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Psalm 12; The Power of Words

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2025 06/15 Psalm 12; The Power of Words; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250615_psalm-12.mp3

The Power of Words

Psalm 12 is about the power of words. The very first verses of Holy Scripture point us to the inestimable power of words, and begin with these words.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, … and there was … 4 And God saw that [it] was good. …

The creation account is punctuated with this refrain “And God said… And it was so… and God saw that it was good.” Words are powerful. God’s words are creative. As God says about his word in Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Words are powerful. God made something when there was nothing with nothing but a word. Hebrews (1:3) tells us that he holds the universe together by the word of his power.

You’ve probably heard it on the playground; “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”; and you’ve probably also been on the receiving end of stinging words enough to know that the playground rhyme is simply not true. Words are powerful, and they can effect both great good and terrible evil. Proverbs 18 gives us a graphic contrast:

Proverbs 18:19 A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle. 20 From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Words can offend, build walls, bring death; and words can build bridges, be fruitful, satisfying, life-giving.

We all have experienced the power of words, both destructive and life-giving.

Psalm 12 is about the power of words.

Psalm 12

To the Choirmaster: According to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David

1 Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

Effective Short Prayers

This Psalm begins with the shortest of prayers; ‘Save, YHWH!’ A prayer doesn’t have to be long to be effective. Jesus taught that it is not because of many words that a prayer is heard (Mt.6:7-8).

When Peter, walking on the water in the storm began to sink, he simply cried out; ‘Lord, save me!’ (Mt.14:28-31). When you’re about to go under, you don’t have time for flowery eloquence. This prayer has all the necessary elements; a request for help, deliverance, rescue; save!; and the one to whom the request is directed, to YHWH God.

Faithful and Godly People Are No More

Save, O LORD. Verses 1 and 2 state the case; verses 3 and 4 offer a prayer to YHWH God. What is the situation that requires rescue? The godly one is gone, the faithful have vanished from among the children of men. No more are there people of integrity, people who seek God, people who can be trusted.

Elijah felt this in the days of wicked Ahab and Jezebel.

1 Kings 19:10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

I’m the only one left, Lord, and they seek my life.

Romans 11:4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

You may feel alone, but you are not alone. It may look like there are no others who are faithful, no others who seek God, but God preserves his faithful remnant by grace.

Smooth Lips and Divided Loyalties

What is the evidence given that the faithful have vanished? Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with smooth lips and a divided loyalty they speak. It is out of the heart that the mouth speaks, so the evidence for our heart condition is found in how we speak. Jesus agrees with this verdict:

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Speech is an amazing gift to us who are created in the image of God; the ability to communicate in words, to communicate abstract ideas, to say things that are at once true and beautiful. Words are relational, and God said ‘it is not good for man to be alone. We were meant for community, for relationship. We were meant to converse with God and with one another. God gave us words to tell us about himself, to communicate with us. He gave us his word, and his word stands true. He gave us his Word, the divine Word made flesh, to communicate most clearly about himself.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,

Words are meant to communicate truth and deepen relationship. It is a great evil when words are twisted not for relationship but for power, to manipulate others, stories spun, words made smooth, easier to swallow, from a double heart meant to deceive rather than communicate. Masters of spin wield the tongue as a weapon to subject people to their will.

We could cite plenty of evidence of this today in our culture. But this is not new. Here is an example from Jesus’ interaction with those who wielded religious power in his day. Jesus was a threat to their authority; he had just come in to the temple and cleaned house, driving out those who were defiling it by turning it into an overpriced market rather than a place of prayer.

Luke 20:1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.”

This seems like a fair question, simply seeking an answer. But their hearts are revealed in the previous verses.

Luke 19:47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

They were not seeking information; they were seeking an opportunity to destroy him. So Jesus responds with a question:

Luke 20:3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from.

Do you see what they are doing? They have an agenda, and an opinion. They know what they believe about Jesus, but they are more concerned about their public reputation and their own skin than they are about truth. They certainly won’t publicly admit they were wrong, and they can’t answer honestly and save face with the public, so they lie with a double heart not meant to communicate, but to deceive, to preserve power at all costs. By their duplicitous heart they forfeit the right to truth;

Luke 20:8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Prayer For YHWH’s Intervention

How do you defend yourself when words are used to deceive and manipulate rather than communicate? The Psalmist appeals to YHWH to act:

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

David appeals to YHWH to intervene, to cut off the lips and tongue of those who boast of the power of the tongue and their own sovereignty leveraged by lying lips. Their worthless words were rooted in arrogant pride and rebellious autonomy. They want to be lord so they will say whatever is needed to get and hold on to power.

David’s request sounds gruesome; cut off lips and tongue. But likely it was not meant to be carried out physically; rather cut off the flatterer’s ability to manipulate and prevail; remove their proud mastery gained by deception and lies.

The LORD’s Answer

In verse 5 the Lord answers this prayer; this is the word of the Lord.

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the LORD;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the LORD are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

In Psalms 3, 7, 9 and 10 the Psalmist cries out for YHWH to arise. Here God responds “I will now arise”. And he gives reason for being stirred to action. Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan. God is aroused by the plea of the poor and needy. He is ready to come to the defense of the defenseless. He will bring safety to the oppressed.

These are the words of YHWH. They stand in stark contrast to the flattery, to the lies, to the duplicitous manipulation of those who abuse words to personal gain. The Lord’s words are pure. They are true. They are intended to reveal himself, his heart, to communicate, to comfort. The Lord has nothing to gain by coming to the aid of the poor and needy. It will actually cost him something.

When the boastful words of the wicked are weighed, they are found to be all dross, all impurity, all deception and lies; worthless. But when the Lord’s words are tested, they prove to be true, pure, without any mixture or imperfection; priceless. As Proverbs tells us:

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

God Gave Us His Word

Because God has given us his word, he gives us his Word. Our ultimate safety is not from the false words of lying men. Our greatest danger is the just word of condemnation from a holy God.

Psalm 130:3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Even the poor and needy are not without fault. But because God has given us his word, he gives us his Word.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Lord’s word of promise necessitated that he send the divine Word on a rescue mission, the Word who was with God and who was himself God, who for us and for our salvation became flesh, who bore our sins in his body on the tree. Maybe this is not the safety we were asking for, but this is the safety for which we truly long.

God’s Preservation Amid Continuing Evil

The Psalmist responds to God’s words with confidence.

7 You, O LORD, will keep them;

you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

You will keep them. Who or what is ‘them’? The nearest antecedent is in the previous verse ‘the words of the LORD’. When YHWH gives his word, he will keep it.

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

The Lord is faithful to his word, and he is faithful to us his people. He will keep his word, and he will keep us. He will guard us from this generation forever. This is no romantic escapism; David is aware the present circumstances have not changed. ‘On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.’ The wicked prowl; vileness is exalted among the children of man. But we now know that ‘the faithful have not vanished from among the children of man.’ those who are full of faith, believing in the Word of God made flesh, he will keep his word to us, and he will keep us.

Jesus prayed for us:

John 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Peter encourages us with the keeping power of God.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Peter too sees the reality of our situation, and gives us confidence.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, …

Jude ends his short letter with worship to the God who

Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

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