When Jesus was brought before Pilate, he was asked, “Are you the king of the Jews” (Jn. 18:33)? Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world, and Pilate questioned, “Then you are a king” (v. 37)? Jesus responded saying, “You say I am king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” and Pilate responded with a profoundly cynical question, “What is truth” (vs. 37-38)?
Pilate’s sneering question, “What is truth?”, is the very same question that undergirds our own secular and relativist times, where truth, moral values, and knowledge are no longer understood or held to be absolutes, but are seen merely as ‘concepts’ that are determined by a culture, or a particular historical moment, or ultimately by each person. Such ‘concepts’ are antithetical to God and Christian teaching. Fyodor Dostoevsky understood the problem that arises from such thinking when he has his character, Ivan, in The Brothers Karamazov, say: “If there is no God, then anything is possible.” If there is no such thing as absolute truth, any lie can claim that title.
Truth exists in reality; it aligns with reality and is faithful to reality. God is the fullness of reality, from whom all of creation takes its being. Since The Fall in the Garden of Eden, we humans have succumbed to, even wilfully participated in, the lie. We have consciously distorted or attempted to manipulate God’s reality through the instrument of the lie. We have done this out of fear, or to wilfully go ‘our own way’, according to our own will, in opposition to the will of God. Sin, in all of its forms, is a denial of reality, or a foolhardy attempt to manipulate it. We only have to look at the daily news to see its terrifying and deadly consequences and how far from God’s truth we are. In reality, we need look no further than our own consciences.
This is precisely what David is reacting to in Psalm 12. He recognizes that the world is full of liars, flatterers, and boasters and that they are a grave danger to everything that is really true and good. He writes: “Help, O Lord, for good men have vanished: truth has gone from the sons of men. Falsehood they speak one to another, with lying lips, with a false heart” (vs. 2-3).
Those very words could describe the current times. Lies, flattery, and boasting dominate our everyday communications at all levels. Technology makes these deceitful habits ever-present through the evanescent realms of our smartphones, the internet, social media, and the blogosphere. Lies abound in political speech, the media, and even commercials, always claiming to be the truth. If we are honest with ourselves, we might have to admit that we are no strangers to the lie, to the manipulative uses of flattery, or to the ego-boosting pleasures of boasting. We have been taken in by “The Lie” at times, and we have used it ourselves.
David, aware of the grave danger of these habits, and under the inspiration of the Spirit, writes: “May the Lord destroy all lying lips, the tongue that speaks high sounding words, those who say, ‘Our tongue is our strength; our lips are our own, who is our master’” (vs. 4-5). That last line sounds very familiar, doesn’t it. It is the clarion call of our postmodern times. ‘Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?’ It is the battle cry of the archangel, Lucifer, in the face of God, that caused his downfall from the glorious, eternal heights of heaven to the terrible and eternal depths of hell. All of these lies, all of the unctuous flattery given to the rich and powerful, and all of the prideful boasting that is so common today, make a living hell out of what should be the sanctity of human relationships at every level. Again, being honest with ourselves, we are all guilty of these behaviors. But in humble faith, we desire to be freed from them, too.
Who are those who most often suffer the terrible consequences of this boasting, the lies, and the ‘flatteries’ of those who want to ingratiate themselves with the most powerful? It is the poor and the powerless. Concerning them, David writes: “For the poor who are oppressed and the needy who groan, I myself will arise, says the Lord. “I will grant them the salvation for which they thirst.” This, of course, he did in Jesus, the living Word of God, whose way, truth, and life is the fullness of God’s reality in all places and in all times. When we lie to others for selfish purposes, we make them poor and oppressed. When we are lied to, we are made poor and oppressed. Jesus is the only one who saves us from the ever-present consequences of The Lie and its absurd pretense of reality.
We must call on God, his love, and his mercy to free us from those who lie, flatter, and boast, and from those tendencies within ourselves. David goes on to tell us that God’s word is the expression of ultimate truth. “The words of the Lord are words without alloy, silver from the furnace, seven times refined”. In other words, God’s word is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The number ‘seven’ here implies perfection. And here is David’s ending prayer: “It is you, O Lord, who will take us in your care and protect us forever from this generation. See how the wicked prowl on every side, [and how] the worthless are prized highly by the sons of men” (vs. 7-9).
If we keep our eyes on Jesus, the Word of God; If we listen to his truth and commit ourselves to living in accord with his way and his life (his reality), asking all the while for his graces to aid us in our efforts, God promises to protect us from the falsely attractive temptations of “The Lie” and he will guard, support, and defend us from all of its deceitful consequences. Glory be to God! Amen.
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