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Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception. “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.” And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times (Psalm 12:2,5,6)

Does it seem to you that Psalm 12 describes our society? Do we expect the truth to be spoken? As I listened to the opening part of the Ontario leaders’ debate on Monday night, I found myself inclined to mistrust everything I heard. We don't really believe the campaign promises made, yet we vote for those who make the biggest promises (which means, the biggest lies).

Centuries after David penned this lament, the apostle Paul wrote, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

CEOs tell us they care about the laid off factory worker while they deposit their bonuses for streamlining the company. And we the consumer, we shrug our shoulders and purchase their merchandise (which we don't really need).

Eugene Peterson once described the state of our culture:

"The puzzle is why so many people live so badly. Not so wickedly but so inanely. Not so cruel but so stupidly. There's little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. Famous entertainers amuse a nation of bored insomniacs. Infamous criminals act out the aggression of timid conformists. Petulant and spoiled athletes play games vicariously for lazy and apathetic spectators. Aimless and bored, people amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines" (Run with the Horses).

How should Christians live in such a treacherous society? First, we need to recognize the state of things, acknowledging that truth is not loved around us. This is not a matter in which Christians ought to feel superior, but one in which we ought to test our own hearts, examining how easily we get caught up in lies.

In his psalm, David recognized that a society built on lies mistreats its citizens. The ones on the bottom of the socio-economic pile will get buried deeper and deeper. It is the powerful who create the lies for their own advantage. They gain from the lies. But it is a dangerous game they play, “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” (5).

We must ask ourselves. Where are we in the pile of lies our society lives on?

Secondly, we ought to join David in his prayer, "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue" (3). As dangerous prayer! Will our tongues and lips survive? We will not defeat evil. The enemy is too strong. Rather, we pray that our warrior King will be defeat evil. We wait for His justice and for his Spirit to sanctify our living.

Thirdly, David says, "The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver..." (6). The antidote to the lying in our society is a delight in the truth which is found in God's Word. It reveals the way to true life. Do we love it?

And so, we pray that our lives will be permeated with God’s words, not marked by uncontrollable tongues. If we’re controlled by the Spirit, we won’t manipulate people. We will minster to them. And we will experience fullness in place of emptiness, wholeness in place of fragmentation, and fellowship in place of loneliness.