Psalm 12, the title of the message, where have
all the godly men gone? The godly man, the man of God. David, when he wrote this, no
doubt, felt like he was in the minority. And I was thinking
that since the fall, those who believe God have always
been in the minority. They've always been that way.
You know, for thousands of years, God left the Gentile world in
darkness. There was a little small remnant
group of people called Israel and a little small remnant group
inside that group that actually believed God. They've always
been in the minority. But he looked around at that
time and it's so fitting for our day. It's so fitting. This could be written for our
day. Where have all the godly Men. Where are all the godly
men and women? When I think here of godly men,
first of all, I'm thinking of preachers. I'm thinking of men
who preach the gospel. Where have they gone? God has
taken some away as we have seen here lately. Is He going to replace them?
Is He going to raise up other men that speak with the power
that He gave them to speak with? I hope so. I hope so. It seemed that the ungodly in
David's time and in our time, I guess times just don't change,
do they? But it seemed like the ungodly were multiplying rapidly
and everything looked so bleak to David. So he cries for help. from the Lord. He's the only
one. He is the only one who can make
a godly man. He's the only one that can make
a godly man. The godly are of God. They are
a work of God. Godly, you know what godly, it
means to be like God. Ungodly means what? To be unlike
God. But when God saves a sinner,
And He gives that sinner a new heart, a new nature. In that
new nature, in that new heart, there is God-likeness. He loves
the things God loves. He rejoices in the things God
rejoices in. The things that please God, pleases
Him or her. God is the only one who can produce
a godly man, and He's the only one who can also put a check
on the wicked. You can make all the laws you
want to make, and they're just going to break them. They're
just going to break them. I remember years ago, when the
boys were young, they were playing Little League football, and I
was helping coach. And I knew the guy that was the
head coach of it. He said, we're going to make
up all these rules and guidelines for these boys to go by. And
I said, if I were you, I wouldn't do that. I said, because you're
just going to create a real headache for me and you. Because you're
going to have to either enforce them or forget it. I said, make
as few rules as possible. Because I know human nature.
You make all them rules up, they're just going to break them. Here
you are all the time trying to straighten things out. So I told
him, I said, I wouldn't do that. Only God can put in check the
wicked. He's the only one. Now he says here in verse 1,
"...help, Lord." That's such a little word, isn't it? Help.
But oh, what power there is in that word when used on the right
person. Lord. You know, there are some
of you who can ask for help and they can't help you. They cannot
do anything for you. But the Lord can help in every
situation. And here he recognizes that the
godly man is of God and therefore he cries unto Him, Help! Save! Save sinners. The Lord can make godly men and
women. He can do it. He says, "...for the godly man
ceases." It is written in Isaiah 57.1, "...the righteous perish." That does not mean they perish
under God's wrath, but they perish from the earth. They're not coming
back here. When we bury a godly man or a godly woman, they are
not coming back to this earth. The righteous perish and no man
lays it to heart. And merciful men are taken away,
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to
come." They're not considering what's going on. A godly man, as I said, is a
work of God. He's a man of integrity. He's
a man of honesty. He's a man of moral character,
for God has made him so. God's made him so. He is a man
who's been made the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He's a righteous
man. And it seemed to David that God's
not making any more. He's like Elijah. At this point,
he seemed like to have the attitude of Elijah. He felt like he was
all alone. Everybody was after him and he
felt like there was none on his side. You know, when you go outside
of these walls and you go out to work tomorrow and you just
scatter out, there's not many, if any, that you really have
fellowship with, is there? That you can really sit down
and talk to about the gospel. You come here and there's this
little group here that you can sit down with and have fellowship
with. And then David, he says, for
the faithful fail. That is, they're vanishing. They're
vanishing. The faithful fell from among
the children of men. They're just not faithful men
and women anymore. Faithful to the gospel. Men and
women who put the gospel before everything else, where are they? When it's time to go and hear
the gospel, they just lay everything aside and they go. They put the
gospel first and family first. And David is saying, the faithful,
the man of integrity and honesty and faith, faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, he says, they're vanishing. It's like becoming
extinct. That's what he's saying. And
they seem to be replaced with the ungodly. He says here in
verse 2, they speak vanity. The people who are replacing
them, it seemed to David, they speak vanity. Everyone with his
neighbor with flattering lips and with a double heart, do they
speak. The essence of flattering lips
is that they say what people want to hear. They say what their
neighbor wants to hear. There are many who talk today
of this, and then they do that. Those who know the right answer
for every occasion, but they speak with a lying tongue. Someone said this, they constantly
speak what people hope to hear instead of their true thoughts,
feelings, and deeds. This is what he's talking about.
Instead of really saying what's on their heart, they're just
slapping their neighbor on the back and bragging on them, and
in their heart they despise them. Daniel says that flattery will
be a mark of that wicked world ruler who will arise in the last
day. Listen to Daniel 11.32. And such as do wickedly against
the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries. He'll just flatter
you to death. And they speak, he says here,
with a double heart. The original is this, a heart,
a heart, and a heart. They speak with a heart and a
heart. In other words, here's what they mean. They have one
heart for Sunday and another heart for the workplace. That's what he's saying. They
have a heart for this place, then when they leave this place,
they go to the workplace, and they're a totally different person.
Totally different person. Charles Spurgeon said, A man
without a heart is a wonder, but a man with two hearts is
a monster. He's a monster. But the Lord, He says here, would
judge those who speak like this, They would not go unchecked,
nor would they go unnoticed. Moses said this to Israel, he
said, God heareth your murmurings, he heareth your complainings.
And God hears the lying tongue. God hears the slandering tongue. God hears it. It's not just that
God takes note of great sins or great wickedness. God takes
note of every word spoken. He says here, "...the Lord shall
cut off all flattering lips." Lying lips is what a flattering
lip is. Lying lips. and the tongue that
speaketh proud things, who have said, and here they
are proud things, they speak proud things, and here's what
they say. This is what's going on in the
heart. With our tongue will we prevail. Our lips are our own. Free speech. Free speech, all right, but choose
your words wisely, because every one of them would be brought
into judgment. "...who have said, With our tongue
will we prevail, our lips are our own. Who is Lord, or who
is Master over us?" I thought of that poem I read here once,
Invictus, is that the name of it? A master, captain, master
of my fate, captain of my soul, something like that. That's the
natural man. The natural man believes he controls
his destiny. He doesn't realize he's under
the wrath of God already. He's just waiting on execution
day. He's just waiting on the execution day. But the Lord,
He says here, is going to cut off all flattering lips. Turn over to James chapter 1. These are the ones he's speaking
of. In James 1 in verse 26, If any man among you seem to
be religious, he claims to be religious, he claims to believe
God, he claims that he's saved, and he bridles not his tongue,
but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is vain. You know, the Scripture says
a fool is known by the multitude of his words. Look over in James chapter 3
and verse 5. But let me go to verse 4. Behold
also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven
of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small
helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is
a little member, it's just a little member, look at it. When you
go home, stick your tongue out, get in the mirror and stick your
tongue out. It's just a little member. But it boasts great things. It brags on great things. Back
in verse 3, "...and the tongue that speaketh proud things."
Most people, most people, and I've caught myself doing this
too many times, but most people, just give them a minute and they'll
tell you their whole life. They'll tell you their whole
life. It's hard to actually get someone to listen. And I've done it myself. Somebody
talking to me and I'm already ready to answer them. I don't
need to listen to what they're saying. I've got something on my mind. But it boasts great things. Behold
how great a matter a little fire can do. You know every great
forest fire. Every great forest fire usually
starts with a match, just a little match or a little ember. That's
all it takes, just a little word. Just a little word, it's like
striking a match, and you just leave, and the next thing you
know, that thing's ablaze. And then look over in verse 8,
or down in verse 8. Verse 7, For every kind of beast,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is
tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind, but mankind can't tame
the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of
deadly poison. It's like, you know, a snake,
you watch it throw that forked tongue out there. If you get
close enough, it's going to nail you. Benjamin Franklin wrote this,
he said, since I cannot govern my own tongue, though within
my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongues of others?
And this is what David was feeling. There was so much slander and
gossip going on concerning him. And the apostle Paul experienced
the same thing. So much slander and lying going
on against him. And it's just like it's overwhelming.
It's like a forest fire. And here's what they say. With
our tongue, we will prevail. We'll take him down. And I tell
you what, we're probably seeing a lot of that going on right
now in the political landscape. It's so much just slander. It's just so much gossip and
slander and rumor trying to take someone down. It's amazing. But they say, with our tongue,
we will prevail. We'll do it with our tongue. Who's lord over us? Who's going
to stop us? Who's master? David despised these destructive
tongues, not only for what they said, but because of their pride.
Who's going to stop us? Here's what they're saying, you
can never shut us up. With our tongues we will prevail
by raising and spreading slander and evil reports concerning God's
saints, will prevail. You know, God lets the foolish
believe foolish things for a while before He deals with it, and
then in time He deals with it. And they said, Who is Lord over
us? Well, thank God you and I, I
mean this, thank God you and I know the answer to that. They're
fools, they're saying, Who's master over us? And their feeling
is, No one, I'm my own man. Well, I know the man who's over
you, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Lord over us? Jesus Christ
is. He's Lord over all. And He heareth the flattery and
the vanity and the lies and deceit. And He's going to rise up here
He's going to act on behalf of His elect, because He's talking
here about His elect, the ones they're persecuting. "...for
the oppression of the poor." That's the elect of God. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. "...for the oppression of the
poor, for the sign of the needy. Now will I arise." saith the
Lord, I will set him in safety from him that..." Now listen,
it may seem like real persecution to me and you. To us, it is. To us, it's persecution. To us,
it may be a difficult time. I'm sure when this church was
going through the split situation that there was a lot of slander
going on. But to the Lord, he says here,
I'm going to set him as a sage for him that puffeth. Puffeth
to God is just a puff. What was that, the three pigs? I'll huff and I'll, was that
the big bad wolf? I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll
blow your house down. No, you won't. My house is founded
on the rock. That house is not coming down.
You can huff and you can puff all you want. But God says, Now
I'll arise. In a dramatic way, the Lord Jesus
Christ says, I will arise. Can you visualize this? God Almighty
who can't even be... He can't be contained in anything.
The universe that He created can't contain Him. Can you imagine
such a person rising up on your behalf? I mean, it's not like
somebody walking up here, you know, two inches taller than
me, taking my... This is the God of the universe. And He's given us here, or He's
speaking to us in language that we can understand. God, in all
His power and glory, is rising up. to take care of his child
and put that child in a safe place, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Your life is hid with Christ and God. And he puts him
in a safe place, in Christ, and then he's going to deal with
this world. He's going to deal with our enemies. You know, we don't know what's
coming. I was thinking about this today. You really don't
know what's coming down the road. I mean, we've had religious freedom
for a long time now, right? Seems like a long time. We've
had religious freedom for a good while, but I can see it turning. I can see it turning. You know,
if you just take for an example, just an example, you know, this
thing of homosexuality. and they're making it, there's
nothing wrong with it, and these same-sex marriages, and there's
nothing wrong with it, then to stand here and use the Word of
God and say that to God it's an abomination, then you get
in charge with inciting hate crime. I mean, I can see it turning. We don't know what's coming.
We don't know what's coming. I'm thankful for what we do have.
But I do know this, the Lord will rise up on behalf of His
people and put them in a safe place. I will set him in safety from
him that puffs at him." David took this promise to himself. And this is something that you
and I need to learn to do. We need to learn to take the
promises of God to ourselves. Don't just read them and leave
them on the paper. These are promises of God. They're
God's promises. And here is something that you
and I can count on when we take the promises of God to ourselves.
In verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words. Do you believe the promise? Do
you believe when you read the promise of God in different portions
of Scripture, do you really believe that? Do you believe God will
do that? Do you believe He'll keep His Word? The words of the Lord are pure.
They're not vain. They are not vain words. He will
do as He said, "...as silver tried in a furnace
of earth, purified seven times." That's the number of perfection.
God's words. Look at history, especially the
history of the saints. God's words have been proved. They've never ever failed. They've never failed. Thou shalt
keep them. God will keep His word. You and
I, well, we don't keep them like we ought
to. We sure don't keep them without sin. We don't keep them perfectly,
but God does. Isn't that your hope? Seriously,
is that not your hope, is that God keeps His Word? Lord, you
said, call upon me in the day of trouble. Lord, you said, he
that comes to me, I will no wise cast out. I'm looking for Him to keep His
Word. The words of the Lord, he said,
here are pure words in contrast to the idle, two-faced, lying,
proud adversaries of David, of our Lord, and of us." God's words
are pure. One writer wrote this. I wrote
down some things that I read today that I thought were good.
I want to give them to you. This one is Horn. His last name
is Horn. I don't know what his first name
is. It says here, "...the words of the Lord are holy in His precepts,
just in His laws, gracious in His promises, significant in
His instructions, true in His narrations, and infallible in
His predictions." What are thousands of gold and silver compared to
the treasure of the sacred page? His words are pure, pure. This means that the Word of God
can be trusted in every situation. It is good, it is pure, it is
tested thoroughly. The Word of God has been tested
and proven thoroughly. We can trust that God has tested
His own Word. Jesus Christ, who is God in the
flesh, came into this world and tested His own Word. That's mind-boggling. And it's also been tested, as
someone said, it's been tested by students and scholars and
critics and doubters through the centuries. and the Word of
God still stands. It's pure." Someone said this, "'It is like
a mighty anvil that has worn out countless hammers that have
pounded upon it.'" I like that. Spurgeon said this about it,
"'The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary
criticism, philosophic doubt, scientific discovery, and has
lost nothing. It has lost nothing but those
human interpretations which clung to it as alloy to precious ore. The experience of saints has
tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine
or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat."
That's worth reading. The Word of God is pure. There was a man cited in Time
Magazine. He says this about the Word of
God years ago. is that after more than two centuries
of facing the heaviest guns that could be brought to bear, the
Bible has survived and is perhaps the better for the siege. Even
on the critics' own terms, historical fact, the Scripture seemed more
acceptable now than when the rationalists began to attack
it." The pure Word of God. That's what we have. Think about
it. In your hands, is the pure word of God. Now,
you can read other books if you want for entertainment. I've
read other books, especially when I was in management, read
a lot of those books. But this book, this book is pure. There's no error in it. It's the word of God, it's the
pure word of God. Spurgeon said, "'Do sinners use
impure words? Then let the faithful use the
pure words of God.'" Just stick to the Scriptures. Don't water
it down, don't compromise, stick to the Word of God. There's a man named Meyer, he
said, "'As silver enriches its owner, so does the Word of God
enrich its lovers.'" Nothing so strengthens the intellect,
clears the judgment, enlarges the views, purifies the taste,
quickens the imagination, and educates the whole man like the
Word of God. And David says, You shall keep
them, O Lord. You'll keep Your words, every
one of them, I've said a lot of words in the
last 63 years, and I can't remember them. Can you remember the words
you've spoken today? Can you recall every word you've
spoken today? God knows every word and words
that He's ever given. He's never forgotten them. Never. This was David's declaration
of confidence in God's ability to keep His words, and listen,
to preserve His words, because I can tell you right now, this
world would like to throw this word in the trash. This would
go to the trash immediately if God did not keep it. I'm so glad
he keeps his word. And not only does He keep His
Word, He keeps His people. Because in other translations
we can also read it like this, You shall keep us, O Lord, You
shall preserve us. God will keep His Word and keep
His people. There was a French atheist named
Voltaire. He said this, It says, the French
atheist Voltaire made these claims openly. He once said, in 20 years
Christianity will be no more. He says, my single hand shall
destroy the edifice it took 12 apostles to rear. He wrote that
in 50 years no one would remember Christianity. But in the year
he wrote that, the British Museum paid the Russian government $500,000
for a Bible manuscript while his books were selling for 8
cents. That's amazing. They paid a half a million dollars
for a Bible manuscript and his books sold for 8 cents. And he's
long gone, and the Word of God is still here, and Christianity
is still here. Spurgeon said, The Word of God
is precious. Give up no line of God's revelation. Not one line. And then David, and I'll close.
David returns here in verse 8. He says, The wicked walk on every
side when the vilest Men, with violence of the sons of men,
are exalted." You know, when you exalt a vile leader, he covers
himself with men just like him, so he can keep on with his vileness. That's what he does. The results
of wicked men is more men like them. But David knew that the
existence and exaltation of God's pure and holy Word would not
eliminate the wicked in this life. We've still got them. We're
still surrounded by them. But we have this promise. We
have this promise. God will keep His Word and He'll
keep you until He takes you home.