People often reject God’s Word, the Bible, simply because they think it is irrelevant to their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, the Bible is the singular most relevant book ever produced. This Psalm is a very compelling example of that fact.
David is interceding to God for the godly people who have seemed to have disappeared from the earth. He surveys the world around him and finds deceit, lies, rebellion against God, and violence everywhere.
It seems we are in the same predicament in our country today. Be it on social media, the television, our educational system and sometimes, unfortunately, our churches. It seems the voices of God’s people have been subject to a gag order.
But God is quick to respond to this prayer of David to deliver his people. God’s response?
“I will spring into action.” says the Lord.
David then goes into the strength of the very God who utters these words of imminent rescue. God’s Word is “untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground, where it is thoroughly refined.”
God’s Word is the most reliable source of truth and deliverance to the human soul in existence. It is pure, untainted from the world, because its source is pure and untainted―God himself.
When we pray in accordance with his pure, undefiled Word, when we trust him against all odds we find that God always springs into action as our great and loving defender.
It is the most relevant book because it is God's book and addresses every human problem at any time in history. And it provides the solution to the biggest problem in human civilization―the sin that separates us from this perfectly holy God of ours. The solution is his loving gift of himself through the Cross on our behalf so we might be reconciled to him, a personal relationship with the Creator, which just happens to be the most relevant event possible.
God pursues us in real time. He created us, and he can deliver us from our sinful mess, if we only ask.
And watch him spring into action!
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1 Deliver, Lord! For the godly have disappeared; people of integrity have vanished. 2 People lie to one another; they flatter and deceive. 3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts! 4 They say, “We speak persuasively; we know how to flatter and boast. Who is our master?” 5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, because of the painful cries of the needy, I will spring into action,” says the Lord. “I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” 6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable. They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground, where it is thoroughly refined. 7 You, Lord, will protect them; you will continually shelter each one from these evil people, 8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere, when people promote evil.
Psalm 12 NET
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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.
Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.
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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.
Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.
Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.
Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
©2018 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.
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