1. Today’s Sermon: Psalms 11-12: “The Lord a Refuge and Defense / God, a Helper against the Treacherous” by Pastor Jim Bomkamp

2. Background for Psalm 11 King David refers to himself as a ‘bird’ and he speaks of his adversary as saying to his ‘soul’ to flee as a bird to his mountain.

3. Background for Psalm 12 King David is concerned that godless men are no longer in the land. He fears the tongues of the wicked who speak falsehood and also those who flatter with their lips.

4. Psalm 11:1: King David writes that he will take refuge in the Lord, and then he asks how it is that his adversary would say to his soul to flee as a bird to his mountain

5. Psalm 11:2: David now speaks about the wicked in general and how that they bend their bow and ready their arrow in darkness

6. Psalm 11:3: David asks if the foundations are destroyed what the righteous can do

7. Psalm 11:4-7: David now turns to the Lord who is in His holy temple, and His throne in heaven, and how His eyes behold and His eyelids test the sons of men

8. Psalm 12:1: King David asks the Lord help, declaring that the godly man ceases to be and that the faithful disappears

9. Psalm 12:2: King David writes that the wicked speak falsehood to one another, with flattering lips and a double heart

10. Psalm 12:3-4: King David asks that the Lord might cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things

11. Psalm 12:5: Now, the Lord speaks & states that because of the devastation of the afflicted and the groaning of the needed, He will arise

12. Psalm 12:6: King David extols the words of the Lord saying they are pure words as silver tried in the furnace seven times

13. Psalm 12:7-8: King David writes that the Lord will keep the righteous and preserve him from this generation of wicked people forever

14. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Be careful of the advice you receive from others who may be well intentioned but are really encouraging you to act upon your fears and seek to protect yourself instead of trusting God and being obedient to Him. 2. Recognize that the Lord thoroughly sees and investigates the wicked and their deeds, and that in His time He promises to deal with them in judgment and condemnation. 3. You aren’t the only one trying to genuinely serve the Lord. 4. God’s word is completely pure and perfect in every sense, trust in Him.