Help, Lord!
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. – Psalms 12:1
I specifically remember a day not too long ago that I made a conscience effort to listen to conversations going on around me. At work, while I was running errands and in my neighborhood. It is easy to see what is in a person’s heart, just by listening to the words that they speak. As I took time to simply hear the voices around me, the first thing I recognized was pride. Almost every conversations was retelling something that had happened to and how they prevailed by not backing down or letting anyone get the better of them. Next, I heard gossip and complaining and the last thing I noted was fear. I was disappointed that it seemed like the whole world around me had no idea that they could be doing something to make things better in their world, but the choice was to just talk about things in a negative way, never realizing that it didn’t help things at all.
I was reminded of the day I took time to listen to people around me when I read Psalms chapter 12 this morning. But instead of feeling helpless by the pride and evil going on around me, I spoke these words in prayer. “Help, Lord! Where are the godly people and why does it seem like they are so far and few between?” I know there are still many Christians in the world, and I see so many of them on the weekend when I go to church, but why is it so hard to identify them when I go out into the world?
Then I read verse six in this Psalm that says the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace and purified seven times. God’s Words are perfect, and they are pure and true. When we begin to speak what He says we are speaking His plan and His promises. Whatever is going on around us, God has a word for that situation, and He wants us to know what He says so that we can speak those words instead of pride and fear over our life’s circumstances. His words are His will, and we can be praying scripture over our homes, over our neighborhoods, over our country and our world. These are the words and promises that will make an impact and God’s words are how we will be the light to the world around us. We can know the will of God for every life crisis we come up against because His will is His word. Our faith in His power to change things starts when we know what His will is for that situation by finding His promise in His book.
Today I want to encourage you to talk differently than the world around you. Put away criticizing, complaining and condemning conversations. Instead speak the good news of God’s promises and salvation plan for the world we live in. Begin to make notes when reading the scripture of the passages that touch your life personally. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and ears to the words that your Father wants you to hold onto for your struggles and then put your faith in action by holding on to those promises when you begin to worry about the things in life. When you don’t know what to do or say, it is ok to cry out for help. “Help, Lord! Show me the way to your godly words and plan.” He will show up and shine the light in every dark time you find yourself in.
Today’s scripture reading: Psalms 12
1 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.
The Daily Dose 