Psalm 12

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Psalm 12

How often have we grown weary of following God?  How much do we “tire of doing good”?  Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why you do the things you do?  After having served God for a long time it is easy to grow disheartened, discouraged, and depressed.  We wonder what point it is in doing good while we continue to be surrounded by evil.  What’s the point in feeding the poor if there are just more poor to feed?  What point is it to continue to pray to God when our prayers seemingly go unanswered?  What is the purpose of studying God’s word for the truth when we are overwhelmed by falsehood?  These issues are real and are hitting us today.  Even if you have only been a believer for a short while, the chaos and evil that surround us can quickly overwhelm our thoughts if we let it.  But the Lord provides, the Lord sustains, the Lord preserves.

This is the “good fight”.  A couple times we see the Apostle Paul refer to the good fight of faith.  It is definitely a battle.  It is not for the weak hearted.  It is not for the lone wolf, either.  There is no such thing as a spiritual Rambo, running around with a cross necklace, a fish shaped bumper sticker, and a belt fed bible.  This desperation that we read in Psalm 12 is real.  The enemy is real and we are seemingly surrounded.  Yet we are encouraged to not give up because we are not alone.  2 Thessalonians 3:13 encourages us:

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

And Paul writes to the church in Rome:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Recently I was reminded of the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6 when the city was surrounded and his servant was terrified by what he saw with his physical eyes.  Elisha prayed for his spiritual eyes to be opened so he could see the truth:

15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Jesus warned us of troubles in this life.  He told us there would be false prophets and there would come a time when people followed not God’s truth but that which pleased their ears to hear.  But the Lord our God keeps His promises to sustain and deliver us.  The entire bible is riddled with stories of His faithfulness to mankind despite our own faults and failures.  He keeps us safe.  He gives us what we need.  He strengthens and grows us for the difficult days ahead.  There are statistics about many churches closing their doors.  The news tells us of believers being slaughtered and persecuted for not renouncing their faith.  Paul had it right when he said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”  We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  We have God who knows our needs and provides protection when it is necessary.  Even if we don’t think He gives us what we think we need and want, He knows exactly what is best for us.

Let us then instead of being frightened, worried, concerned, or otherwise depressed by this ugly world that surrounds us be carriers of the hope of Christ Jesus in that He is our Deliverer and Savior.

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