Psalm 12
Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!
The faithful have vanished from the earth!
Neighbors lie to each other,
speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
and silence their boastful tongues.
They say, "We will lie to ur hearts' content.
Our lips are our own--who can stop us?"
The Lord replies, "I have seen violence done to the helpless,
and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
as they have longed for me to do."
The Lord's promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.
Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
preserving them forever from this lying generation,
even though the wicked strut about,
and evil is praised thoughout the land.
The following quoted from p. 60 in The Power and Pleasure of Praying the Psalms: God's Prayer Book by Ben Patterson. The quote is from Euene Peterson:
"The puzzle is why so many people live so badly. Not so wickedly but so insanely. Not so cruelly but so stupidly. There is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our clture. We have celebrities but not saints. Famous entertainers amuse a nation of bored insomniacs. Infamous criminals act out the agressions of timid conformists. Petulant and spoinled athletes play games vicariously for lazy and apathetic spectators. Aimless and bored, people amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness not the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines.?"
My response: God have mercy! Doesn't this sound like today? Hear my prayer O God, let us this year as we journey through the Word together find our roots, and our purpose sharing what we learn with others and teaching them to do the same. We don't have much time. Blessings to you today.