When God Gets Up Text: Psalm 12:5
Introduction: A World Drowning in Words
We live in an age that is choking on its own words. We are bombarded, day and night, by a relentless torrent of speech. We have advertisements, political punditry, social media feeds, 24-hour news cycles, and endless streams of curated nonsense. The air is thick with flattery, vanity, and double-mindedness. Men speak with forked tongues, promising liberty while forging chains, promising truth while weaving intricate webs of deceit. Our entire civilization is built on a foundation of clever lies, and it is beginning to show signs of terminal decay. As David says at the beginning of this very psalm, "the faithful have vanished from among the children of man" (Ps. 12:1).
In such a time, the godly man feels besieged. He sees the proud prospering through their deceit. He hears the arrogant boasting, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" (Ps. 12:4). And in the quiet moments, he is tempted to despair. Does God hear? Does God see? When every human voice is a cracked trumpet of falsehood, is there any word that is pure? Is there any promise that holds fast?
Psalm 12 is God's answer to that groaning of the faithful heart. It is a psalm that contrasts the worthless, inflated currency of human speech with the sterling silver of God's Word. It shows us a world where the wicked seem to have the upper hand because of their mastery of deceit, but it pulls back the curtain to show us the God who sits in the heavens, who listens to the sighs of the oppressed, and who, at the appointed time, resolves to get up from His throne. And when God decides to arise, the world of men had best pay attention.
This psalm is a comfort to the afflicted, but it is also a terrible warning to the proud. It teaches us that God's apparent silence is not indifference. It is the quiet before the storm. He is taking careful notes. He hears the groaning of the needy, and that sound is, to His ears, a call to arms.
The Text
"Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says Yahweh; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs."
(Psalm 12:5 LSB)
The Divine Motivation (v. 5a)
The first part of our verse gives us the reason for God's intervention. It is the trigger for the divine action.
"Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy..." (Psalm 12:5a)
Notice what moves God to act. It is not the strategic planning of a religious committee. It is not a well-funded lobbying effort by the righteous. It is not the eloquent arguments of the wise. God is moved by the raw, unfiltered misery of His people. The two words here are potent. "Devastation" speaks of a violent plundering, a stripping away of all that one has. The "afflicted" are those who are poor, humble, and bent low by oppression. "Groaning" is a word for the deepest sigh of anguish, the inarticulate cry of a soul in distress. The "needy" are those who are utterly destitute, with no other recourse.
This is a foundational truth about the character of our God. He is not a distant, Stoic deity, unmoved by the affairs of men. He is the Father of the fatherless and the protector of widows (Ps. 68:5). He has a special regard for the lowly. Throughout the Scriptures, God identifies Himself as the defender of the vulnerable. This is not because poverty or affliction are inherently virtuous, but because the state of the helpless provides the perfect canvas for God to display His power and grace. When a man has nothing left to rely on, he is in the best possible position to see the salvation of the Lord.
This groaning is a form of prayer, perhaps the most potent form. As Paul tells us, when we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). God's ear is tuned to the frequency of suffering. The proud man's boast is just noise to Him, but the faintest sigh of a broken-hearted believer is an alarm bell in the courts of heaven. This is a profound comfort. When you feel you have been plundered, when all you can muster is a groan, you have mobilized the armies of Heaven. Your weakness is your greatest weapon, because it is the very thing that summons the strength of God.
The Divine Resolution (v. 5b)
In response to this groaning, God makes a solemn declaration.
"Now I will arise," says Yahweh... (Psalm 12:5b)
This is anthropomorphic language, of course. God does not have a body; He does not literally sit or stand. But this is the language of the royal court. A king who is seated is a king at rest, a king in deliberation. But a king who arises is a king who is about to execute judgment, to go to war, to render a verdict. When God says, "Now I will arise," it means that the time for patience is over, and the time for action has come.
This phrase echoes throughout the Scriptures. It is the cry of Moses: "Arise, O Yahweh, and let Your enemies be scattered" (Num. 10:35). It is the plea of David: "Arise, O Yahweh, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries" (Ps. 7:6). Here, it is not a plea from man, but a promise from God Himself. The Lord of Hosts, the sovereign ruler of the cosmos, declares His personal intention to intervene. The word "Now" is emphatic. It signifies a decisive moment, a turning of the tide. The wicked have had their day, their moment of strutting on the stage. But God determines the length of the acts. "Now," He says, the scene is about to change.
The phrase "says Yahweh" reminds us of the authority behind the promise. This is not the idle chatter of men, which the psalm has already condemned. This is a performative utterance from the covenant-keeping God. His name, Yahweh, is His personal, covenant name. It is the name He revealed to Moses at the burning bush, the great "I AM." When He speaks using this name, He is putting the full weight of His character and His covenant faithfulness on the line. When Yahweh says He will arise, it is as good as done.
The Divine Promise (v. 5c)
God's action is not random or chaotic. It has a very specific goal, a definite purpose.
"I will set him in the safety for which he longs." (Psalm 12:5c)
The object of this salvation is the "him", the afflicted one, the needy one who was groaning. God's action is personal and particular. He does not just bring about a general improvement in world conditions; He rescues individuals. He sees the one who has been plundered and sets him in a place of safety.
The word for "safety" here is related to the word for salvation, yeshua. It means a place of security, of freedom, of deliverance from all threats. It is a place of breathing room. The oppressor hems you in, restricts your movement, and suffocates you with his lies and threats. God's salvation is to pick you up out of that constricted place and set your feet in a broad place (Ps. 31:8). He creates a zone of divine protection around you.
And notice the beautiful phrase: "the safety for which he longs." The Hebrew is a bit tricky here, but the sense is that God provides the very salvation that the afflicted man puffs or pants for. It's the desperate longing of a man underwater, panting for a breath of air. God knows the deepest desires of the oppressed heart. He knows what you are longing for even when you can't articulate it. And His promise is not just for any old safety, but for the specific deliverance your soul craves. He is a God who tailors His salvation to our deepest needs.
The Silver Words of God
This promise in verse 5 is the pivot of the entire psalm. Everything that follows is a commentary on the absolute reliability of this divine utterance. David immediately contrasts God's promise with the deceitful words of men:
"The words of Yahweh are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times." (Psalm 12:6 LSB)
This is the ground of our confidence. Why can we trust God to arise and save us? Because His words are not like man's words. Man's words are full of dross, impurities, and mixed motives. But God's words are utterly pure. The image is of a silversmith heating a crucible to a white-hot temperature to burn off every last impurity. The number seven signifies perfection and completeness. God's promises have been perfectly refined. There is no falsehood, no exaggeration, no hidden agenda, no possibility of failure in them. They are 100 percent reliable, 100 percent of the time.
When you are surrounded by the flattering, deceitful, and worthless words of this age, you must learn to tune them out and tune your ear to the pure words of Yahweh. You must build your life, your family, and your hope not on the shifting sands of human opinion, but on the solid silver of divine revelation.
Christ, the Word Who Arose
As with all the psalms, we must ultimately read this through the lens of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate afflicted and needy one. On the cross, He was plundered and devastated. He was surrounded by the flattering and deceitful words of His enemies. He groaned in agony, crying out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Ps. 22:1).
And because of His devastation, because of His groaning, God the Father said, "Now I will arise." On the third day, God arose in mighty power and raised His Son from the dead. He set Him in the ultimate place of safety, at His own right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion (Eph. 1:20-21). Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. He is the one who was set in the safety for which He longed.
And because we are united to Him by faith, His story becomes our story. When we are afflicted, we are afflicted with Him. When we groan, we groan in Him. And when God arises, He arises for us, because we are in His beloved Son. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's eternal promise that He will, in fact, arise and set all of His needy people in the safety for which they long.
Therefore, do not lose heart. When the world seems to be run by liars, and the faithful seem to be vanishing, remember this psalm. Remember the groans that move the heart of God. Remember the divine resolution: "Now I will arise." And remember the pure, silver words of His promise, which find their ultimate "Yes" and "Amen" in the risen Christ. He has arisen once in triumph, and He will arise again to set all things to right. And on that day, every lie will be silenced, and every one of His needy ones will be safe forever.