The Lord–Delivering Words (vv. 5-8). But God sees the oppression of the weak (Ex. 3:7) and hears the pain in their cries, and He declares that He will arise and judge the liars and deceivers. “I will arise” takes us back to 3:7; 7:6; 9:19; and 10:12 (and see Num. 10:35 and Isa. 33:10-12). “Safety” in verse 5 (“protect,” niv) comes from the same Hebrew root as “help” in verse 1 and “deliver” in 6:8 and is the basis for the names “Jesus” and “Joshua” (“Jehovah is salvation”). The last phrase in verse 5 should read as in the New American Standard Bible: “the safety for which he longs.” When God comes to deliver His people, He will “cut off” those who practice flattery and deception (v. 3), which means separation from the covenant community (Gen. 17:14), like the separation of the goats from the sheep (Matt. 25:31-33).

But can the Lord’s promises be trusted? Yes! Unlike the worthless words of the deceivers, the Word of the Lord is like precious silver (19:9-10) that is heated seven times in the crucible before it is poured out into the mold. His Word is flawless and can be trusted; His Word is precious and must be valued (119:14, 72, 127, 162). How paradoxical that society today sees the Scriptures as something relatively worthless and yet pays great sums of money to the people who manufacture deception and flattery. No matter how many lies this generation tells, God’s Word is safe, for He said, “I am watching over My word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12 nasb). Furthermore, God is able to protect His godly people from the lies of the enemy. God’s people are “the generation of the righteous” (14:5), the generation that seeks God (24:6), the generation of His children (73:15), the generation of the upright (112:2). If God’s people will saturate themselves with God’s Word, they won’t be seduced by “this lying generation.” When the church adopts the techniques and motives of the world system, the church ceases to glorify the Lord.

The final verse issues a call to action, for “the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land” (nlt). Vileness (“cheapness”) is promoted and exalted in the media: immorality, brutality, murder, lies, drunkenness, nudity, the love of money, the abuse of authority. The things that God condemns are now a means of universal entertainment, and the entertainment industry gives awards to the people who produce these things. People boast about things they ought to be ashamed of (Phil. 3:18-19). Is there a way to restrain and overcome this national decay? Yes! God’s people are salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16). If there were more light in the land, there would be less darkness, and if we had more salt, there would be less decay. As God’s people worship God, pray, and share the gospel with the lost, more people will trust Christ and increase the salt and light in the land. We must also share the truth of the Word with the next generation (2 Tim. 2:2) and prepare them for the battles and opportunities to come (78:1-8; 102:18). The church is always one generation short of extinction, so we must be faithful to win the lost and teach the believers, or vileness will conquer the land.