arise. What could possibly be going through this king's mind when he hears those words from Yahweh? What could possibly come into the mind of the king who knows Scripture, as we looked at last week, when the Lord here says, now I will arise? I would submit to you it could be chapter 10, verse 33. Israel is in the desert, and the cloud of the Lord goes before them, day after day protecting them, leading them, directing them. And you come to verse 35, and as all this is being recounted, you get this, verse 35. Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, this is what Moses would say, rise up, O Lord. and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you." Whenever the Lord was arising, it ought to have inspired confidence in the people that He was directing, that their enemies are not going to prevail, that God's plans will not be thwarted, that He will protect, that He will defend, that He will accomplish all that He desires to accomplish. When the Lord rises and when you hear that the Lord is rising, this ought to rush in again to comfort your soul and be something of a relief to you. Finally, something is happening here in this way. So the godly man seeks the Lord, petitions the Lord, knows the Lord will respond, which is a relief. And look what he does, number four in verses six through seven. He remembers that the Lord's Word is superior. He remembers that the Lord's Word is superior. The Lord has spoken. And now David contrasts the words of Yahweh to the words of men. And what do we see that men do? Men speak falsehood, men flatter with ill intent, men speak with double hearts, men deceive themselves thinking that their own tongue is something that's powerful, causing them to prevail in victory, and that they're subject to no one. But here in verse 6, David remembers that there is a God whose words are very different than the words of men. Look at what he says. The words of the Lord are pure. As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them. You will preserve him from this generation forever. When Yahweh speaks, it's different than when man speaks. When the Lord speaks, it's radically different in contrast to when these men have spoken with falsehood and lies. He speaks without impurity or falsehood or flattery or from a double heart. There are no impurities in Yahweh's words. That's David's point. David says here they are like silver with all impurities having been removed. Silver that has been scrutinized in the furnace and that's found at this point that's blameless and spotless and pure. What does that mean to describe the Lord's words this way? Well, it means the very thing that you see coming out of David again and again in the Psalms, that His Word is valuable and that His Word is useful. Psalm 19, verse 10, we looked at it last week, that His Word is more desirable than gold. Psalm 19, verse 11, that it's useful to warn the servant. Psalm 119, verse 1, that it directs the way of those that are blessed. But even more, look at what he's saying here. The Lord keeps His Word. What's he talking about there? That's very different than man who does not keep His Word, who lies. The Lord keeps His Word and so preserves His people. His Word is effective. It's infinitely superior to the words of your enemies that may inflict damage in this lifetime, but will ultimately fade like the grass of the field. This life is but a vapor. Their words are but a vapor. So he's looking at what the godly man actually possesses here. And what the godly man has at his disposal is the very Word of God when he's assaulted by his enemy. You have, he's saying, what is superior. You have the Word of God. You have what's most valuable and useful and profitable. You have what's not deceptive but true. You have what's effective and powerful. It's sufficient for all that you are enduring. You have in your possession what does not fail but lasts forever. You have what God keeps. His Word is not merely flattery. His Word is tested and tried and true. His Word stands when the words of man fail. His Word is a treasure that is a source of relief compared to all the worthless words of the wicked that are meant to injure. His Word, as he's describing it here, is totally unrivaled. And when He sets the words of those that assail you beside the words of the Lord, the distinction is very clear. Friend, if those around you are attempting to dismantle you with their words, telling you you're worthless, telling you you have no value, His Word says that you're made in His image, that you are actually fearfully and wonderfully made. If you're assailed by words that are meant to take you down, meant to make you out as a fool who the world has really left behind because you're not embracing whatever sins and fashion today, He said that if they've hated Him, they're going to hate you. In reality, when they treat you that way, you can just realize, well, you're in really good company at that moment, right? And if the accuser, the devil, is continually just bringing up all of your sins over and over again, sins that have been nailed to the cross with your Savior, well, he says that you've possessed his son's righteousness. He says that all of your sins have been nailed to the cross. He says that He's giving us His gospel, and if we understand what His gospel is, is the Word of God, then that's enough to stand against all of the attacks of the enemy, that your sins are still yours and that you will stand before God and give an account for them. In fact, they've all been dealt with there on the cross by Christ. Christian, it's not a coincidence if we think through all these things that as the Lord Jesus Christ stood amid His enemies on this earth, He was slandered and maligned and mocked and ridiculed, that the very instrument that He so often employed to counter their attacks was what? The pure Word of God. The Word that God Himself keeps. Certainly as Jesus spoke, every word that came out of His mouth was the Word of God, because this is God incarnate. And yet, so often the words that came from His mouth were none other than the words of the Old Testament. How many times, if you think about reading through the account of his life, do you encounter those words where he confronts his enemies with, have you not read what the Scriptures say? Do you not know what the Scriptures have to say about whatever the matter is? So that when men were coming to him with the paltry words of falsehood and slander and their devious flattery, what are they met with? They're met with the words that are like silver that's refined seven times. This is what the godly man, assaulted by the words of his enemies, remembers in times of trouble. So he seeks, he petitions, he knows, he remembers, and look at what he does in verse 8. He waits. He waits on the Lord. Number five, he waits on the Lord amid his enemies. So what you have before you is another psalm that's being resolved here, coming to an end with that everything being put in order all nice and tidy. Look at verse 8. You would sort of hope that it would say, well, the wicked have been wiped out, right? There's a bunch of tongues and there's a bunch of lips laying on the ground somewhere. But it's not that at all. It says, the wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men. It ends with all these wicked people still strutting around in pride like a peacock somewhere, and they're wondering about. It ends with vileness being exalted. Vileness is basically in its substance what's worthless. What does a psalmist do? What's the faithful response to all these things? The faithful response is to wait and to trust, to wait on the Lord and to trust Him. If the Lord wanted, David knows the one that he's petitioned that is sovereign and has all wisdom and all power and all resources could end all of this immediately. But what you find here and what you find so often in the Psalms is that he expects his children to live in these moments of great tension. Why would He do that? Well, if you think about some of the lives that you encounter throughout Scripture, it's because in those moments His people are so often refined, and what comes out of them is really confirming what He's done within them. In this tension they grow, relying on Him in ways that they've never trusted Him before. In this tension, they are growing and they are shining, even though the wicked are strutting about around them, and even though what's being worthless is being lifted up amongst the sons of men. The faithfulness of the godly is found in that tension of finding help in the Lord, ensure that He will eventually rescue, all while you're waiting and all this is going on around you. If you think about what does that look like throughout Scripture, think maybe Moses. Shining like Moses when he's besieged there in the desert with the words of Israel that are going, surely this is not what God's plan is, and surely of all people this is not God's man to lead us here. It looks like shining like Naomi as she walks back into Bethlehem after being gone so long and the people begin to chatter, what's she doing back and where's her husband and where's her son? Surely this must be punishment. This is shining like Hannah when she's provoked by Paniah. This is shining like David when he's struck by those words of Saul and struck by the words of Absalom. This is waiting and shining like our Savior on the cross, even as He's dying, even as He's at His most vulnerable. beaten, bloodied, bruised, flesh that's torn. Remember, it doesn't stop at that moment as he's nailed to the cross, but what's going on? It's in that moment some of the most vile words were hurled at him. Mark 15, 29, he heard this, you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. The religious leaders, they joined the mocking, and they said, he saved others, he cannot save himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross. He heard the falsehoods, the lies, the slander, all the ugliness, all the malice, not only coming down from those people that were around him, but those two that were on both sides of him. You remember Matthew 15, 32 says those crucified with him were insulting him. When David writes Psalm 12, he wouldn't be the only king of Israel who would be assaulted by the words of his enemies. There would be one who would suffer far worse. You think about Spurgeon saying, oh, there's David. He's in a far worse situation than I've ever been in. If David's looking ahead, there's the Christ who is in a far lower place than David was ever found. And yet, because He dies on the cross, Revelation 12.10, the name of Satan, the accuser of the brethren, He has no claim as He makes accusations against you. His accusations against you, they're worthless. They're worthless against those that Christ saves. Isn't it interesting that the devil is described the way that the devil is described within Scripture? John 8, 44, the father of lies, that there's no truth in him, that whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature. And there's your King on the exact opposite end of all of this, who is the Word incarnate, who is truth, who is shining there on the cross, and who because of that is now your advocate. 1 John 2, 1-2, Satan who may attempt to slander you and discredit you, but it makes no difference. You have an advocate who has risen. Hebrews 7.25, and because He has risen, because the Lord has risen, He always lives to make intercession for you. The great accuser may stand and he may shout to highest heaven, announcing all of your sins for the divine judge to hear that the Lord Yahweh knows the truth, that if you are in Christ, you are forgiven." In Christian, if the Lord knows the truth, Why would we be overly concerned with what others who lie about us in this life try to do in their attempts to take us down? Certainly when he chooses, he will do as he says here, and he will set you in the place of safety where the words of the enemy will never be able to reach you. This is a lesson for us from the Psalms of how the faithful respond when they're attacked with words. That hope for those wounded by the words of the wicked is found in the Lord whose word has always provided relief for His people. And His people trust Him in those moments by seeking His help, petitioning Him to act, knowing He will respond, remembering His Word, and waiting for Him whose Word is pure, and who will ultimately rise and who will deliver His people to the place where you're not only beyond the tips of the spear of the enemy, but you're beyond their tongues, beyond the reach of their tongues. We started with Spurgeon, and I want to give him the final word, because he spoke so eloquently about this very issue. In a sermon titled, The Loved Ones Chastened, where he was emphasizing there that the Christian's reward and the wicked's punishment is not in this lifetime. We don't need to even be looking for it in a sense in this lifetime. If the Lord brings punishment and reward in this lifetime, great, but don't expect it. Its ultimate fulfillment will be after this life. He says this in that sermon. Spurgeon says, he casts the Christian down. He gives the most afflictions to the most pious. Perhaps he makes more waves of trouble roll over the breast of the most sanctified Christian than over the heart of any other living man. So then, we must remember that as this world is not the place of punishment, we are to expect punishment and reward in the world to come. And we must believe that the only reason then why God afflicts his people must be this. And this is what he concludes. In love I correct thee thy goal to refine, to make thee at length in my likeness to shine. In love I correct thee thy goal to refine, to make thee at length in my likeness to shine. Waiting in the assault of the words that are coming at you is a demonstration of trusting the Lord. And it's a time where Christians shine. It's a time where the godly have shined throughout history. And so wherever we find ourselves this morning, whether you've been in the crosshairs of that in the past, or you're there in the present, or you know that they're going to come, may you be found prepared, and may you be found trusting in the Lord, and may we be found shining, and may that bring glory to His name. Father, we thank you for directing us and helping us. We thank you for the Psalms that so often put words on the cries of our heart. Thank You that they don't always end with everything nice and tidy and cleaned up and in order, but they end the way that we see our life going even in moments such as this. Father, I pray that Psalm 12 would be an encouragement to us. I pray that it would give us a path forward for the difficult things that we encounter. And Lord, as the week has gone on, thinking about the Psalm from last week and this week, being reminded that we're soon to gather around tables where there's extended family, many of which may not like us very much at all and think us rather prudish because we're Christians. Father, I pray that we would be able to stand in those moments and shine and demonstrate a love that shows Your grace having been poured out upon us, and that You would give us the pure Word that's refined seven times to be able to answer the attacks of our enemies in those moments. That, Father, perhaps they would not always be our enemy, but perhaps they would hear the sounds of the gospel and they would be led to Christ. So, Father, find us bold, find us faithful, and find us shining in whatever moment You've called us to live in and for however long You've called us to wait. And may this bring glory to Your name, and may it be a witness of the work of the Son. In Christ's name we pray, amen.