Psalm 12:1 Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Do you ever start your day by looking at social media? Isn’t that a blessing! Doesn’t that encourage your heart and help you gain the courage to do what is right today? No, probably not. I don’t know how much on social media is accurate, but haven’t you ever felt outnumbered, like everyone is going the wrong direction? Do you ever get the feeling that you are in the minority?
If you feel like you are in the minority, join the crowd. Well, except it is not a crowd! If you have ever felt outnumbered when trying to do the right thing, you are not alone in feeling alone. David felt that way.
God helps those who know they need it. God doesn’t help those who merely need it, but those who need it and know it. Did David know he needed help? Psalm 12:1 says, “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” David looked around him and said, “The godly cease, and the faithful fail.” The following verses are a contrast between the proud and the poor. God helps those who need it and know it. That is why it is important that we are not proud, but rather poor.
What about the proud? In verses 2-4 the Bible uses words like “vanity,” “flattering,” and even “proud” to describe them. Verses 3-4 say, “The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?” They are independent, yet they are in the majority. They are proud. Proud people cannot get the help they need. They don’t even know they need it, but the poor do.
When we speak of the poor, we are not talking about those who are financially in poverty. Although, if a man is healthy, wealthy, and young, he is not as likely to know his need of God as he would be if he were old and poor. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
David was a king. He had all kinds of money, yet he felt poor. He felt like he was not powerful. What does God say of the poor? Verse 5 says, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.” These people were puffed up and full of vanity and hot air which they spewed against those who wanted to do right.
You may feel like you are in the minority, but you are not. As the evangelist Bob Jones Sr. said years ago, “You and God make a majority.” God helps those who know they need it. Do you know that you need it? Are you proud or are you poor? “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail.” Heaven and earth may pass away, but God’s words will not pass away. Friends may fail and those who have faith may fail, but God never does. God does not change, God does not fail, and God helps those who need it and know it.