David may very well be, very well may have pinned this psalm during the time of Saul, just like Psalm 11, where there would have been the decay of honesty, there would have been the decay of integrity, not only in the royal court, but in the nation of Israel as a whole. It has been said, the greatest peril which can threaten a nation is the failure of Godly men and faithful souls. Let me read that again. The greatest peril which can threaten a nation is the failure of Godly men and faithful souls. You're going to find tonight in this psalm that David experiences things that are very similar to what you and I experience even in our own nation. In fact, you need to know that David is speaking from experience. Sometimes that just helps us right there, doesn't it? Sometimes when we're hurting and we're in the psalm, it's just good to know, it's good to be reminded that David understands. He knows what you're doing through. He's been there. He knows firsthand what it is to have people lie about it. He knows what it is to have a friend turn his back on you. He knows he understands what it is to suffer because the enemy has slandered your name, slandered your reputation. David knows firsthand what it was to have a line tongue and what that knows firsthand what a line tongue will do to a person's reputation. You ever had somebody lie about you or tell something about you to some of your friends and spread gossip and just run your reputation right through the mud of your school or the mud of your town, your church possibly? David has witnessed in his society the use of the tongue for the gain of the person speaking rather than to convey truth to the person that's listening. And he knows that that is a very hard thing to swallow. He knows that it's a hard thing to endure. He knows that it's a sign of bad times as well. And what David does in this song is he meditates and he complains directly to God but he's not about to back down, he's not about to run or flee retreat as some of the faithful have been known to do. Even some of his most faithful friends in the way they turn their back on him. I want you to notice verse 1 first really as on the side but notice that he says, Health Lord for the godly man ceases for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. You say, have herbally? Well, it is have herbally. No doubt, it is. We don't have a problem with that have herbally used in scripture. It actually intensifies David's plea. As if he says, I am the only one that's left. God, I am the only one on the face of the earth that follows you. I'm it, everybody else is done for, they're gone. And I'm the only one left. I was listening to the Christian radio station last night and heard the testimony of a girl in high school and some of the persecution that she endured. I don't know where she was coming from. A high school of 18,000. I didn't even know there were high schools that were that big. And she was the only Christian. And that's what made me keep listening really was the thought that she really felt that she was about the only one of 18,000. And she had suffered a lot of persecution even from her own mom and dad. And this year she had actually been struck. And she was telling that experience. And the interesting thing was she had, when they jumped on her, actually, the theater. It was one of her friends. That's why I even mentioned it tonight in the song. It's much like David. And she had taken a stand against one of her friends. And this person, you know, I've got to hit you for that. Because the peer pressure that person was under this girl. She was known as Jesus for her school. She said she loved that because half of her nickname was Jesus. She named the name of Jesus even in her persecution. I was going to say when this person jumped on her and beat her or hit her, she was singing Christian songs. It's a great testimony. But she felt that she was the only one. Once upon a time when the church was young, they went up across the world against Athanasius. And Athanasius against the world. In a long time ago, the church, quote, unquote, the church was reduced to the size of one family. Noah. In the time of Elijah, there were only 7,000 that didn't bend and they only 7,000 that didn't bow down the bell. You see, it's not a new thing that the church is long. It's not a new thing that we're in the minority, that we suffer persecution. We need to be reminded that the strength of the church is not found in the numbers of her membership. The strength of the church is found in the all-mightiness of her husband, the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, David, in verses 1 to 4, describes what bad times look like. What would be your definition of bad times? We say things like these are dark times in America. Why do you say that? What do you mean when you say these are dark days in the history of our nation? Which, by the way, these are dark days in our nation's history. I think if you don't think so, that's probably a greater question to you. Why don't you realize these are bad times in our nation? God forbid that any of His children would ever say, well, these aren't bad times because my stocks are doing good or the economy is good for me, certainly not. But there are those who use those reasons and their definition of bad times, you know, high gas prices, for example. Heavy taxes or high crime rates or unemployment rates. But really think about it as a Christian from God's perspective. Why would, just using America as an example? What about the fact that God is dishonored? That His son is rejected, that the spirit is quenched, that the gospel is despised, and it's been happened so prevalently in our royal court, you know, the cabinet. Well, this David provides five characteristics of bad times. And these are not necessarily listed for you in the Boston. I just want to mention that I really would prefer you just looking at the verses as I point them out to you. This is generally speaking five characteristics of bad times. Verse 1 is saying that bad times are present when there's a decay of priority and honesty among men and especially among those that are in places of leadership. And then verse 2, David tells us that bad times are present when untruthfulness and flattery corrupt conversations. That's what he's going to really meditate on specifically in a few verses. Verse 4, as if David is saying to us that bad times are present when the enemies of God and the religion are shameless. When they don't think that God's going to judge them, so they go about it, strut about it, and they do whatever they want to do. And they say, God will never touch me. God will never judge me as if they even dare to do something about the things they're saying, the things they're doing. In verse 5, he gives a fourth characteristic of bad times that bad times are present when the healthless are oppressed, when the healthless are abused. And then in verse 8, bad times are present when the wicked when wickedness abounds, and yet they're protected by those in authority. He doesn't sound like any nation you know. Where somebody can do actually something wicked and then those in authority, even the judicial system will protect an individual for something even they've done wrong. Let's be more specific because David is actually more specific. When he talks about bad times, characteristic of bad times is false space. This, again, is not listed for you in the outline. And this is just, instead of looking down this time, if you write down, I have four. Four specific characteristics of bad times that have to do with our space, the things we say, talk about. The first, if you're writing this down, the first would be empty talk. Empty talk is a sign of bad times in verse 2. They speak idly everyone with his neighbor. It means they speak false or do one another. They lie to each other. When they talk to their neighbor, it's vain. It is empty words because you can't trust what they say. That's a sign of bad times. It may not be a nation. It may be a church. It may be a family. It could be the sign of bad times within your own relationship with somebody else, a friend of yours. When you can't trust that individual, perhaps you know someone like it. And you know that the way they talk cheapens the value of what they're saying. And you know as well that it's the value of what they're saying is cheapens. Then certainly your relationship with that individual is cheap. And I've had such a way that I'm sure you have to read. You find it's time to sit down with somebody and say, if you don't start telling me the truth. If I can't trust what you're going to say, the initial relationship is over. I can't pursue a friendship with anyone that is irresponsible in their talk, in their language. And they're gossiped or the things they say about others. It strains a relationship when it's empty talk. The second would be smooth talk, again in verse two. The second part where it says, with flattering lips. You know something about flattery is that flattery is addictive. Flattery can be addictive to both parties. There are people that all they've heard their whole lives is flattering. Nobody's ever told them the truth. You see there's been tragically with children as they grow up. And parents who've never told their children the truth. And they flatter their children for years and the child grows up. And when somebody actually tells them the truth if it's not flattering, they resent. They grow up resenting the truth. And they come to a point actually where they become immune to the truth. All because nobody had to cut to tell them the truth. But you know the flip side of that is actually the one doing the flattering. That can be very addictive as well because as you flatter, you'll find that you get what you want. And a lot of people will flatter in order to get their gang in order to meet their agenda. You know that's right. Flattery will get you nowhere. It's not true. Flattery will get you a lot of places. Flattery can earn you a lot of money. Flattery can make a sale. But flattery is a sign of bad times. And then the thirdly, double talk, also in verse two, he says in a double heart they speak. Double talk comes from a double heart. For example, it may be a person who says one thing but they actually are thinking something else. Or it could be that they say one thing to this individual over here and they turn around and they tell this individual over here something entirely different. Because they're only telling people what they want to hear is called being political. It's called being double talk. It's being guilty of double talk. It's a sign of bad times. But you can see what David is getting at. He's talking about language, certain kind of talk that manipulates those that you're talking to. The hearer, rather than trying to build that person up, rather than trying to help the listener, this person is manipulating the hearer again to their end, their own agenda, their own gain. I did out of four. We might call it big talk. This is certainly big talk in verses three and four. He says, 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? So proud. You see, so arrogant. The rhetorical answer is no one. No one's Lord over me. No one can tell me what I can and can't say. How dare you? That's my business what I say. And some people that are in business, they say that literally. It's my business. It's how I make my living, the little flattery over here, the whole flattery over here. And that's how I do things. And David is saying, it's a sign of bad times. It really is. And then we get the pricelessness really of God's response. Let me say in passing that this is the first psalm in which God actually responds himself as the first psalm with a psalm that cries out and God actually answers his cry himself. Other psalms, what is the true includes psalm 60, psalm 81 and psalm 95. In his answer, God graciously reminds David three things. These are in the outline. First of all, God reminds David that he knows exactly what's going on. Look at verse 5. For the oppression of the poor, for the sign of the needy, now I will arise. He knows what's going up. He's well aware of these things. As if to say to David, I am well aware of the untruthfulness that is running rampant in Israel. I am well aware of the lies and the reputations that are being ruined. I see the afflicted. I hear the afflicted and I will rest you. Very comforting for us. The very comforting verse, Lord, a junior high or a high schooler to hear those words. God knows when you're afflicted. He knows when you're reputation, when someone's trying to try to ruin your reputation. This sort of reminds us of God's response and exit of the suit when he says in answer, I've heard the groaning of my children and I will rescue them from oppression. And then secondly, God reminds David that he will do it in his own time. And I really emphasize that word now. He says, now I will run. He's doing it in his own time. And he's reminding David. He's not only aware of the afflictions, but he's aware of the fact that his timing is perfect. Sometimes it's saying slow to us, doesn't it? God's timing. We think, when God, when are you ever going to do this thing? Are you ever going to, why is it taking so long for you to respond? David is, and God's reminding David, and he's reminding all of us as well, that his timing is perfect. It's always perfect. And then God reminds David that he'll bring refuge to those who are victimized by untruthfulness, the Spirit coming. He says in verse 5, I will set him in the safety for which he yearns. I like that's a good word too. And that's where we find ourselves. Where the victims don't we? Earning for that safety is very comforting, especially in our day. When in our society it's so rampated to see falsehood called truth and truth called falsehood. It's very comforting when we live in our culture that's trumpet the end of truth. They say, there is no truth. Who can know truth? And in this company to know, they will not prevail. Those who say that, they will not prevail. God will bring them down. God will hear the prayers of the righteous. He will hear the prayers of the afflicted. And we can be confident that he's going to take those matters into his own hands, but he's going to do in his own timing, just perfect timing. William Gerneau, Puritan wrote the Christian complete armor. You may have a copy of that, but this is what he says. News may come that truth is sick, but never that truth is dead. Because truth is God's truth, and it therefore cannot be extinguished from the land even when wicked men trumpet that there is no truth. And they deal and wise. The truth will never be extinguished. And then we find, in verses 6-8, that David reflects on the Word of God. You see, the culture in which David finds himself hates the truth, does that sound familiar as well? In fact, in David's society, there was no truth. It was a void of truth. And David himself finds himself to be the victim of life. I asked you that earlier. Have you ever been the victim of a lie? Have you ever had anybody try to snare your name in the community? Have you ever had anybody slander your name so that they could lift their name up? I know I have. I've had it a number of times. I had one time, particularly, it's almost too soon afterwards to mention the specifics that don't take. There was a bad time in Clarksdale once when we hired an individual for the school. And this girl went out and she smeared my name through churches, I'm telling you. Especially her church. And it was a very hard thing to get out of her. Even to stand up in the pulpit after that and try to explain to our people what had actually been said. It was just a very hard thing to go through. If you've ever been the victim of a robbery, I mean, somebody has just done you wrong, taken advantage of you, maybe a business venture, or even just a friendship. Or maybe you told somebody the truth and they resented you for telling the truth. And so because they resented, they went out and told lies about you. It's never been cussed out before. Have you ever had anybody just raised you over the calls verbally? Well, let me ask you this. What did you do? How did you respond? What did you do the next day? I know what I was tempted to do. I wanted to get on the phone and rally the troops. I had to do with our school. So I called the chairman of our schoolboy. He said, just let it lie. Just wait it out. Wait it out. It's just very inappropriate, inappropriate for us ever as Christians when we're the victim of lies to then spread lies about that person. We would never want to do that counterattack, you might say. Even more vicious comments than they made about you. sort of gather ammunition against that person and use it in support of yourself. Don't ever do that. And that's not what David did. He set the example for us tonight. What did David do? We find out that he reflects on God and his words. Here are these words from the world. And they're like we've described them to be. And he takes God's word. And he meditates on that. And that's what he's saying. Though the world be false, God is truth. Now everyone else has deserted me. God will never, ever desert me. And even though the world's speech is smooth and empty, God's words are pure and they're refined. Just notice what he says. And we'll do these quickly. The David comments on the purity of God's words in verse 6. The words of the Lord are pure words. Like still or try and the furnace of earth purifies seven times. But you can see the contrast between the early verses and now verse 6 contrasting the world with God's words. The contrast is that God's words are not smooth. But God never flatters. We find that God does not talk to his people within to talk. God would never lie to you. He's not going to say one thing to you and another thing to another individual. You can trust what he says. He never talks out of both sides of his mouth. He never talks with a double heart. And then secondly, David celebrates the certainty of God's words in verse 7. He says, you shall keep them. He's talking about God's words. God promises. You shall keep them, Lord. You shall preserve them from this generation forever. This is surely as God is God. He will guard his word. He will guard his promises. Even the midst of a perverse and wicked generation. We say it every Lord's day, the grass weather's in the flower's face. But the word of our God stands forever. And then thirdly, David takes comfort in God. Not in circumstances. Look at verse 8. The wicked cry on every side when violence is exalted among the sons of men. David's complaint is that there are men in places of leadership. They've got power. They've got this influence. But their wickedness is openly approved. And what are these wicked people doing? They're struggling around. They're walking around real proud. And they're mocking authority. They're mocking truth. They're mocking God. I don't know if a case right now in Mississippi, that the young man is his wife left him with a three-year-old and a one-year-old. She went and she committed adultery. She was involved in drugs. And then now she moved out. He got full custody. But she moved to New York. She had a New York with this man. And then now she's back in Mississippi because she was custody of her child. It's going to the Mississippi Supreme Court. And her grounds are that she has been unduly punished for committing adultery. The fact that we would even hear it in our court system, you see, shows that it's a sign of bad times. But you have to notice, as I've just read verse 8, that the psalm ends the same way that it began. The wicked are still strutting, which tells us that David found comfort. But it wasn't in the circumstances. He found comfort, but it wasn't in the fact that God changed anything. He just said comfort in the fact that God was God. He was sovereign and that he's in control. Let me just give you a summation of what we've said and just some sentences that'll give you some encouragement as we are about to go to the table. But just in conclusion, we have a God that we can go through in time of grievances. You can always cry, help to God. In the midst of a wicked generation, we can cry out to our God. Secondly, our God will punish. He will restrain false and proud men. He's going to do it in his time. That's what the third thing I was going to say is that God will in due time deliver those who are oppressed. He's going to rescue his children. You can bank on it. He's going to give shelter to his children when there's a victim of lies. And then really lastly, though men cannot be trusted, God can be. And though men disappoint us, God never will. And it may be someone who is the closest person to you. They can let you down. God can never ever let you down, ever. And even if you've been the victim of a pledge that's gone awry, the Lord is faithful. He is always faithful. And there is really no clearer picture of God's faithfulness than this suffer tonight, this meal that we're about to protect. There's not a clearer illustration, visible illustration in all of our worship than this meal with God's Son. To think about Psalm 12 and who Jesus is, Jesus is the Word of God. He is the pure and holy Word of God. And do you know that he was accused of blasphemy? Don't you know that Jesus meditated on Psalm 12? Don't you know he loved the Word? And so don't you know he loved Psalm 12. Slaying for our sins, crucified, dead, buried, we emphasized this morning, resurrected, ascended. He is alive today. And he wants to have fellowship with you. He longs to have a meal with you as his children, those for whom he died. If you are one for whom Jesus died, if you trust him, that he died for your sins. If you know him as Savior, but not only Savior, also the Lord of your life, if you can say that you're striving to live the Christian life and you know that you can only do that by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And you can say in good conscience that you're a repentant of all your sins, subconscious sins as well as conscious sins. If you know your posture before God is one of being crossed right before him because you know you need his forgiveness. Then you can come to this table. If you're visiting with us, we do ask that you be a member in good standing of an evangelical church, which means that you have voluntarily, you have placed yourself under an authority that would cite us if we were to ask that they're in good standing in our church. And as a church that would teach that the Bible is the only rule of faith and practice, it teaches that there's only one way of salvation, only one mediator, and that is Jesus Christ. We don't say that because we believe it's a Presbyterian table, we're just saying because we know it's the Lord's table, and there are great warnings for anyone who takes this meal unworthily, their guilty of the body, the blood of Christ himself. So please refrain, and if you are in some public sense, please refrain. And if you're an unbeliever, use this time to consider your relationship with the Lord. We urge you to consider, again, your relationship to the Lord's Jesus Christ. We are here.