Psalm 12
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ עַֽל הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד
BSB
The Godly Are No More
For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;
the faithful have vanished from among men.
2They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue.
4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.
We own our lips—who can be our master?”
5“For the cause of the oppressed
and for the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
6The words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace,
like gold purified sevenfold.
7You, O LORD, will keep us;
You will forever guard us from this generation.
8The wicked wander freely,
and vileness is exalted among men.
Introduction
Psalms 12
It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies. I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst trust (Psa 12:1, Psa 12:2). II. He foretels the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies (Psa 12:3, Psa 12:4). III. He assures himself and others that, how ill soever things went now (Psa 12:8), God would preserve and secure to himself his own people (Psa 12:5, Psa 12:7), and would certainly make good his promises to them (Psa 12:6). Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. "O tempora, O mores! - Oh the times! Oh the manners!"
To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
Cross-references: Ps 12:1 · Ps 12:2 · Ps 12:3 · Ps 12:4 · Ps 12:8 · Ps 12:5 · Ps 12:7 · Ps 12:6