Faithbase

Good morning and welcome to Praying the Bible, Psalm 12. Let me read that for you. To the chief musician on an eight-stringed harp, a Psalm of David. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak idly, everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things, who have said, With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will set him in the safety for which he yearns. The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of fire, a furnace of earth, excuse me, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, you shall preserve them from this generation forever. The wicked prowl on every side when violence is exalted among the sons of men. Lord, our Father in heaven, we do cry out to you. It seems that the godly have ceased. We find, it seems to us, just little enclaves of your people, a church here, a church there, a fellowship gathered one place, another in another, Lord, where there are folks who call upon the name of our Lord. But Lord, it seems that we have become frightened and intimidated by the pressures of the world, Lord God. So I pray that that the godly man would not cease, that the faithful would not disappear from among the sons of men. Lord, that you would rise up a generation of people who are unashamed of the gospel, who stand firm for the truth of Jesus Christ as the King of the universe, the Lord and Savior of all those who would come to him, Lord God. Lord, we pray that you would set aside those who speak idly, those who have nothing to say of any value. Lord, there's so much verbiage, so much chatter, so much that is thrown out there. We live in this age of information and so much of it is of really no value, Lord. They speak idly, everyone with his neighbor, flattering lips, double heart, Lord God. There's not any sincerity in what they say. There's often simply just a means, an attempt to increase their own influence and to advance their own agenda, Lord God. That seems to be often what is going on with all the chatter, all the talk. But Lord, we pray that you will cut off, that you will destroy the flattering lips, that you will get rid of the tongue that speaks proud things, Lord God, that you would set them aside. And again, Lord, draw them to you that they might learn truth and they might set aside the lies that they so vehemently support, Heavenly Father. We pray that you would do a mighty work, that the godly would not cease, that you would raise them up and they would be your ministers for truth to go into all the world preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say, those who oppose you, that they will prevail with their words, that they shall, in a sense, speak themselves into power. And we see so much of this, Lord God, so much of it seems to be successful. And we ask that you would stop this process of lies that advance the agenda of the wicked one, who is the father of lies. He is one who speaks lies as his native language, Lord God. You are the Lord over even those who speak wickedness, and so we pray that you will bring them to an end. Lord, you say here in verse 5 that, for the oppression of the poor, for the sign of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord. I will set him in the safety for which he yearns. And we know from Scripture that is a constant refrain, that the weak and the oppressed are your concern, daily, moment-by-moment concern. They should be our concern as well, Lord God, as those who call upon the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We ask that you would, in fact, lift up and strengthen those who are the victims of this lying, deceitful oppression, Lord God. Lord, your words are pure, like silver trite in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, you shall preserve them from this generation forever. Indeed, Lord, you have said that you will protect the weak, the powerless. You have said that you will watch over the needy, those who are without help and without hope. So we pray that you shall do that. And Lord, all of us are needy. All of us need Jesus. All of us must look to you for support. Everything we do should be bathed in prayer. Everything we do should be committed to you, Lord God. All that we do should be for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we pray that you would help us to do that. Lord, we know that wicked, that they prowl on every side when violence is exalted among the sons of men. And again, we see that. We see that in our nation. We see that in our culture. Our prayer, Heavenly Father, is that those things would end, that by the power of your Spirit working through your people, your gospel would go forth and bring forth fruit throughout all the world. And we pray your blessings on this day. Help us to walk in your righteousness and truth, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.