Almost all of us have experienced forgetting a word or a name 
• so we cannot say what we mean. 
• It is very annoying.

• For people unable to speak 
 - dumb or a stroke 
 - terribly frustrating - 
 their very personality is boxed in. 

 Our humanity is expressed in  communication and speech. 
• Thus being unable to speak is a frustration of our humanity.

 How do you express what is on your mind?
• Words: 
   • Ordinary conversation. 
   • Public speaking. 
   • Writing letters. 
   • Writing books or articles for magazines and newspapers.
   • Making films or documentaries, 
   • or Soap Operas, 
   • or news programs for TV or Cinema. 
   • Writing plays for the theatre.

 Its all the business of  words. 
• What is inside us can get out and be heard and considered by others.
• Qualia is a word used in philosophy to refer to our uniquely experienced subjective feelings.

To  speak is part of what it is to be created in the Image of God.
• He too speaks and expresses His mind.
• He spoke and the universe was created.
• He spoke and the result was the wonders of nature. 
• It was a Word of grace and truth and glory.
• That light, grace, truth and glory were seen in the human face of Christ, 
• who is the image of the invisible God.

The majestic New testament statement of Creation and God's relationship to it is given by the Apostle John in chapter 1 of his gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The written record of all of this is of course the BIBLE.

So we too, 
• unique in this world and possibly unique in the whole universe, 
   • can express our hearts in speaking, writing, preaching etc.

Through our words, 
• We communicate with one another and God Himself.
• We pray and sing hymns. 
   • expressing our inner being to God and others. 

We even talk to our dogs, cats and budgies, 
• even they understand a little of what we are like inside. 

• GOD'S WORD IS FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.
   • and so should ours be.

Human sin has distorted the image of God in us 
• and used this gift of communication 
• for destructive and harmful purposes.

PSALM 12 is about the abuse of words.
• When words are misused the very foundation of our humanity is endangered.
• David feels almost alone in crying for truth.

1-3: Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. 2 Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering  lips speak with deception. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue 4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips-- who is our master?" 

`The godly are no more.' 
• `Godly means literally`those who practice steadfast love.' 
• Those whose love is lasting and honest and faithful to the end.

•  The `faithful have vanished'. 
•  Faithful means those who are firm and trustworthy. 
•  Like solid ground into which a tent peg can be driven and become immovable.

David sees this kind of society disappearing all around him.
• His question might be that of the previous Psalm in which we read: `When the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do?'

What has gone wrong is that WORDS which are so powerful 
• have been misused. 

THE POWER OF WORDS is very great.
• In verses 2 and 3 he speaks of 
   • `lies', `flattering lips', `deception' and `boastful' words.
• The word `lies' is literally `empty talk'. 
• Not just deliberate falsehood but insincere talk - 
    • that cheapens and corrodes conversation and discussion.

INSINCERITY AMONG SOME OF OUR OWN POLITICIANS.
• It corrodes our respect for our leaders. 
• We get bored with their arguments because we know that very often they don't mean what they say.
• We should be excited and interested by parliamentary debate because it is very important. 
• But we are tired of it because so much of it is empty point scoring.

Can you think of ways that you and I may sometimes may be insincere in our speech? 
• and therefore untrue to ourselves?

The next word used here is `flattery'. 
• Literally: smooth talk that gives pleasure but its aim is to manipulate us for another purpose. 
• Sometimes we like to be flattered! 
• But it is deadly and creates addiction.

• Some political leaders thrive on other people's speeches praising them. 
• Like a drug, the adulation has to get ever greater and greater. 
• So words such as: as 
   • `Saviour, The Conqueror, the Deliverer.' 

All such terms are used even today of some of the world's leaders by the people under their control.
• These leaders get accustomed to it 
• demand ever greater and greater flattery.(Like Sadham Hussain).

You and I, the common people, can love to be flattered.
• Interesting to me that quite irreligious people
• who engage in all kinds of immoral behaviour 
   • still want the Church's approval. 
   • It makes them feel better. 

Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers and the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. (NIV) 

The danger is that the Church, in order to court popularity, 
• goes along with such demands 
• gives its blessing to all sorts of things that are wrong.
Do not  misunderstand me I am not saying: 
• we should be judgememtal and condemning in spirit. 
• We have to understand the pressures that others face in their personal lives.
• It is not our duty to be always  pointing out others faults. 
• It is our duty to give praise and encouragement wherever possible. 
• BUT NOT WITH THE  MOTIVE OF FLATTERING THEM FOR OUR OWN ENDS NOR IN SUCH AWAY THAT COMPROMISES WITH WRONGDOING.

So there is `empty' talk and `smooth' or flattering talk.

The next word used in this verse is `deceptive talk'. 
Literally it is speaking with a heart and a heart. 
 ie. talking as if you had two hearts - double talk.

The lesson here is that the deceiver eventually deceives himself so that he cannot help telling lies. 
He has so lied to others that he actually believes his own lies and therefore has a double heart. 

In verse 4 we read about `boastful talk'. 
Heb: `gabar'. 
Means strong abusive insolent talk.

Psychiatrist was asked why people use bad language in public. 
Ans: 
• To prove that they are one of the boys. 
• I am tough like you. 
• Really it is a sign of weakness.

The use of abusive language is a also a common way to frighten others and magnify one's own power.
Cat's tail

So verse 4: the `boastful tongue 4 (that) says, 
"We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips-- who is our master?"

James 3:5 speaks about `The tongue that can set a forest on fire.'

In the book of Revelation the BEAST (meaning the great world exploiters) is accompanied by the FALSE PROPHET 
- the person who master-minds his words machine.

This false prophet will, of course use all these devices mentioned in this Psalm: 
Empty talk, Flattering talk. Double talk, and Boastful talk.

Verse 5 tells us that it leads to `the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy.' 
________________________________________________
Vs. 5 and 6 tell us of the counter attack of TRUTH.

  "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them." 6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.

`I will protect them' actually means `protect my words'. 
That is to say that God will preserve His word and protects it from all who seek to destroy it.

Verse 7 tells us that God will protect us.

God protects his people from being completely destroyed by deceit and false words by preserving His own word down the ages.

It is amazing that this book written so many thousands of years ago when the world was so different from what it is today still is known, read and loved by millions of ordinary people (not just religious experts) in every continent, in every culture, throughout the world. 
There is no other ancient writing that is anything like that.

It is also interesting that when dictators eventually fall the new freedom means people turn to the Bible. 

ROMANIA. After the fall of Ceausescu who had persecuted the Christians so badly, the new government gave Bible teaching lessons to Prime Time TV to try to restore some morality to the nation.

During the British Coronation ceremony a Bible is presented to the new Monarch with the words: 
`We present you with this Book, the most valuable thing this world affords. Here is wisdom. This is the Royal Law. These are the lively oracles of God.'

The reason the Bible protects the world from complete self-deceit and self-destruction is that only it tells us the truth as to:

1. Who God is.
2. Who we are and what is the purpose of human life.
3. What is the difference between right and wrong.
4. What is the way we are forgiven our wrong doings and therefore what is the way of eternal salvation.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD SHOWS THAT TRUTH ALWAYS TRIUMPHS IN THE END AND BRINGS DOWN THE MIGHTY EXPLOITERS FROM THEIR SEATS.
-----------------------
However we must always be on our guard - because as verse 8 warns us: `The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honoured among men.'

Never applaud vileness. 
Many applaud vileness because they think it makes them appear big and tough. 

It is actually the evidence of the opposite.
The word `vile' also means `cheap'. 

If we cheapen life by mocking or trivialising the important things  in life then we make it that much more easy for the wicked  to prosper by deceiving us.

IN OUR ORDINARY LIVES THEN LET US:
1. Keep away from empty or insincere talk, 
2. Although always ready to give encouragement and not judge others, let us not flatter or be taken in when others flatter us, 
3. Not boast or use abusive bad language to attempt to intimidate others or pretend to be tougher than we are.

Instead let us learn from the Bible the way we should live and in it discover the way of salvation, forgiveness, and peace. 
 

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