1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts.

3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.”
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold[c] refined seven times.

7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the wicked,
8 who freely strut about
when what is vile is honored by the human race.

Read more at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/search=Psalm+12&version=NIV#yhVYTdYEkrqFxe8o.99

A few days ago, I read Psalm 12 and then went to sleep. For several days afterward, its words kept coming back to me, and this morning I decided to write about it. David cries out to God for help because he feels he can no longer trust anyone around him. No one seems to do what is right, and the faithful appear to have vanished. Who is still loyal? Who is still godly? David then calls on the Lord to silence those who boast, flatter, and speak as though they are beyond correction. His anguish over the loss of faithfulness and justice drives him to call out to the Lord for help.

God hears David’s cry and answers him: “Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise…I will protect them from those who malign them.” In response, David affirms a powerful truth about God—one that I often forget, and I believe many of us do too. How often do we stop in our tracks and say, “The words of the Lord are flawless”? David understood God’s authority, and that is why he ran to Him in the first place. When God answered his cry, David reminded himself of God’s faithfulness, likely drawing from his own experiences of the difficult situations God had already brought him through. This verse kept returning to me. I found myself walking down the street, repeating the line over and over in my mind. When I prayed, the words came out of my mouth, reminding me that God’s Word is true and that He is without fault.

One of the things that had also been weighing heavily on my mind was the issue of Israel and Palestine, and the innocent people being bombarded day and night. I had also been thinking about Boko Haram in Nigeria and the violence spreading across the border into Cameroon. After reading this psalm, along with the previous psalms, I prayed deeply for the innocent people who have been killed or abducted because of someone else’s interests, ambitions, or personal gain. Where is justice when the defenseless and the innocent are targeted?

It just so happened that a friend who was visiting had similar questions about Israel and Palestine. God chose the nation of Israel for a reason, but should we stand by and watch innocent people be killed? What would Jesus do in the situation in Gaza? Would He say, “Kill the Palestinians and save Israel,” or would He extend His love and healing to both sides? The people of Gaza include civilians who have nothing to do with the war. When a bomb is launched, does it distinguish between a soldier and a civilian? No. It does not have a mind of its own. It has one objective: to land somewhere and explode, causing destruction to whatever is nearby. One news report about protests in Husan, near Bethlehem, described how the violence in Gaza stirred grief and anger in the West Bank. Ibrahim Hamamra said emotions were high because of “the scene of the massacre in Gaza,” and the report noted that clashes began after evening prayers during Ramadan, when Israeli soldiers were positioned near the village mosque and some young men began throwing stones. The same report said Hamamra’s brother, Mohammed Al Aaraj, a father of three, was shot during the unrest, while the Israel Defence Forces said he was struck with a rubber bullet (The Peninsula Qatar, 2014).

What, then, should we be doing as Christians? David sets a powerful example for us to follow: cry out for help to the One who can do something about the chaos. Many times, God has reminded us in His Word of His sovereignty, and like David, we should look to Him. His Word is flawless. When He says, “I will protect them from those who malign them,” we can respond in faith and say together, “O Lord, You will keep those innocent families safe and protect them from such people forever.”

Who is my enemy? Who is your enemy? What did Jesus say about our enemies? What did He say about the oppressed? These are the questions I wrestle with when I think about the Old Testament and the events that took place. Jesus came to give us hearts of love, no matter the situation, and to teach us to trust and believe that His Word is true and should not be doubted. Before we decide that either side deserves destruction, we should ask ourselves whether children, women, and men without weapons deserve to die. God’s love extends to everyone, and what He asks of us as His followers is to see things differently from the way the world sees them.

Bibliography

Bible Gateway. “Psalm 12, New International Version.” Bible Gateway. Accessed July 25, 2014.

The Peninsula Qatar. “Gaza Conflict Stirs Violence in West Bank; One Killed.” The Peninsula Qatar, July 25, 2014.