Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

In my lifetime I have seen many wonders. As a child I remember the tape recorder someone gave me (I think it was my Aunt Dot). It was a reel to reel recorder, large and bulky, with a huge hand held microphone. I felt like a movie star as I recorded my voice on it. It was unbelievable technology. I saw tape recorders go from reel to reel, to cassettes, to the miracle of CDs, then DVDs. Apple and Steve Jobs brought the I-Pod to life, where you could store thousands of songs on a tiny hand held device. Today people stream data from I-Phones and I-Pads, or on computers. I remember my Aunt Dot giving me an old manual Smith Corona typewriter. I was fascinated with it. I used it for my school lessons. Typewriters went to Daisy Wheel Printers, to Jet and Toner Printers. Coupled with computers you no longer can find typewriters. Any record players you find are novelty items, or are used by Disc Jockeys to “rap”. I remember my first computer was a TRS-80 Model 3 from Radio Shack. There is no more Radio Shack. I learned “Basic” programming on that TRS-80. The little computer had 48 kilobytes of RAM, two floppy drives, and an 8 megabyte hard disk drive. I had a dial up to the Internet. By today’s standards, that little computer is laughable. I won’t even discuss telephones … though I remember the old black Bell telephone with the hand-held receiver.

Though technology has moved forward at lightening speed – have any of you ever heard of a Beta video system? – it seems as if civilization has moved backwards. In Seattle citizens of that city have taken over 6 city blocks, and have named it first CHAZ and now CHOP. Police are not wanted in the area, and the Mayor of Seattle along with other leaders are endorsing the lawlessness. People are beginning to kill one another in this rebel community. Across our nation citizens are destroying landmarks and statues because they are considered “offensive” by the mob. American history is being re-written and erased. Aunt Jemima products are being renamed because the brand is supposed to be offensive. Uncle Ben’s rice products are also in the process of being renamed, as are Mrs Butterworth’s syrups. People are easily offended nowadays.

Civility is at an all time low. Gone are the days of Ronald Reagan, an elegant statesman with a great sense of humor. President Reagan was not perfect – no one is – but he was not coarse or vulgar. I no longer watch the news – and recommend that you not watch it either. Though news reporter Walter Cronkite was said to be leaning toward Liberal, he nonetheless just reported the news – he did not color it. You cannot watch news on any channel today without being told by the talking heads what you should believe. America seems to be disintegrating socially, moving away from capitalism and freedom and toward socialism and enslavement.

How do we fix this? How do we stop the downward spiral of a country I greatly love and respect – and I know you do, too? The answer is found in the Kingdom of God. I’m not talking about Heaven. Yes, the kingdom of Heaven is indeed the Kingdom of God. But I’m talking about the Kingdom of God on this earth.

If you are a Christian, you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus Christ brought to this earth is a Kingdom Gospel. Listen to the Scripture:

Mark 1:14-15 Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Jesus came preaching a Kingdom Gospel message. He came preaching Himself as both the King of this Kingdom, as well as the Door of this Kingdom. Those who received Jesus Christ as Savior were given citizenship in this Kingdom. Once in the Kingdom, Christ’s people were to obey their King. Jesus said:

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Those who are saved by faith in Christ Jesus are translated from the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of Light. The Scripture says:

Colossians 1:12-23 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And {Jesus} is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were {at one time} alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

God’s children are a member of Christ’s Kingdom. We are to seek first the Kingdom of God and Christ’s righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Our King of Kings gave His life for us who are His Children, and we in turn give our lives to Him. We do not belong to ourselves anymore – but belong to God.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

We, dear Christians, are the purchased property of God. We belong to Him Who paid for us. We are to live for Him – not for ourselves. We are to live for the smile of Christ, not for the pleasure of man.

As God’s people stand UP and stand TOGETHER, walking in the Light of Christ and not in the darkness of this world, the darkness recedes.

But what if God’s people do NOT stand up and stand together in Christ?

When The Godly Cease Obeying God, Confusion Reigns

Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

The first two words that King David uttered were:

יָשַׁע yâshaʻ, (pronounced yaw-shah)
יְהֹוָה YaHWeH

Which means “save or deliver us, Great and Everlasting God”. The Hebrew yâshaʻ is used in Scripture to declare how God saved His people out of hopeless and helpless situations. For instance:

Exodus 14:30 Thus the LORD (YaHWeH) saved (yâshaʻ) Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

Israel had her back up against the Red Sea, with the Army of Egypt bearing down on her. God parted the waters, allowing His people to go through an impossible situation. He destroyed the enemy because Israel heard and heeded His Word, and obeyed what He said. God further promised His people as they entered the land of Canaan – a land held by a vastly superior military force:

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 For the LORD (YaHWeH) your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to saved (yâshaʻ) you.

And again, one of my favorite Scriptures is where God says:

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved (yâshaʻ) all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

King David cries out to God because

Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

Those who are “godly” cease. Those who are “faithful” to the Kingdom of God have become less and less. Let me illustrate. All throughout your home you have lights – some bulbs, some tubes or LEDs – but lights. As you walk through the home or perhaps your business, turn off the lights one at a time. As you do so the darkness grows. Darkness comes forward almost as a default. Darkness does not have to do anything to be dark. For Darkness to increase, Light need only cease or decrease.

Why has the Godly person ceased? David said:

Psalm 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

The Godly person is speaking “vanity” (שָׁוְא shâvᵉʼ, pronounced shawv), which means “empty words, falsehoods, worthless speech or nothing”. The Godly person is not speaking the Word of God to their neighbors, but is blending in with the darkness. The Godly person is not following the Way of Christ. Jesus prayed for His Church:

John 17:6-11, 14-17 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them… 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Jesus Christ – the Living Word of God – came to earth giving us the Written Word of God. Jesus explained the Word. He explained His Kingdom. His Church is supposed to operate based on the Word of God, what God has declared truth.

So what has caused the degradation of American civility and decency. Rather than cling to God’s Kingdom and God’s Word, too many who are supposed to be “light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8) are not walking as children of Light. Too many are walking as children of Darkness. The light of God – the Church – is not shining. Rather than speaking Biblical truth, many are speaking empty and flattering words to their neighbors.

with a double heart do they speak..

To have a “double heart” is to be divided in your loyalties. To whom are you loyal? Are you loyal to Christ? Do you pledge fealty to God’s Kingdom? A double minded person will not receive blessing from God (James 1:7-8), and a double hearted person brings themselves under the judgment of God. We read:

Psalm 12:3-4 The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: 4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

God has said that He will “cut off” (כָּרַת kârath, pronounced kaw-rath’) the flattering lips and the proud tongue. The word kârath means to destroy, or make empty. When empty philosophies and foolish words are shared throughout the community as truth, that community stands in judgment from God. When God’s people live by and uphold God’s Word, then blessing comes to them.

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

But when a people move away from God’s Word and begin to follow the actions of the kingdom of darkness, God warns:

1 Corinthians 6:8-10 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not …

Galatians 6:7-9 … Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

The Christian must not become a part of the darkness. God is Lord over the believer. The Christian belongs to Jesus. Everyone belongs to either God, or the darkness.

Psalm 12:5 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.

As the darkness increases, the poor and needy suffer. To be like Jesus, we who are blessed of Him are to bless others within our bounty. Our God is compassionate, and promises to rise up against those who stand against the needy, who celebrate greed and the darkness. As darkness grows, those who suffer the most are the poor and needy. The godless politicians with their big bank accounts are never hurt, as are the poor and needy. The poor need to hear the Gospel (Matthew 11:5; Luke 4:18; 7:22). All people need to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom.

We Must Get Back To The Bible

Psalm 12:6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Beloved, if the Church is going to make a difference, we as believers must get back to the Bible. We must trust and affirm the Word of God. God tells this of His Word:

Psalms 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Psalms 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

The philosophies and foolishness of this world are not of God. The Way of God is the Word of God, the Bible. We as His Children are called to hear and heed His Word, and to share His way with others. Will we be hated or disparaged for standing on God’s Word? Of course. Jesus said:

John 15:18-20 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Yes, we will be hated, dear Christian. The darkness never loves the light. People reject Christ and His Words because their deeds are evil.

John 3:20-21 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Expect to be misrepresented. Expect to be hated. Expect to be slandered. But also expect God to keep His promise. He said:

Psalm 12:7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

God always protects His own words. He fulfills every promise, and does exactly as He has said He will do. Though the word of man changes daily, God’s Word endures.

1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

God’s Word, often misrepresented and shunned by a lost world and a sometimes wandering Church, His Word will stand. Theologian James Boice wrote:

“The French atheist Voltaire … once said, ‘In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.’ He wrote that in fifty years no one would remember Christianity. But in the year he wrote that, the British Museum paid the Russian government five hundred thousand dollars for a Bible manuscript while one of Voltaire’s books was selling in the London book stalls for just eight cents.”

God’s Word will endure. God’s Kingdom will, in time, push back the darkness. And in the end of time, satan and his disciples shall be cast into a lake of fire. But God’s people, saved by faith in His written Gospel, will endure forever. David ends this Psalm with:

Psalm 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

The “wicked” do not pick a side. They walk on EVERY side. It is wicked to compromise with the darkness. Let us who are Christ’s children choose to follow our Master and Savior. Let us be like that great old Saint Joshua. On the day he retired, he addressed the nation Israel, saying:

Joshua 24:14-15 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

I along with Joshua – and I hope along with you, my blessed brothers and sisters in Christ – choose to serve the Lord. This Bible is true, and I stand firmly upon all that it affirms. May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit this very day. Amen and Amen!