Let us turn to God's Word again,
and I want to read the 12th Psalm. Turning to the 12th Psalm, the title tells us, to the chief
musician, upon Sheminith, the Psalm of David, Help, Lord, for the godly man
ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity, every one, with his neighbour, 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. You have said, with our tongue 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, hath 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. The wicked walk on every side
when the vilest men are exalted. I want us then to consider the
content of this psalm. I'm sure it's not unfamiliar
to us and we've certainly looked at it on previous occasions and
considered something certainly of the opening words those remarkable
words really with which the psalm begins how Lord reminds us of
that great victory that God granted to Israel over the Philistines
back in the first book of Samuel Remember when Samuel took a stone
and set it between Mishpah and Shen, and called the name of
it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. They had been victorious by and
through the gracious help of the Lord God of Israel. And so
here we have David in his prayer addressing the same God and crying
out, Help, Lord. He is the God of deliverances.
As Paul says, writing to the Corinthians there in the opening
chapter of his second epistle, who delivered us from so great
a debt and dot deliver, in whom we trust he will yet deliver
us. How the Lord God is able then
to deliver his people. Well, as we come to consider
really the content of this particular psalm, I want to take up the
theme of the fewness of the godly. The fewness of the godly. We're certainly few tonight. I suppose we're never very numerous,
but there are several away from us, of course, and we're coming
into that part of the year when people will be away at different
times on holiday and it makes us to increasingly feel how few
we are. But we know that the scripture
speaks to us of that remnant even in the days of old. Isaiah
as he begins his prophecy utters those words there in the opening
chapter at verse 9 except the Lord had left unto us a very
small remnant we should have been as Sodom and we should have
been like unto Gomorrah. And having made the comparison,
he goes on then, strangely, to address Israel as if they are
Sodom and Gomorrah. And yet, he asserted the blessed
truth of the remnant. It was a remnant, a very small
remnant there in the midst of God's ancient covenant people. Now we know that in a certain
sense from what we read in the book of the Revelation the elects
are a great multitude which no man can number. That's what we
read in the 7th chapter of Revelation. The great multitude which no
man can number. And yet when we think of God's
elect through their several generations they are surely very small really. It's one here and it's one there. And remember how in another psalm
the psalmist says, I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the
house top. God's people are indeed very
Very few it seems, very small remnants. And so we see it here
in the psalm, in the opening verse of the psalm, help Lord
for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among
the children of men. Oh, they seem to be so very few. When the Son of Man cometh, Christ
asks the question, shall he find faith on the earth? And we see
here, certainly with regards to the fewness, it's the ungodly,
it's the wicked who are in the place of authority, the place
of great power. And the psalmist goes on to speak
of the pride of these men and the lies that they speak. At
the end of the psalm, the wicked walk on every side, it says,
when the vilest men are exalted. And yet, We know that those who
are exalted, those who stand in high places, those who bear
the rule, are there under the sovereign hand of God. Even government
is God's ordinance. When the apostle in the New Testament
is writing of these things, He has in mind, of course, the imperial
power of Rome. That was the authority. Those
were the powers that be. We're familiar with the language
of Paul there in the 13th chapter of that epistle to the Romans,
where he speaks quite explicitly of the powers that be as God's
ordinance. Let every soul be subject unto
the highest powers. For there is no power but of
God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists
at the power, resists at the ordinance of God, and they that
resist shall receive to themselves damnation. And he goes on later,
verse 5, Wherefore ye must needs be subjects, not only for wrath,
but also for conscience, say. And there is that use of the
law of God, of course. The powers that be are those
who are to administer, that's to govern according to God's
laws, although so many, of course, fail so miserably. There is that
use of the law in terms of the state for goes on there in that
13th chapter to speak quite explicitly of that law of God that should
be in the hands of those in authority. And again, what Paul says is
also the same as what Peter would exhort, fear God, says Peter,
honor the King, And as the powers that be are ordained of God,
we are also reminded of the importance of us praying. We have to pray
for those who are in authority. We have the language of the Apostle
again when he writes there to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2. I exhort
therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. for kings, and for all that are
in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour." How important then are these
things. In every generation then, the godly find themselves in
a situation where they're not those who are bearing the rule,
they're not in the high places. They're so often the people who
are very much outcast and despised in society. And yet, though the
wicked rule, the Godly can turn to the Lord God in their prayers,
they can pray to Him, and even lament the fewness of the God
And also with regards to those who are in the high places, here
we are reminded of the sort of men that they are, and their
pride is spoken of. Verse 4 to have said, with our
tongue will we prevail, our lips are our own, who is lord over
us. So often those in high places
have no regard for God or the Word of God or the Law of God,
though they should be ruling according to those statutes of
God. Malachi rebukes those of Israel. There in the third chapter of
his book, your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord.
Yet ye say, what have we spoken so stout against thee? This is
how men speak to the Lord God. Our lips are our own. Who is
Lord over us? The Lord speaks that parable,
doesn't he, of the pounds. The man who goes away and he
sends his servants, or he sends his stewards to his servants.
And what do they say? We will not have this man to
rule over us. When the Lord comes, he comes
to his own. His own receive him not. or the pride of men. And of course, man doesn't like
the idea of his accountability to God. If the powers that be
are ordained of God, their accountability must be to God. But how convenient
to wicked men and proud men is the theory of evolution, because
it discounts any gods And there's no one therefore that these people
have to give their account to. They feel that they can do just
as they please. With our tongue will we prevail,
our lips are our own, who is Lord over us. Now, with regards
to these ungodly people, we learn here something of the lies of
men. They speak vanity, every one with his neighbor, with fluttering
lips and with a doubled heart that they speak. We read there
in the second verse. All men are liars. The Lord Jesus
reminds us of that, doesn't He? When He speaks in John 8 of the
devil, who is the father of lies. And of course, we see it there
in the fall of Adam and Eve. when they sin in the garden,
what is it? It's unbelief, the rejection of God's truth, the
embracing of the devil's lie. When God says to Adam in the
day that thou eatest thereof, concerning that truth of good
and evil that was forbidden. And God says in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And when the serpent,
the instrument of the devil comes to the woman, thou shalt not
surely die. He contradicts God's truth with
his lie. And the woman embraces the lie
and partakes of the fruits, and gives to Adam, and open-eyed
he partakes of that same fruit. All the lies of men. And so we
have it here, they speak Ballaton. Everyone with his neighbor, with
flattering lips and a double heart, do they speak. The double-minded
man, unstable in all his ways. No different, the upright man.
Elsewhere, in Psalm 15, we read of that man he sweareth to his
own hurt, it says. He's a man who is true to his
words, even when it costs him. He will never go back on his
words. What a cry, then, we have here in this Psalm. It says,
in this context of the wicked in the high and all-important
place and and the godly man feeling himself to be one of a very small
minority. Help! Help, Lord! For the godly man seetheth, for
the faithful fail from among the children of men. Ezekiel
speaks of those who sigh and cry for all the abominations
that are done in the midst. And surely, isn't this how we
feel so many times in the day in which we are living? the day
when evil is about and God's word is discounted and our leaders
just do the thing that is right in their lives and have no regard
for God and the word of God and the ways of God and yet we can pray and this
is what the prayer is, it's a prayer it's David crying to God and
shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night
unto him, though he be along with them? I tell you, says Christ,
that he will avenge them, speeden them nevertheless. When the Son
of Man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth? Or by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. We have that
question put twice there in the seventh chapter of the prophecy
of Amos. Jacob, Israel, by whom shall
Jacob arise, for he is small. The fewness, the fewness of the
godly. And we see it, we're aware of
it, we feel it. And we read those words there
in Zechariah. For who has despised a day of
small things? It is a day of small things.
But who despises the day, is the question that's put by the
prophets. And in the answer, they shall
rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. Of
course, historically, it all has to do with the rebuilding
of the temple in the days of Ezra. That small remnant who
had returned after the Babylonian captivity. And how Zerubbabel
will build the temple and he'll bring the top stone to it with
shouts of grace, grace onto it. It's the assurance that God's
cause is not lost. But we know that it has a deeper
significance, a real spiritual meaning. It's speaking of Christ. He is the true Zerubbabel who
shall build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And so whilst we see here the
fewness of the god of the godly, on the other hand, can we not
recognize in the psalm God's faithfulness? God is faithful,
and God is faithful to his people in every generation. David cries out, he's lamenting
the fewness of the godly. And we see the same, of course,
in Elijah, the prophet. And the apostle refers to him
there in Romans 11. Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
and dig down thine altars, and I only am left alone, and they
seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God to him? asked Paul. I have reserved to
myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of
Baal." God will preserve his remnant. That's our comfort.
And we're reminded of that even in this psalm that seems such
an awful lament, a cry from the heart that the Lord would help.
And I want to mention by way of application really, three
points of encouragement that we can draw from the psalm. First
of all, doesn't the psalmist encourage himself here in the
God of the Covenant? We have the word LORD right at
the beginning of the psalm, LORD in capital letters. Who is the
one that David is addressing? It's the Covenant God. Help LORD,
he says. And then he speaks of him again
at verse 3, The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and
the tongue that speaketh proud things. And then again at 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. And then yet again in verse 7,
they shall keep them, O LORD, they shall preserve them from
this generation forever. So repeatedly God is spoken of
in terms of the Lord, the God of the covenant, the great I
am that I am. And we know the last words of
David, and he encourages himself in that covenant, he has made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure
says David, this is all my salvation, this is all my desire, all the
sure mercies of David, here is that to encourage him, he is
the Lord and he is the unchanging one, the God of the covenant,
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed And the Lord Jesus Christ himself is spoken of as
that one who is the same yesterday and today and forever. Oh, there is no change in the
Lord our God. He is ever that one who is true
to his own covenant. There's our encouragement. Though
the godly man ceases, though the faithful fail from among
the children of men, we don't look to men, we're to look to
the Lord God himself. And as we look to the God of
the Covenant, so we are reminded here that we have His faithful
words. In verse 6, the words of the
Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth,
purified seven times. The psalmist will celebrate the
Word of God, He does it, I suppose, most obviously in the 119th Psalm,
that poem that's really an acrostic built around the letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. But not just in Psalm 119, we
see it also in the 19th Psalm. There at verse 7, the Lord of
the Lords is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord
are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous. Altogether, he uses his various
synonyms, but he's describing the same thing. It's God's Word. that he's speaking of all through.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb, more over by them is thy servant warned, and in
keeping of them there is great reward. What a favored people
we are that we have this word, the word of God. And all the
promises now, Thou, yea, and thou art man in the Lord Jesus
Christ to the glory of God by us, says the Apostle. All God
has given us is Word. He gave His promise to Abraham.
What does Paul say there in Hebrews 6 when he gave that promise?
Because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
saying, Blessing I will bless. He swore by himself. He took
an oath upon his own being. as God that He would never break
His word of promise. His word can never fail. He is
not a man that He should lie nor the son of man that He should
repent. As He said it, shall He not do it? As He spoken it,
shall He not make it good? This is the God that we have
to do with. How He has magnified His word
above all His name in the language of the 138th Psalm. Think of
that. He's magnified His words above
His name. His name is Himself. His name
is the declaration of Himself. His name is who He is and He's
magnified His word above that. All the words of the Lord are
pure words. The silver tried in a furnace
of fire purified seven times. We have then here in the Psalm
the God of the Covenant. We have His faithful words. And
we have all of this to plead. We can plead all His Word, we
can plead all His promises. Because the psalm is a prayer.
David is praying to his God. And what does God say? I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it
for them. And remember how in the ninth
chapter of his prophecy we see Daniel clearly praying over the
Word of God. All we understood from books,
it says, that when God had accompanied 70 years in the desolations of
Jerusalem, he was reading there in Jeremiah, and as he read the
book of the prophets, so he prays. He's moved to plead the Word
of God. God answers prayer. That's our comfort. as it says
here in verse 5, for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing
of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord. Oh, when we come
before Him with our sighings, and our cryings, and our groanings,
He hears. He stirs Himself. I will arise,
He says. I will set Him in safety. from
him that puffeth at him. What an assurance! What do we
see here then? What is it that the psalmist is asking? Two things.
He asks for God's help. Help! That's his prayer. Help, Lord! And we see it many
times, don't we, in the in the New Testament, in the Gospels,
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who come to the
Lord, or that man who comes with his poor son. The time when Christ has gone
into the Mount of Transfiguration with those favoured disciples,
Peter and James and John, This man comes and the others say
they can't do anything to help. And that's all the man wants
really. He wants help. In Mark 9.22 he says, Have compassion
on us and help us. Help us. And then when he addresses
the Lord, verse 24, he says, Lord, I believe. Help thou my
non-believer. How often do we have to pray
that prayer? The best sometimes we fear that we're little more
than unbelieving believers. And we have to pray with that
man, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. That man who comes
in in the Gospel, and then also the Canaanite-ish woman who comes
with her daughter as she worshipped Christ, or the disciples wanted
her to be dismissed, send her away, she troubles us. The Lord's
ignoring her. and she will not be denied she
came and worshipped him it says Matthew 15 25 and what does she
say Lord help me we can plead God's words we can
plead what's recorded here in God's words we can pray to God
for help but you'll probably notice if you have a margin in
your Bible that There's an alternative reading in the margin at the
beginning. Instead of the word help, it could be rendered save.
Save, Lord. Save, Lord. He's the only one
who can save us, of course. There's salvation nowhere else.
One name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved,
it says. We must be saved. it's the covenant God, it's the
God who is faithful to his word, he saves and he saves all them
who call upon him and we can think of Peter when he was there
so bold, so impetuous, remember the Lord walking on the waters,
the disciples in the boat and Peter seeing the Lord and clambering
out of the boat and himself walking on the waters and then all of
a sudden so conscious of the elements, the wind, the waves
and it seems he's overwhelmed, he begins to sink, and he cries
out, doesn't he? Save! Oh, that's what he says,
Lord save me! Lord save me, and the Lord is
the one who does save. Even though there be only a very
small remnant. He hears the cry of that small
remnant, just a handful of godly people. How many godly people
are there, really? in the city of Portsmouth tonight
I don't know the Lord knows but remember when in Genesis 18 Abram is praying for the cities
of the plain for Sodom and Gomorrah because that's where that's where
Lot's gone and how bold he is at the end of that chapter and
he pleads with God and he mentions numbers Well, the Lord won't
do anything, you see, except He reveal Himself to His prophets. He's going to tell Abraham what
He's going to do. He's going to destroy those cities.
But Abraham is so bold, and he says, Lord, if there are 50 righteous... And the Lord says, well, if there's
50 righteous, I'll spare them. And then he goes by degrees,
down and down, 45, 40, 30, 20, Oh Lord, if there's ten, if there
are ten righteous, and God says He will save, if there's only
ten, if there weren't even ten, were there? Think of the lines of the hymn
writer in the book 1145, Britain all guilty as she is, as several
saints can boast, and now their fervent prayers ascend, And can
those prayers be lost? Our prayers are not lost, they
cannot be lost, or that we might be emboldened to pray. God has
left in the midst, even yet, left in the midst of this nation,
in the midst of this city, and afflicted and the poor people.
And they call upon the name of the Lord. Oh God, help us to
come and to cry and to call. Just as we see David in the psalm,
help Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail
from among the children of men. Oh, what vanity they speak, what
flattery, what lying tongues they have, but God's assurance
for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy.
Now will I arise, saith the Lord, and I will set him in safety
from him that puffeth at him. He has given us his word, It's
a pure word, always a tried word. It stands, we can rest in it,
we can depend upon it, we can plead it. And have that assurance
that we will not pray in vain. May the Lord be pleased to bless
us tonight as we come to seek His face in prayer. We're going
to sing for our second hymn, 778. I'll read through the first verse and we'll sing from
verse 2 to the end. 778, the tune is Houghton 808. Though strait be the way, with
dangers beset, and we on the way are no farther yet, our good
Guide and Saviour has helped us thus far, and it is by His
favour We are what we are, 778 June 808.