Deeper Commentary
Psa 12:1 For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm
of David.
Help, Yahweh; for the Godly man is fading away, the faithful fail from among
the children of men- "Him who is Godly" is a term he has used about
himself in his marvel at God's grace to him at the time of the sin with
Bathsheba, believing that his trust in God's grace and justification by that
grace was to be the pattern for all who afterward would be "Godly" (Ps.
32:6). Here he seems to lament that few were following in that path. It has
perhaps always been a sense of the righteous that they are in a decreasing
minority; the same words are found on Micah's lips (Mic. 7:2).
And yet as noted on :2, these words are quoted in Romans 3 and applied to
all men. That is God's answer to those who complain that fewer and fewer
righteous remain- they too are not righteous and are saved by grace.
We note from the connection with Ps. 32:6 that being "Godly" was not
the same as being spotlessly pious in a religious sense. The Hebrew
"chasiyd" translated "Godly" is related to "chesed", the word for grace. It
is the word used in Ps. 18:25 "With the merciful / gracious You will show
Yourself gracious". Tragically the word was hijacked by religious Jews and
came to refer to the religious pious and hypocritical 'Hasidim'. But the
original idea was one who was characterized by grace, having experienced
Divine grace.
But "the faithful" can be understood as 'the truthful', and the
next verses go on to lament how untruth is so endemic in human society.
As children we naively think we are being told the truth by everyone, that
things are as they look... and in fact this assumption continues
throughout human life. It is only those born of the Spirit who perceive
that in fact everyone is a liar (:2).
Psa 12:2 Everyone lies to his neighbour, they speak with flattering lips,
and with a double heart-
Psa 12:3 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks
great things- These "flattering lips" may have been of false
prophets, for the phrase is used in this connection elsewhere (Is. 30:10).
Probably Saul had false prophets who assured him that he was in fact doing
the right things. For kings of those times usually had their entourage of
such prophets. See on :8. Note the parallel between flattery and
"great things", AV "proud things". Flattery appeals to the latent tendency
to pride in the recipient of the flattery. We can thus safely deduce that
humility preserves us from the danger of being flattered.
Psa 12:4 who have said, With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our
own, who is lord over us?- This great confidence in their words may be
because they were false prophets, claiming they were inspired by God; see
on :3. One unusual, indeed unique, claim of Yahweh upon men was that their
words and thoughts were culpable. Other gods focused upon external
behaviours and ritualism. Just as the false gods of our age do likewise.
Hos. 14:2 speaks of our lips being offered as calves of sacrifice to our
God. Our words are so critically important, and they will influence our
eternal destiny (Mt. 12:37). "Who is lord over us?" reflects man's
vain desire for freedom, to be without any overlord or moral restraint.
"The glorious liberty of God's dear children" will only come if now we
change masters, becoming slaves of God rather than slaves of self. For
now, we change masters.
Psa 12:5 Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning
of the needy, I will now arise, says Yahweh; I will set him in safety from
those who malign him- David's prayer of :1-4 now appears to be
interrupted by God's word directly to him, assuring David that He is going
to arise in judgment. Or we can understand "I will now arise" as
meaning that when the groaning of the weak and needy is as it were loud
enough, when they are oppressed enough, God will then "now" arise and save
them. God's arising is surely ultimately a reference to the Lord's second
coming. The implication is therefore that there will be intense oppression
of the weak and needy, and they will cry to Him so strongly that He
'arises'. And yet we are also to see that God will arise 'simply' because
of the words of others who "malign" and thereby so hurt His people.
"Malign" is Heb. 'to puff at', 'to blow air at', alluding to how words are
merely air. But they cause "groaning", and God feels the pain of words
upon His people and will "arise", visibly intervene, because of this.
Psa 12:6 The words of Yahweh are flawless words, as silver refined in a
clay furnace, purified seven times- I suggested on :5 that David has
been praying in :1-4 and then in :5 God speaks directly to him, giving him
a prophetic word assuring him of vindication. And now in the rest of the
prayer (:6-8), David rejoices in those words of :5, although his comment
upon the nature of God's words is also globally true. "Flawless" is the
usual word for "pure". Yahweh's words are being contrasted with the impure
words of the wicked, which have been the burden of David's complaint so
far. Indeed, his complaint has specifically been about the
untruthfulness of human words that pervades society. And her perceives the
utter contrast with God's words of ultimate truth. This is why continued
reading of God's words and living in an environment of them is so helpful-
it in turn leads us into an environment of truth telling and realism.
We ask, however, how God's true words can be refined or purged / tested seven times. If God's word is true from the beginning, how can it be purged or demonstrated genuine through a furnace? The idea may be that the utter truth of God's word is proven true to us by our experience of them in the furnace of our affliction. Which would fit the context of David's original experience in this Psalm. It is not that there were originally impurities in God's word that had to be purified. Rather is the idea surely that as we pass through the fire of affliction, the purity of God's word of promise becomes the more intensely apparent to us. For it is man who is tried as silver is tried (Ps. 66:10 "You have tried us, as silver is tried"). "The word of the Lord is tried / tested / proved right" in our experience (Ps. 18:30).
Psa 12:7 You will keep them, Yahweh. You will preserve them from this
generation forever- David appears to see the righteous in Israel at
his time as a minority, persecuted by "this generation", society as a
whole at the time. It may seem at times impossible to be
uninfluenced by society; but although the wicked walk everywhere
glorifying what is vile (:8), yet God will keep us from this generation.
"Forever" could mean that this promise is true in every generation. We are
often told to make our own effort to keep / preserve God's law, to "keep
your tongue from evil" (Ps. 34:13), "I will keep my mouth with a bridle"
(Ps. 39:1). But the same word is used of God's 'keeping' of man
spiritually; if we keep our tongue from evil, then God will "keep the door
of my lips" (Ps. 141:3). Our conscious attempts to keep His way will be
matched by His keeping of us in that way. "Keep your heart" (Prov. 4:23)
and God will keep our heart through the work of His Spirit. For He keeps
and waters His vineyard "every moment... night and day" (Is. 27:3),
"keeping" us as the apple of His eye if we "keep" His covenant (Dt. 32:10;
33:9).
Psa 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among
the sons of men- "Vile" is a word usually associated with idolatry, the
pervasive weakness of Israel in every generation. It would seem that the
false prophets of Saul (see on :3) were also associated with idolatry, and
this was behind their persecution of Samuel and David. See on Ps. 16:4.
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