Psalm 12
Sometimes it seems like there's just no goodness in the world. That no one is faithful, true, or genuine. The secular poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold expresses the same sentiment:
It seems that David felt much the same way on the occasion where he wrote this Psalm. Elijah, too, felt the same way- even right after calling fire from the sky and shaming the prophets of Baal. And remember Jesus? He, the only holy person to ever walk on earth, was crucified by sinful men while his disciples scattered in fear, doubt, and shame.
But what does David do here? He does not wallow in his fear and doubt. He prays. He has an unshakable faith in God's goodness and willingness to answer. He holds on to the words of God and the truth of God.
So though the world seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, let us proclaim the truth of God and the reality of Scripture:
...For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
It seems that David felt much the same way on the occasion where he wrote this Psalm. Elijah, too, felt the same way- even right after calling fire from the sky and shaming the prophets of Baal. And remember Jesus? He, the only holy person to ever walk on earth, was crucified by sinful men while his disciples scattered in fear, doubt, and shame.
But what does David do here? He does not wallow in his fear and doubt. He prays. He has an unshakable faith in God's goodness and willingness to answer. He holds on to the words of God and the truth of God.
So though the world seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, let us proclaim the truth of God and the reality of Scripture:
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.
7 You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us[b] from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
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