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Psalms 12

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A Plea Amidst Deceitful Men 1–4

1
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. ​
2
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. ​
3
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
4
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? ​

The LORD's Promise to Act 5–6

5
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. ​
6
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. ​

Trust in Divine Preservation 7–8

7
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalm 12

Verse 1

Help, LORD — ‘Help’ is yasha’, to save or set free; v.5 answers it with the noun yesha’, ‘safety’. ‘The godly man’ is chasid, one marked by chesed, loyal love. ‘Sheminith’ also heads Ps 6 and stands in 1 Chr 15:21, ‘with harps on the Sheminith’.

Verse 2

flattering lips — Chelqah is smoothness: lips that glide over the truth. ‘A double heart’ is literally ‘a heart and a heart’. ‘Vanity’ (shav’) is emptiness and falsehood, the word of ‘in vain’ in Ex 20:7; ‘a flattering mouth worketh ruin’ (Prov 26:28).

Verse 4

who is lord over us? — This is the boast of men who mean to ‘prevail’ (gabar, grow strong) by speech, the same denial Pharaoh made: ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?’ (Ex 5:2). The LORD’s answer follows in v.5: ‘now will I arise’.

Verse 5

now will I arise — The LORD speaks in answer to the ‘sighing’ (anaqah) of the needy, in the words of Isa 33:10, ‘Now will I rise, saith the LORD’. ‘Safety’ is yesha’, the ‘help’ asked in v.1. ‘Puffeth’ (puach) is the verb of scorn in Ps 10:5, ‘he puffeth at them’.

Verse 6

silver tried in a furnace of earth — ‘Pure’ (tahor) is clean in the sense of the sanctuary, and ‘tried’ (tsaraph) is refined by fire. The same assurance is given in ‘Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him’ (Prov 30:5); compare Ps 119:140, ‘Thy word is very pure’.

Verse 8

the vilest men are exalted — ‘Vilest’ (zullut) is a rare word, found only here in the KJV. ‘On every side’ (sabib) is ‘round about’, so the wicked fill the whole circuit, as the psalm began with the faithful failing. Between the two stand the LORD’s pure words (v.6) and his ‘Thou shalt keep them’ (v.7).