Today, I want to reverse the order in my mental clarity exercise. I will start with a morning devotion. My reading is from Psalm 12.
The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men (Psalm 12:8).
Reading the chapter, this series of questions comes to mind:
What are things considered vile?
How is this particular vile in the text related to the loss of the godly and the faithful? To lies and deception? To the oppression of the weak and the needy?
Who oppressed the weak and the needy in the time of the Psalmist? In what way were they oppressed? Does this kind of oppression still exist today? In what form does such oppression exist in an era when "pro-poor" policies are popular?
The Psalmist cried for help. He was living in a time when the godly no longer existed and infidelity was widespread. It is frightening to live in such a time. No wonder he was asking God for help.
Godliness and fidelity are like a tree and its fruit. The first is the source, and the second is the result. We should not wonder that infidelity becomes widespread when people no longer believe that God exists.
I realize that even our dictionary of English words is theistic. Where did we derive the term "godly" if God does not exist?
And then the psalmist mentioned "lies" and "deception." This made sense because infidelity won't thrive without them. It is through lies and deception that infidelity becomes part of the larger culture.
What specific help does the psalmist want to see from the hands of the Lord in such a time? He was asking the Lord to cut off all flattering lips and boastful tongues. What is the meaning of this? This, to me, is an imprecatory prayer. The psalmist was asking God to rectify moral decay by judging these unfaithful men. Such judgment can come in various forms.
Verse 5 puzzles me. How come the oppression of the weak and needy was mentioned by the psalmist in a time when the godly no longer existed and infidelity became the norm? He even described the nature of such an oppression as "maligning" them. Connecting this to lies and deception directs our minds to the last series of questions above.
Historically, it is not easy to identify the oppressors of the weak and needy. They are just described as people who used their lips in flattery and arrogance. They were deceitful, and they boasted that they were the masters of their tongues.
How about the things considered vile? I like how Gemini interprets this word:
This implies that when people who are morally debased, worthless, or corrupt are put into positions of power or are highly esteemed in society, it creates an environment where wickedness flourishes and is openly displayed.
What do you think of Gemini's interpretation of the term "vile"? Does its definition describe our time?
Considering all of these—the absence of the godly, the popularity of infidelity, lies, and deception, and the exaltation of the vile among men—verse 6 makes sense. In contrast to this moral decay, the words of the Lord are described as "flawless" and "pure," refined in a furnace seven times. This tells us that the Lord's help comes to us through the power of His words, because they are flawless and pure—the very antidote we need in times of moral decay.