Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Psalm 12:1) (To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David) Help, Lord, for the Godly man ceases, for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
This is a psalm of David which he may have written during his times of fighting the Philistines. Saul kept putting David out front in the battles in hopes that the Philistines would kill him. At this point, I don't think David realized that Saul was his enemy. David wrote it to the chief musician on "Sheminith." As that word comes from a root word meaning "eight," Strong's defines it as "probably an eight stringed lyre." David often wrote his psalms to the musicians he wished to play them.
He began by asking the Lord to help. It seemed to him that there were no Godly men, that they had ceased from living. He believed the faithful had failed and had fallen away when things got hard, or perhaps he just meant they had died and were no longer among men. Or maybe they had just failed in what they were trying to do. He surely had seen no good men standing up for God and against Goliath. It sort of resembles the times we live in now, where it seems evil has taken over, and we wonder where the good men are who will stand up against it?
(2) They speak vanity everyone with his neighbor; with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
It seemed men only spoke vanity, or uselessness, or even deceit. They might flatter to draw you in, but they are double minded, saying one thing and doing another, not to be trusted.
(3) The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things.
This may have been spoken by David as a prayer, "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips..." or he may have meant it as a fact that the Lord will always judge and cut off the wicked eventually. The tongue that speaks proud things might be one who says great things in deceit, or maybe literally prideful things, and the Lord hates pride and a proud heart (Proverbs 16:5).
(4) Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; our lips our own; who is lord over us?"
The wicked men believed they would prevail, knowing they purposely spoke flattery and deceit as a way to prevail. Their lips were their own; they would speak what they pleased, and they saw no one as lord over them who had a right to control them or prevent them from speaking what they wanted to speak. So the wicked think, but so little do they know...
(5) "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise," says the Lord, "I will set in safety from him who puffs at him."
However, the Lord will rise up for the oppressed poor and the groaning needy and will put them in safety from the one who puffs at them. "Puff" is an interesting choice of words, and David used it in another psalm (Psalm 10:5). It puts one in mind of the big bad wolf who huffs and puffs and blows away. Strong's defines the original word "puach" as "blow with the breath or air; hence to fan (as a breeze), to utter, to kindle (a fire), to scoff: - blow (upon), break, puff, bring into a snare, speak, utter." It has a wide range of meanings, but we can safely assume that David meant someone who breathed contempt, deceit, and maybe even threats, definitely evil, as he had been talking about their tongues.
(6) The words of the Lord pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
In contrast to the wicked and their wicked tongues, the words of the Lord are pure and holy and true, pure as the purest refined silver that had been purified seven times. The number seven in the Bible was symbolic of completion or perfection. The words of the Lord are perfect!
(7) You shall keep them, O Lord; You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
The Lord shall keep and preserve the poor and the needy, saving them from an oppressive and perverse generation forever. Or perhaps it means the Lord would keep His words and promises and save His people from perverse generations forever. Either one is true of the Lord.
(8) The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.
When the vilest men are exalted to high places and offices, the wicked walk boldly all over. I can't help but relate this to our present time when it seems that wickedness abounds, and the perpetrators of it are now so open and bold and in your face.
In this psalm, David complains of the decrease of God’s faithful servants and of the prevalence of falsehood and treachery in the world. He foretells the destruction of the wicked, especially of the deceitful and proud, and assures himself and others that no matter how corrupt the times were, God would deliver and preserve His people and fulfill His promises to them.
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