Pure Words – Psalm 12

“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?’” Psalm 12:1-4

In Psalms 12, David discerned by God’s Spirit that godly and faithful men were disappearing. He asked the Lord for help. He testified that God’s Word is pure, and that God will preserve it.

The Prophet Amos lived where godly and faithful men were difficult to find. In Amos 5:10-12, he wrote, “They hate the one who rebukes... they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.” He saw that they taxed the grain of the poor to build stone houses surrounded by vineyards for themselves. They punished the just. They took bribes. They diverted justice from the poor.

Amos 5:13 says, “Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time.” But Amos was not prudent in regards to his personal safety or comfort. He said to them, “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you... Hate evil, love good! Establish justice in the gate! It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious...”

Ask worldly people what makes times bad, and they will tell you, “Lack of treasures and sensual pleasures.” But 2 Timothy 3:1 blames perilous times on the increase of sin.

Psalm 12:1 places the lack of godliness and faithfulness together. Godly and faithful people bind their conscience to God’s Word. In Jeremiah 5:1, the Lord said to His prophet, “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. See now and know! Seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her.” Sadly, Jeremiah could find no one that fit that description. God did not spare the city.

When double-heartedness and flattery corrupt a society, the times are indeed evil. Cursing God, lying, stealing, cheating, and killing are “normal” behavior where the consciences of people are seared as it were with a hot iron.

What is a double-heart? In 1 Samuel 20:9-10, “Joab said to Amasa, ‘Are you in health, my brother?’ And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died.” Joab kissed then killed Amasa. With the smile of a friendly face, he tore out the unsuspecting man’s guts.

The prophet Micah lived where godly and faithful people had disappeared. In Micah 7:5-6, he wrote, “Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth. From her who lies in your bosom! For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.”

In Jeremiah 9:4-5, the Lord warned people via Jeremiah, “Everyone take heed to his neighbor, and do not trust any brother. For every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves to commit iniquity.”

The ungodly and unfaithful say, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?” The forbidden fruit they ate gave them a false sense of invincibility and self-sufficiency. They enacted laws that contradicted God’s Word. They delighted in destroying anyone who dared to break their rules. They wanted to provoke people to anger so they could imprison and torture them.

When wickedness abounds under the protection and countenance of those in authority, then the times are indeed very bad. When the vilest men are exalted to places of trust and power, then the wicked walk on every side. They seek to deceive, defile, and destroy others.

David turned to the Lord during evil days, He prayed, “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases.” He asked God to intervene.

Missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, turned to the Lord for help amidst overwhelming odds. He wrote, “When man works, man works. But when man prays, God works.”

The righteous God will cut off flattering lips. He will pluck out the tongue that speaks proud things against Him. God will silence lying lips.

When the oppressors are in the height of their pride and insolence — when they say, ‘Who is lord over us?’ — God will let them know who is Lord over them. There is a time fixed for the rescue of the oppressed. That time will come! We may be sure it!

“’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.’” Psalm 12:5

In 1 Samuel 1:6, Hannah’s rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. Hannah placed her oppressive situation into the hands of God. God did a miracle for her. In 1 Samuel 2:8, she thanked and praised God saying, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.”

The Apostle Paul wrote 14 of the 27 books in the New Testament. By word count, his writings constitute 23.5% of the New Testament. He planted at least 14 known churches during his three missionary journeys, traveling over 7,000 miles. Yet, in Galatians 2:10, when the other apostles asked him to remember the poor, he wrote that he was eager to do it.

Proverbs 14:31 says, “He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker: but he that honors Him has mercy on the poor.”

“The Words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever. The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.” Psalm 12:6-8

When vile words become the popular language of a nation, that nation is in decline.

In Luke 6:45, Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

The Lord’s words are pure words. They do not depreciate in value. They prosper their recipients.

In Isaiah 55:8-11, the Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth. It will not return to Me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

In Matthew 5:18, Jesus stated, “Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” David wrote of God’s Word, saying, “You shall preserve them from this generation forever.”

Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared, “God is dead,” meaning that the Christian God is no longer the foundational center of Western culture, but in 2026, Nietzsche is dead, and Bible sales are currently experiencing a significant upsurge in the USA and in the UK.

The Church is built upon the rock of faith in Jesus Christ. It is so well fortified that not even the gates of hell can prevail against it. God preserves a holy remnant to inherit His kingdom.

In Psalm 12, David laments that vile people are being exalted, but rejoices that God is preserving and proclaiming pure words.