Psalms To See Me Through: Psalm 12—God Is A Helper Against The Treacherous

For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. 

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men {v.1}.

The world is full of so much evil that sometimes it’s hard to see the good. It is easy to feel as though we are the only righteous ones left. Another righteous man of God felt the same way when he faced a very evil king and queen and five-hundred of their prophets. Elijah confronted those five-hundred on Mt. Carmel and the God of Heaven answered him by fire. But one threat by Jezebel in retaliation sent Elijah running for his life. Words can frighten and intimidate. This is one of the devil's most devious schemes. Elijah  hides in the desert afraid for his life and overwhelmed by his circumstances. God finally asks him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Has God ever asked you that question? He has me; too many times. Too many times I have felt overwhelmed with my circumstances, wondering how long I will have to endure. God knew what Elijah was doing⸺he was hiding. I hide. You hide. The Lord is telling us it is time to come out of our cave.

Elijah answers the Lord of Hosts, 

I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” {1 Kings 19:14 NASB}.

It is so easy to feel like we are the only ones left that serve God. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life {see 1 Jn. 2:16} reign over our culture; finding the righteous can be challenging through the darkness. But God doesn’t let Elijah stay there in his dark night of the soul; He assures him that he is not alone, and that God has set aside for Himself those that will not succumb to the darkness that seems to be ruling. God Reigns.

Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him {1 Kings 19:18. NASB}.

When I feel like Elijah did while hiding in his cave, I remember God’s promise to me⸺I remember His goodness. He will not leave me, will not forsake me.

They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” {vv. 2-4}.

Words can be hurtful. They can tear down and cause pain. People will not always speak well of you⸺no matter how good you are. The culture today is full of words and people talking. The cowardly hide behind their computers while spewing hate. No one knows them nor do they need to prove their character. They spew vile with seemingly little or no consequence. But what they is speak falsehood. They believe that no one will hold them accountable. It is our fallenness displayed in self-aggrandizement. 

Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil {Prov. 3:7}.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith {Rom. 12:3}.

The Lord will always rise to defend those who love Him; those who are desperate; those in despair. The Words of the Lord are true; reliable; dependable; He will fight on behalf of the needy.

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.” The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth refined seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men” {vv. 5-8}.

Not one Word that God has spoken has failed. Not one. His Word does not fail. Are you afflicted today? God says He will arise on your behalf. Are you needy today? God will raise you up according to His Word. His Word has been tried and tested and passes with flying colors. Every time. God will keep you; that is His promise. Let the wicked speak what they will. Let those who hurt you with their words say what they will. The wicked strut but God preserves you.

To read all the Psalms in this series click here: Psalms To See Me Through

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Just One Word

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end {Eccls. 3:11 NIV}.

Another new year is upon us. I am not sure why it surprises me, this Chronos change. Chronos is our chronological time and it often proves mundane and monotonous—especially when carrying a promise of a more vibrant time. Many times the New Year is frustrating for me as I reflect on the previous year; the list scribbled hastily and tucked neatly into my Bible; few of them accomplished. Too few. I have purposed this year not to have resolutions; a list to beg before the God of Glory; rather I want to have a year of purpose. 

Chronos betrays us, always. It devours the beauty it creates. But sometimes chronos betrays itself: it stirs in us a longing for Something Else—Something that the beauty of things in time evokes but cannot satisfy… we end up as the man in Ecclesiastes did: driven, driven, driven, racing hard against chronos, desperate to seize beauty but always gasping smoke, ashes, and thorns. Seeking purpose and finding none, only emptiness (Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God, p. 37).

New Year’s lists do that to me. I chase these “things” I think I want or need, only to end the year in frustration and disappointment. A couple of ministries I have come across speak to this very issue; instead of lists choose to prayerfully seek a word to guide your year. Though I have not joined their movements, I am intrigued by the idea. I have grown weary of lists, prayer requests, resolutions. I need something different. A minister gave the definition of insanity the other day: insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. That is what New Years has become to me, this running on a treadmill chasing after those things I think I need. Change will not come doing the same thing over and over; I don’t want another trip around the same mountain.

This year I don’t have a list of things I want or need; I have a word. That word is a promise the Lord spoke into my life fourteen years ago. I have carried this promise; I have prayed, fasted, cried, drank, ate, slept—breathed this promise. Nothing consumes me like this promise. I imagine this is familiar to Sarah. She waited twenty-five years for her promise of a child. Rachel screamed in anguish to Isaac in the face of her bareness, Give me children, or I'll die! (see Gen. 30:1). Imagine being pregnant for fourteen years; that is how I feel. I am bloated, swollen, hungry, tired, and willing to do anything to give birth to this baby inside me. I have tried all that I know to bring this promise to pass. Give me this promise lest I die! I have uttered such anguish often. But as every pregnant woman knows, despite all the wives’ tales and gimmicks; spicy food, walking, bumpy car rides, and herbal teas, that baby will come only when its time. There is nothing left to do but rest.   

Rest. God dealt with me a couple years ago about rest, in fact, my blog used to be named Finding Rest In God. That’s my word for 2015. Sabbath, or further sabbatismos; a lifestyle of Sabbath rest and Sabbath observance. The Greek sabbatismos is an idea far beyond church on Sunday. It is an attitude, a heart condition. This is not a legalistic ritual, but prayerfully seeking a new perspective.   

Sabbath is both a day and an attitude to nurture such stillness. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart. It is a day we enter, but just as much a way we see. Sabbath imparts the rest of God—actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God–the things of God’s nature and presence we miss in our busyness… A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval (pp.3-4).

It means that I believe God’s promise to me, even though all hell is breaking loose around me. It is changing my thinking; believing what God has promised regardless of my circumstances. 

God is more interested in changing my mindset and thinking than in changing my circumstances.

Sabbatismos is learning to rest in the promises of God. God’s promise for my life is not always easy to believe. Sometimes I question if I am going crazy; or I try to make things happen when they don’t come to pass as I envisioned.  We are all guilty of this. Like Abraham and Sarah, and many others before us, we laugh thinking things impossible. We attempt to bring things about in our own way. Yet the great cloud of witnesses that went before us, though they did doubt, laugh, and manipulate to see God’s promises come to pass, eventually made it into the Hebrews 11 famous Hall of Faith. How? The Bible says they did not waver in their faith. But we read their stories, we know they questioned God—laughed even, and attempted to usurp God’s power for the completion of their promises.


I believe the transition happened when they came to the end of themselves; realizing that only God can fulfill His promises. The stability in their faith came when they believed what God told them and entered into His rest; the rest of knowing God is performing His Word.

Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it” {Jer. 1:12 NASB}.

Circumstances may look overwhelming, storms toss your boat to and fro; causing you to cry out, Master don’t you care that we are perishing?! (see Mark 4:8). He does care, and when we rest in Him, we will not perish; we will find deliverance and rest for our souls. He may not always calm the storm, but He will calm us in the midst of the storm. Just keep your eyes on Him.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee {Is. 26:3 KJV}.

Sabbatismos is also resting in God’s Word and hearing His voice in the midst of the storm. Elijah didn’t hear God’s voice in the whirlwind, earthquake, or fire. He heard the Spirit of God whisper into the depths of his spirit—the still small voice (see 1 Kings 19:11-13). From that day forth, Elijah knew the sound of God’s voice, then he heard Him despite the whirlwind, earthquake, and fires. The Apostle John, while in exile on Patmos, heard a familiar voice, though He appeared differently than when the beloved disciple rested on His chest…he recognized The Voice:

I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet {Rev. 1:9-10}.

The very sight of Him caused John to fall at His feet like a dead man (see Rev. 3:17), but John knew His voice. I want to hear and know God’s voice. I want Him to whisper truth into my spirit. I pray for Him to whisper in the dark things to be spoken in the light.

What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops {Matt. 10:27 NASB}.

Sabbatismos. It is time to stop striving and begin thriving. I want to stop striving with feelings of being left behind, or that I have missed my door somehow. God is in control, and this baby will be birthed—a promised long anticipated. God will not leave me or forsake me. I am simply in a holding pattern. He is preparing everything on the ground to ensure a safe landing.


This year I will rest in God’s promise. If He spoke it He will bring it to pass. I need only rest in Him, believe what He tells me and enter into His rest. If I rest in Him, He will interrupt my Chronos with His right, opportune moment; His ordained kairos, and I will witness the divine of what God has done from beginning to end.  

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Encounter With The Spectacular

Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.  He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.  When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins {Ezekiel 47:1-4 NASB}.

This was an incredible vision and encounter for Ezekiel; God touched him in a spectacular way; He pierced the veil and saw God's glory revealed. Ezekiel had a vision of holy waters, their rise, depth, and the healing virtue they contained.

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water {Jn. 7:38}.

This is a prophecy of Living Waters; John the Revelator saw the same Living Waters in a vision in Revelation 22. I long for God to touch me in a spectacular way. I know, I am supposed to be deep and humble and tell you how thankful I am to see God in the mundane; that I don’t need a spectacular experience to believe in God or trust His faithfulness. I don’t need one to believe in Him, I do desire to know Him more. I am grateful for the mundane, while anticipating the spectacular. If I don’t encounter Him in this way, I still believe in Him and know Him to be faithful and trustworthy. Forever.

The spectacular does not mean that I will necessarily experience God’s power like Ezekiel, and I don’t just desire to witness a display of His power for a sign or for the sake of having an experience. I want to know Him deeper and more intimately than I ever have. I follow in the footprints of women and men of God who sought the same; Moses witnessed God’s power, provision, and miracles in the wilderness, yet, He still prayed for God to show him His glory. He wanted to know God on a deeper level; not only the provision of His hand, but in the intimacy of His face. He was called a friend of God.

You are my friends if you do what I command you {Jn. 15:14}.

Elijah, while hiding in a cave in fear of his life, had just witnessed God’s power on Mt. Carmel, but he came to know God in a deeper way in the cave. He saw the earthquake, fire, whirlwind, yet heard God in the still small voice. In studying the original Hebrew in 1 Kings 19:11-14, some scholars suggest that Elijah did not only hear God’s voice, but actually heard God’s thoughts. A spectacular experience indeed. In case you don’t believe that is possible let’s read:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ {1 Cor. 2:14-16 NASB emphasis mine}.

God continues to reveal Himself to those who seek Him. We can know the thoughts of Christ through His Holy Spirit and the Word. The Word is a record of His thoughts. A word of caution—if your experience or encounter with God does not line up with His Word, you did not have an encounter with the Creator of the universe; lean into Him like you never have before. His Word trumps any experience or encounter we may have.

 Not all of us will encounter God in the spectacular way that Ezekiel did, however, He does want to reveal Himself to us deeper as we grow in Him. He revealed Himself to Moses at different times in deeper ways during each step of his journey to the promise land. 

We need to discipline ourselves to recognize God in the mundane, but He does not expect us to stay in the mundane, mediocrity of life. If He did, He would not have established the Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle; He would have built the outer and inner courts only. The deeper you journey into the Tabernacle, the deeper you experience the life, work, and ministry of Jesus and there you commune with Him (read about the Tabernacle here). If God did not want us to experience the spectacular, Peter and John would not have witnessed Christ’s transfiguration. He desires for us to see His glory.

He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power {Heb. 1:3 NASB}.

God brought Ezekiel through the waters at different levels; first his ankles, then the knees, and then up to his loins. Continue into the next verses and the water exceeds his head. God wants to take us deeper and deeper in Him; not so that we can have just some mystical experience, but that we can experience Him. He wants to know us face to face just as He did Moses.  These men that experienced God in the spectacular, did not merely have an experience, they had an encounter. My spirit cries out for an encounter.