Help and Hope When Church Leaders Fall

Our backyard forest is struggling to survive this year’s relentless Texas drought. Dead grass, withered leaves, and fallen branches litter the parched ground, and a massive hackberry tree fell this week. The familiar tree’s sudden death is sad, but most devastating is the damage left behind: saplings crushed, weaker trees bent in half with tips trapped under the trunk’s weight, and many mature trees suffering broken limbs, split trunks, and crushed crowns.

The damage done when Christian friends and leaders fall away from the faith is similarly devastating, leaving weaker brothers and sisters crushed, bent, or trapped under their weight. Let’s not forget even the strongest saints are vulnerable and wounded when those around them fall.

Psalm 12 is David’s lament over the deception, arrogance, and corruption prevailing among those once considered faithful and godly. John Calvin notes this lament isn’t about strangers but rather a “deluge of iniquity prevailing in the church of God.” When faith is proven insincere or friends and leaders publicly reject Christ, everyone grieves the “deluge of iniquity” (or, in David’s words, the flattering lips, double hearts, and exalted vileness). Psalm 12 offers strong encouragement, practical wisdom, and stern warnings for the faithful who are struggling to endure after intimate friends or trusted leaders fall.

Strong Encouragement in Persistent Grief

When someone close to us slowly disappears or suddenly falls, we’re not alone. Our churches, church histories, and Bibles are full of faithful saints with stories of enduring similar suffering. Though David’s circumstances in Psalm 12 of betrayal and distrust are unknown, we know his desperation is due to the flattering lips and double hearts of the “godly one [who] is gone” (v. 1).

A nation that rewards appearances of godliness and religious affiliation with possibilities of power, fame, and fortune will inevitably see false teachers and insincere religious leaders fall as those public opinions change. When a culture no longer regards Christianity as virtuous, people’s arrogant and deceitful hearts are revealed, even as some with sincere faith are tempted or led astray by the spirit of this age. Drift happens when godliness no longer promises gain. Then, like my hackberry, when friends and leaders fall, it causes damage to everyone around them.

Drift happens when godliness no longer promises gain.

It was reasonable for David to feel alone after those he trusted vanished or were caught lying. Pain and disorientation are expected after friends fall, especially in seasons of relentless heat and drought. Even when we feel alone, though, the strong encouragement of Psalm 12 is that we’re never alone. We have confidence in a God who promises never to leave or forsake.

This same God also gives us one another. The introduction of Psalm 12 acknowledges a choirmaster and choir proclaiming David’s laments alongside him. In verse 5, David prays for the poor and vulnerable suffering with him under the weight of fallen leaders. Then, in verse 7, the faithful remnant is acknowledged as David declares their sure defense: “[God] will guard us from this generation forever.”

Even though it’s reasonable to feel alone, Psalm 12 reminds and encourages us that we are never alone.

Practical Wisdom to Help Us Endure

The psalm ends with David’s swirling thoughts and emotions unresolved—like the external wickedness and conflicts around him. Nonetheless, he presses on in three practical ways.

1. Humbly and honestly cry and complain to God.

David admits vulnerability and loneliness, confusion and pain. He names overpowering emotions and puts words to swirling thoughts. When unsure what to do or whom to trust, start with a simple and humble cry to God. Honest cries and complaints to God are the opposite of flattering lips, boastful tongues, and the deceitful double-hearts of those who have fallen.

2. Acknowledge and seek truth, no matter how painful.

David acknowledges God’s delight in truth and declares the goodness of revealed truth—even if it causes suffering. He seeks truth by praying for deceit and corruption to end for the sake of the vulnerable, knowing it might cause additional pain. It’s good to seek truth in our land, in the hearts of our leaders, and in our own sinful hearts—even when its revelation is painful.

3. Sing the truth with (and to) one another.

David sang Psalm 12 alongside the Kushites while the weariness of the world threatened to crush him. Show up to church on Sunday and sing alongside others also fighting unseen battles. Sing when you can’t get out of bed on Monday morning, as you walk into another hostile boardroom, or in the carpool line while the weariness of the world threatens to crush you. Singing truth defends against prevailing pain and confusion while we wait on God to set all things right.

Warning in Our Vulnerability

As in David’s time, wickedness and vileness are exalted in ours. Truth is relative, flattery prevails, and godliness is leveraged for gain. Worldly knowledge and eloquent speech are valued over truth and love. Sermons are posted and measured by views and likes, tempting leaders to exult in flattery, success, performance, and empty praise. Everyone is vulnerable to the spirit of this age. If David and Calvin needed God to guard them against their generations, how much more, in this time of information deluge and instant gratification, are we utterly dependent on God to guard us?

Wickedness and vileness are exalted in our time. Truth is relative, flattery prevails, and godliness is leveraged for gain.

Fallen trees wound, and we’ll certainly feel hurt and vulnerable when those around us crash to the ground—or simply disappear. But though it’s good to realize the effect of fallen friends and leaders, we must also recognize our vulnerability and dependence on God alone even when we serve under or alongside the most faithful and godly.

Psalm 12 begins and ends with inner turmoil and external tension. There’s no resolution, just as there seems to be no end to Christian friends and leaders falling today. Charles Spurgeon captures the tension perfectly, declaring its sacred stanzas a “mingled melody of lowly mourning and lofty confidence.”

Let’s cry and complain to the Lord with bright sadness as we seek and sing merciful truth together. That’s how we’ll endure prolonged anguish caused by those who fall around us, even as we depend solely on God to hold us fast until the end.

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