A Road Map for Life | Beginning With GodSample

HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION (Psalm 12)

We throw our hands up in the air and we say, “I don't know what to do.”

I think sometimes when we get to that point in life, all of Heaven applauds and God says, “Good. I’ve been waiting on you to get there all along.” We have to come to the end of ourselves to realize that we just need the Lord.

We learned in our study of Psalm 11 that if you are building on the right foundation, it will never be destroyed. Storms, attacks and difficulties will come. The question was posed in Ps. 11:3, “What can the righteous do?” The theme surrounding that answer carries over into Psalm 12.

1. The righteous can trust. We begin by faith.

Anything that does not begin by faith will end in failure.

I must trust that God has me where I am supposed to be, and that He is always where He is supposed to be. Remember, the great danger in life and in the battle is not the enemy; it is the temptation to live your life by sight instead of by faith. The Scriptures are clear:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7)

“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (I John 5:4)

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Psalm 11 ends with these words in verse 7: “For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” Our Lord is always right, and He smiles upon those who stay right with Him.

2. The righteous can keep. You can keep yourself right with God.

Sometimes this is the most difficult thing to do. David’s great enemy really was not Saul or Goliath. It was his own lust and pride. Our great enemy is not everyone around us, the world pulling on us or the devil against us. It is our own sin nature.

It is so easy, in an unrighteous world dealing with unrighteous people, to miss the unrighteousness that creeps into our own hearts. People say, “Aren’t you troubled about this wicked world?” We always want to talk about all the wickedness around us. But the wickedness I am most concerned about is the wickedness that I see in my own soul and my own heart.

Ask God to help you love what He loves, so you will hate what He hates and work to keep your own heart thoroughly right with the Lord. Don’t lay the foundations of your own soul to be destroyed.

3. The righteous can pray. This is where we come to Psalm 12. Notice how it begins as a prayer, with these two words: “Help, Lord.” When you cannot pray for anything else, you can pray for help from the Lord. Take the time to read verses 1-5:

“Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.”

Are you troubled about the foundations seeming to be shaken all around you, with things crumbling that used to stand, and people swaying? Are you troubled? Do not fuss about the darkness or talk about it to everyone else. Do one thing.

Pray.

Do you see the contrast in these verses between what the wicked do with their lips and what we are to do? Don’t just do what everyone else does -- talk to God about it!

The psalmist prayed for the godly that they would not cease and the faithful that they would not fail. In verse 5, he prayed for the poor to be protected and for the needy to be provided for. Just pray and let God take care of the rest.

Verses 6-8: “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” It feels as though we are living in a world just like the one described in that last verse.

4. The righteous can meditate. Fix your mind on that which can never be destroyed. The words of the wicked are lies. They are insincere. Man's words will only give you failing wisdom and rotting ideas.

God’s words are true. They are pure words in an impure world. They are preserved words in a decaying world.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3)

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (Psalm 119:165)

Every one of these psalms points to a time in history. While Psalm 11 was written when David was running for his life from Saul, Psalm 12 is inserted later in David’s life. We believe the context is that period of time when all of the priests and people who had aided David in Nob were slain by Saul. All of his friends who had helped him were put to death by Saul. Everyone he trusted was gone, and everything familiar to him had disappeared.

When you are living that way, what can the righteous do?

• You can still trust; the foundation of faith stands sure.
• You can still keep; the foundation of righteousness stands sure.
• You can still pray; the foundation of prayer stands sure.
• You can still meditate; the foundation of God's Word stands sure.

My mind immediately goes to a great old hymn that was Robert E. Lee’s favorite hymn. It has meant a great deal to me. I remember hearing the story of Dr. Charles Hodge, a great theologian of a bygone generation. He was once reading the words of this hymn to a group of seminary students. He was so overcome with emotion that he could not even speak the final words. He just gestured. Here are those words:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word

What more can He say than to you He hath said

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled

For every one of God’s children, every follower of Christ, the foundations are never destroyed. The world may be rocking and reeling all around you, and many people may be falling, but You can trust; You can keep; You can pray; and You can meditate. You can rest assured that the foundation in heaven is as strong, stable, and secure as it has ever been.

Psalm 11 and 12 point us to the God who never changes. Malachi 3:6 states, “For I am the Lord, I change not.”

The point is made also in the New Testament, where Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

So what can we do today in our own lives? We can rest in faith in the God who never changes. May the Lord use this to give you some peace and courage along your journey today.

1. Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

3 The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:

4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.