The Lord Will

Psalms

Psalm 12

KJV

1

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?

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.

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.

Overview

Psalm 12 is a lament about a society in which faithful speech seems to be disappearing. The psalmist names lies, flattery, divided hearts, and boastful claims of verbal autonomy, then turns from corrupt human words to the LORD’s response to the oppressed. God hears the groaning of the needy, promises to rise, and speaks words depicted as pure and trustworthy. The ending combines confidence in divine preservation with a sober recognition that wickedness may still circulate when what is vile is publicly honored.

Setting and context

The superscription associates Psalm 12 with David and includes the musical term “Sheminith,” whose precise performance meaning is uncertain. The poem moves from the scarcity of faithful people and deceptive speech (vv. 1–2), to a prayer against arrogant lips and tongues (vv. 3–4), to God’s declaration that he will act for the oppressed (v. 5), then to the purity of the LORD’s words (v. 6), confidence in divine keeping (v. 7), and a final observation about wickedness flourishing when vileness is exalted (v. 8). No specific historical crisis should be asserted with certainty beyond the text.

Themes

Faithfulness and the social damage caused by deceptive speech · Flattery, divided hearts, and verbal manipulation · Arrogant speech and moral accountability · God’s concern for the poor, oppressed, and needy · The purity and trustworthiness of God’s words · Preservation without simplistic promises of immunity · Living faithfully when corruption is socially rewarded

Reflection

Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm.

Reading notes

Faithfulness and the social damage caused by deceptive speech Arrogant speech and moral accountability Preservation without simplistic promises of immunity

Key passages

Psalm 12:1: The cry for help arises because loyal, trustworthy people seem to have vanished and faithfulness appears scarce. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:2: The social crisis is intensified by falsehood, flattering lips, and double-hearted speech that fractures trust between neighbors. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:3: The prayer that flattering lips and boastful tongues be cut off places judgment in God’s hands rather than authorizing human retaliation. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:5: God declares that he will rise because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, placing vulnerable people at the center of the divine response. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:6: The LORD’s words are contrasted with deceptive human speech and described as pure, like silver refined repeatedly in a furnace. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:7: The confession that the LORD will keep and preserve must be read within the psalm’s communal hope, not as a guarantee of immediate physical immunity for every individual. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm. Psalm 12:8: The closing picture of the wicked prowling while vileness is exalted keeps the lament realistic: divine trust does not deny the persistence of corrupt social conditions. Let this verse form truthful speech, solidarity with the vulnerable, patient trust in God, and refusal of retaliatory harm.

Questions readers ask

What is the main movement of Psalm 12? Psalm 12 moves from lament over disappearing faithfulness and corrupt speech, through God’s promise to rise for the oppressed, to confidence in the purity of God’s words and his preserving care even while social corruption remains visible. Does Psalm 12 teach that everyone is a liar? No. Its sweeping language belongs to lament and moral protest. It describes a society in which trust has badly eroded, not a command to treat every person as deceptive or to withdraw into paranoia. Does “cut off all flattering lips” authorize silencing or harming people? No. The line is a prayer that God judge destructive speech. It does not authorize mutilation, threats, vigilantism, coercive censorship, or violence.