Day 21: Psalms 12:1-8
Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of man.
Dearest and only God, we were made to know you, love you, and walk with you. We were made to love You and one another and to use the creation for Your glory and our delight as Your children.
But, O Lord, I look around and there seem to be fewer and fewer people who truly want to be godly (Micah 7:2). Elijah thought he was alone, but You showed him thousands who had not bowed the knee to Baal (I Kings 19:18). Lord, help me be more godly trusting Your Son, my Savior, to help me. I feel I am not as faithful as I ought to be (Proverbs 20:6).
Lord, please let me be a faithful man due to Jesus’ death and resurrection for me. Raise up other faithful men and women and children around me (II Timothy 2:2). Help my family, my friends, Your church here, Your church throughout this city, and around the world to be faithful.
Psalm 12:2 They speak idly every one with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
Lord, so much of our talk is not edifying, does not build up. Forgive us. Help us find, learn, and practice good ways of speaking that build up one another (Ephesians 4:29). Forgive us when we say flattering things simply for personal advantage and not for others’ good (Jude 1:16). Help us not bite and devour one another (Galatians 5:15).
Psalm 12:3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongues that speaks proud things.
Lord, help us all to watch ourselves, to maintain ourselves with humility and honesty before You (James 4:6; Proverbs 16:9). Help us not be proud of ourselves, but proud of You. “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)
Psalm 12:4 Who have said, “With our tongues we will prevail. Our lips are over our own. Who is Lord over us?
O Lord, my words cannot save me. Only You can save me. Preserve me, my family, this church, and every expression of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, at times I have thought that I could deliver myself by talking, but only You can deliver me in Your way and on Your schedule. Lord, I trust You, not me, to be my Savior and Lord. Forgive me, forgive us when we trust ourselves more than we trust You.
Psalm 12:5 “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.”
Lord, help the poor and needy. Help those who are struggling in their minds, bodies or souls. Lord, they need You. Protect them from the world, the sinful flesh, and the devil, and his devices. I need You. We all need You. Lord, protect and help the needy. Use me where and how You will, but You must be their Savior. While you can and do use us and challenge us to help, ultimately only You can deliver anyone from evil.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Our words, our flattery, our scheming and plots are nothing compared to Your Word. Lord, it is our desire to worship and serve You, to rely on You and Your Word that is sure. Your Word changes us, transforms us, helps and guides us. It accomplishes everything You have sent it to do (Isaiah 55:11). Your Word builds our faith (Romans 10:17). Your Word, O Lord, lasts forever. It accomplishes everything You send it to do (Psalm 55:11). Please continue to use Your Word to make us whole.
In contrast to Your Word, empty words will fall. They are words that are spoken but are not supported by the one who speaks them or by solid facts. They are vain words. They have sound but no substance.
Psalm 12:7 You shall keep them, O Lord. You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
Our words fall and fail. Our words are like dust in the wind, but Your words remain. In Matthew 24:35 Jesus told us, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Lord, Your Word will outlast time. Through the living Word, the Lord Jesus, you keep us. As we abide in You in and through Your Word, You give us all we need to face the life before us and to bring us safely home.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:5-9 ESV)
Psalm 12:8 The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Lord, please help us exalt Your Word, Your Son, truth, holiness, godliness and all that is good. Help us turn away that which is evil and dark, and bring us all safely to our heavenly home.
Growing in Prayer 