Psalm 12

To the Chief Musician. On An Eight-Stringed Harp. A Psalm of David.

¹Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

²They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;

With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

And the tongue that speaks proud things,

⁴Who have said,

“With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are our own;

Who is lord over us?”

⁵“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,

Now I will arise,” says the Lord;

“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

⁶The words of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,

Purified seven times.

⁷You shall keep them, O Lord,

You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked prowl on every side,

When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

 

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”

In these unsettling times where there is a rapid decay of all moral sanity, this psalm resonates with us all who know and believe the truth. Yes, there is religion, there is always religion, but religious service is not what God wants from us, especially not according to commandments men (Matt. 15:1-9). He wants our hearts, souls, and minds to belong to Him and to be loyal to His Son Jesus Christ by keeping His commandments, for that covers everything. For when one is faithful to God through His Word, He shows Himself strong on their behalf (2 Chr. 16:9). Now in standing up for God’s truth we must not be lawless or riotous demonstrators, (who think being treated unjustly in times present or times past somehow now justifies their own unjust and lawless actions towards others). We must not then partake of or align ourselves with those who blockade public or private propriety or institutions, who think that by “force of arms”, or “strength of numbers” they can impose their will, or their brand of “freedom” on others. We must not then threaten, intimidate, or harass anyone who does not agree with us, for not only is that deeply wrong in the sight of God, “as love does no harm to one’s neighbor” (Rom. 13:10), but that is the play of all of those who are only weak and insecure in themselves, in their own convictions and beliefs. For our beliefs are strong, being born out of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus are kept in our renewed hearts and minds as Christ’s disciples. For His commandments are ours, deeply held in our hearts and minds and always to be practiced in our own lives and congregations. Therefore, just as we ask the world not to impose their Godless morality on us, neither then do we seek to impose God’s Law on them. For in their declaring a separation of church and state, we also agree with and embrace the same, and so we ask that the state not impose its Godless morality on us, for we cannot, and will not obey that. For our loyalty first and foremost is to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel, thus we are not hostile towards anyone. But instead, we are proclaimers of God's Good News found in Jesus Christ that there is hope and redemption and regeneration and transformation through God’s Holy Spirit for every sinner who repents and believes. For that is our message to everyone. To turn to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive remission of all of your sins and have new and everlasting life! For where there is upheaval in this world, it is of the world’s own making, for in rejecting God’s salvation through His Son, they are only left with their own degenerate and degenerating morality, as God gives those who reject Him over to a debased mind to do and pursue all that will only ruin them in the end, when they reject Him and His Word for us all given through His Son (Rom. 1:16-32). Do not then end up like those who are only storing up great wrath upon themselves, as God in His merciful longsuffering forbearance and kindness still wants all to come to repentance and believe before His Son Returns to Judge then Rule the World in Righteousness. But He will not impose His salvation on anyone. 

If anything written here has reached you, has given you cause to pause and think then thank God that your heart is not hardened, that there is still hope for you, and consider that God’s longsuffering towards you, towards all people is so that they might repent and believe so that they may have (you may have) remission of all your sins and everlasting life the moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9-10, 13; Eph. 1:13-14). Therefore, do not delay, Call on the Lord Jesus Christ today!

 Vs. 2 “They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;

With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.”

Returning then to the Psalm here then is the manner of their persons, first is they speak idly with their neighbors, that is they indulge in all forms of lies and deceptions, whether these are half truths, gross exaggerations, or fragrant lies meant to manipulate and deceive others, they speak these with neither fear of God, nor with any regard for how these will affect people. For if being knowingly deceitful brings about their desired results then they are okay with it. However, nobody who knowingly lies too, deceives, or manipulates another belongs to Christ. Therefore, if they profess to be Christian, yet they are only forwarding all kinds of lying conspiracy theories do not believe them, for they are only liars and deceivers who do so, (who seek to profit or benefit from the same), and thus they are only doing the devils work, not the Lords! For where there is confusion and chaos being sown through lies and deceptions that is always the devils work! Therefore, do yourselves a favor and stay away from such people.

Second thing mentioned is that they are people of flattery, they use and know how to use insincere compliments to sway people to either use them or manipulate them in some way. These sorts of people then are very dangerous because we all like to be seen in a certain light, and when they perceive this about us, guaranteed they will speak what we always wanted to hear about ourselves. Beware then of flattery and those who use it!

Third they speak with a double heart; thus, they speak one thing openly while holding something quite different in their heart. And so you can never take anything they say to you say at face value, because there is always some agenda behind it. Indeed they can even profess loyalty to Christ on one hand while not having any love for Him in their hearts. This then works its way down through their beliefs and practices towards others as well. Jesus warned us not to believe everyone who confesses Him as Lord, especially when their lives and actions do not line up with Him. For false brethren, false teachers, false prophets, people of duplicity, exist in every generation. Be discerning and beware of them.

Vs. 3-4 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

And the tongue that speaks proud things,

⁴Who have said,

“With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are our own;

Who is lord over us?”

In light of these things David asks that the Lord to cut off all flattering lips, to cut out all tongues which speak lies so boastfully and proudly, who in their rejection of the Lord now think and speak and live like that they are it and there is no one else. Now this He will do at His Judgment seat (Prov. 10:31).

Vs. 5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,

Now I will arise,” says the Lord;

“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

Who then always suffers at their hands, is it not the poor and needy? is it not the meek and humble who are always their victims? Victims of the proud and mighty of this world. Therefore, because the Lord loves these, He will arise for their cause, He will set us in the safety for which we yearn! For the Day is Coming when the Lord will Judge the World in Righteousness by His Truth (Ps. 96:13; 98:9)! Woe to the proud and wicked then, for a full repayment for what they have done will be rendered to them!

Vs. 6 “The words of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,

Purified seven times.”

Unlike their deceptions, half truths and outright lies, God’s Word is truth, pure unchangeable, unalterable holy truth, from everlasting to everlasting it remains the same unchanged! For God does not morally pollute it, or spiritually corrupt it by mixing it with the dross of this world. He does not sell it or prostitute it to the highest bidder. He does not change it, or altar it to suite the desires, or meet the "needs" of mankind, like this worlds “truth” so quickly and easily is. Indeed truth that is changed to suite mankind’s degenerating moral and social conscience is not truth, it’s a horror!

Vs. 7 “You shall keep them, O Lord,

You shall preserve them from this generation forever.”

God then will keep and preserve us all who believe in Him from this generation, He will hold us safe and secure who hold fast to Him and His Word, forever!

Vs. 8 “The wicked prowl on every side,

When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”

Here then is the cause for all of the social upheaval that we all now see. For in exalting vileness, in  seeking to normalize it in the collective social conscience, they have now given way and right to the wicked to run rampant as well. For you cannot embrace one and not have the other, for they always go hand in hand. Thus, all the unmitigated violence, all the social upheaval and unrest that we all now see and are experiencing (and which will only get worse) all comes from their exalting vileness amongst the sons of men.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.