Psalm 12:1-8 NKJV
To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will 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 I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
From Reading the Psalms with Luther, p. 36: “The 12th Psalm…laments over the teachers who are always inventing new little discoveries and filling up God’s kingdom everywhere with those new services to God. For where human doctrine once goes in, there is no stop or end to it; they increase more and more. These new inventions load down the poor conscience beyond all limit and work so that few true saints may remain.”
It’s as if Luther was writing today! Even within and among God’s church on earth teachers and self-serving pastors seem always to be inventing new and creative ways to preach and teach and administer God’s Sacraments. From saying that Scripture is a “fluid” document to online communion to out-and-out false teachings, we are bombarded with man’s efforts to make God’s Word more relevant, more powerful, and more meaningful, all at the expense of the simple and plain truth contained in God’s Word. Human doctrine is on the rampage, and God’s people are scurrying around to find something certain.
Here we are reminded of when Jesus scolded the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 15:7-9 when He said, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Luther also writes of this psalm, “…it comforts us that God will awaken His salvation, that is, His Word, which confidently storms against this work of straw (meaning men’s teachings). He will free the imprisoned conscience. This does not happen, however, without cross or agony. As silver is purified in the fire, so the saints must suffer in the meantime, and by this means become ever more pure and perceive the truth so much more clearly.”
Dear Christian, be comforted by and through God’s Word alone wherein is the only and everlasting truth of God’s love for you in Christ who gave His life for your sins in order to bring you to Himself. Let us pray: Thank You, God, for your Truth. Amen.