Psalm 12: Anguish over a godless people

For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

[Preliminary Comments: Another song written by David (with an uncertain musical term in the title) where David is conscious of the poor spiritual state of people around him, [v.1] with their lack of faith. He sees it in the way people speak [v.2-4] and he sees it in the oppression of the weak and needy by the strong who are unrighteous [v.5a]. He takes comfort in his knowledge of the Lord, that He will rise up on behalf of these downtrodden people [v.5a-8].

v.1,2 David Laments the loss of faith in the land, exposed through foolish speaking

v.1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
    those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

v.2 Everyone lies to their neighbour;
    they flatter with their lips
    but harbor deception in their hearts.

v.3,4 The Righteous David wants the Lord to deal with such people

v.3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips
    and every boastful tongue—

v.4 those who say,
    “By our tongues we will prevail;
    our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

v.5,6 Yet the Lord will rise on behalf of the poor and needy & we can trust His word

v.5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

v.6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold refined seven times.

v.7,8 The result is that we can know His protection against such people.

v.7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
    and will protect us forever from the wicked,

v.8 who freely strut about
    when what is vile is honored by the human race.

[Additional Thoughts: These psalms reflect aspects of life in this fallen world. Here David has focused on the way the unrighteous boast and the way they tread down the weak and poor in society. If that was all there was it would be very depressing, but David knows the Lord as One who does not sit idly by on the side-lines but who involves Himself in His world on behalf of the poor and weak.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through:

¹ Help, Lord, for no one is faithful any more;
    those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
² Everyone lies to their neighbour;
    they flatter with their lips
    but harbour deception in their hearts.

³ May the Lord silence all flattering lips
    and every boastful tongue –
⁴ those who say,
    ‘By our tongues we will prevail;
    our own lips will defend us – who is lord over us?’

⁵ ‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,’ says the Lord.
    ‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’
⁶ And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold^[c] refined seven times.

⁷ You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
    and will protect us for ever from the wicked,
⁸ who freely strut about
    when what is vile is honoured by the human race.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: