Psalm 12
notes
Summary:
A cry to the LORD for help
when evil and lies abound; God’s flawless promise of safety and protection
despite the wicked strutting about
Uses:
When feeling isolated /
lack of Christian fellowship / the ungodly seem to prevail and are confident of
victory
When slander / lies abound
Key verses / possible memory verses: v6, v7
Prayer:
LORD, help, deliver and
save me and all your people.
Keep me faithful when many
are faithless, when it seems as if everyone is overtaken by a tide of evil.
Protect me from lies and
smooth, flattering speech.
May I not be taken in by
boasts or bravado.
May I not simply believe
what I like to hear.
Make me discerning in the
words I listen to.
And also in how I speak.
May I speak wisely, truthfully,
honestly.
Keep me from seeking to
use and manipulate others.
May I not put an undue
confidence in my supposed eloquence or powers of persuasion.
Make me always conscious
that you are my Lord, my creator, my owner;
that I owe everything to
you;
That I constantly depend
on you;
That I have no
self-sufficiency;
That all I have is a gift.
Thank you, LORD, that you
hear the prayers of your people;
That you regard the
oppressed, the weak and the needy;
That you are attentive to
their groaning.
Thank you that you have
promised to act and bring justice.
LORD, vindicate those who
are slandered.
I praise you LORD, that
you are exalted above the muck and mess of this world;
That you are unsullied by
it;
And yet that you care for
it;
That you perfectly govern
it with your infallible wisdom;
That you mean to put it to
rights.
Thank you for your
precious and pure words – words which are tested and proved and trustworthy.
May I prize all that you
have said and be quick to resort to your word.
Whatever the state of the
world, however things appear, may I be conscious of my safety and security in
you.
Grant me an everlasting
confidence in you.
Outlines / structure:
Expositor’s Bible:
Lying tongues and the
truthfulness of God’s Word
Prayer for deliverance
(vv1-4)
Promise of the Lord (v5)
Reflection on God’s
promises (v6)
Prayer for deliverance
(vv7-8)
Goldingay, Baker
Commentary
Vv1-2 – direct plea and
lament at the life of the community
Vv3-4 – wish (jussive
declarations) and lament at the life of the community
Vv5-6 – Yahweh’s word in
light of the life of the community and response to that word
Vv7-8 – confidence in
Yahweh, but a further reference to the depraved life of the community
Wilcock, BST:
Words of guile
Words of truth
Kidner, Tyndale:
“The easy speeches that
comfort cruel men”, G. K. Chesterton, ‘O God of earth and altar’
Vv1-4: The power of
propaganda
Vv5, 6: The counter-thrust
of truth
Vv7-8: The war continues
Wilson, NIV application
commentary
Grounds of complaint
(vv1-2)
Plea for deliverance
(vv3-4)
Divine response and
promise (v5)
Confident expectation
(vv6-7)
Reprise of complaint (v8)
Dale Ralph Davis, The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life
Spin Doctors
Where we are: A lying
society (vv1-4)
What we hear: A pure word
(vv5-6)
How we get on: A present
paradox (vv7-8)
Motyer, Psalms by the Day
devotional
The tongue of falsehood
and the Word of truth
A1. Appeal to Yahweh in a
collapsing society (vv1-2)
B1. The words of man,
false and forceful (vv3-4)
C. Yahweh’s commitment
(v5)
B2. Yahweh’s words, pure
and purified (v6)
A2. Confidence in Yahweh
in a mixed society (vv7-8)
Eric Lane, Focus on the
Bible Series
David under pressure
Vv1-4: David brings his
situation to God
V5: God answers him
Vv6-8: David responds to
God’s answer
Notes:
Title:
To the choirmaster
According to sheminith – an octave / 8th –
Leupold translates it “by the bases”
A Psalm Of David
Theme: various types of
speech / lips / what people are saying / words – the use and abuse of words
What the Psalmist says
What the world is saying
What the LORD says
Structure of the Psalm:
problem - prayer – promise – prayer - problem
Similarly Micah 7:2; Is
57:1; Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10, 14
David when persecuted by
Saul (1 Sam 18; 19:9-10; 22; 26:19 – sly foes; 23 – two faced dealing with
David ?) or in Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam 15-18)?
Similar context to Ps 11?
Perhaps David’s friends have now fled and he is alone (v1) – social foundations
destroyed, could be considered an expansion of 11:3 – the same confidence in
Yahweh as in Ps 11
Vv1-4: The many who cannot
be trusted
Vv5-8: The one who can be
trusted
Vv1, 8 – an inclusio of
ungodliness – not an instant removal of sin
V1 – cf. Ps 69 - help, deliver,
lit. save or send a saviour – a rather blunt / bold / impolite beginning –
heartfelt urgency
Vv1-2 – The Psalmist feels
as if he is the only godly person left
David is isolated (v1) and
facing false accusations (v2)
V1: a peculiar absence –
who / what isn’t there: covenant (Hasid
/ hesed / faithful) man is no more –
cf. Mt 5:13
V2: a social trend – what
is there: empty, smooth, deceptive talk
V2 – lies = empty, cheap
talk, vanity, no truth behind them, no substance / foundation, false,
insincere, irresponsible – corrodes discourse if people’s word cannot be
trusted – cf. his word is his bond
Flattering lips – lit. “a
lip of smoothnesses” – a plural of amplitude, every sort of flattery (Motyer), smooth
lips, plausible talk – nice – their words glide easily – can be addictive to
the one who enjoys receiving it – dangerous – cf. Is 30:10; Jn 5:44
Deception – double talk –
a double heart, lit. a heart and a heart / a mind and a mind, double minded,
two-faced – cf.1 Chron 12:33; Jer 32:39 – the double talk comes from the double
mind - they are not people of integrity – the speaker is afflicted too by his
denial of truth, disintegrates
Cf. advertising, politics,
spin
David’s prayer – vv3-4
V3 – cut off – cut off
from the covenant – Gen 17:14
V3 – a boastful tongue – the
tongue that speaks big things, big talk – James 3 esp. v5 which may have v3b in
mind
Eugene Peterson, God’s
words never bloated by boasting or distorted by flattery
Cf. Dan 7:20, 25, “mouth
spoke great things”
2 Pt 2; Rev 13; 20:10
V4 – an arrogant
philosophy
V4 – lips we own, our lips
are with us – part of our equipment, on our side – irresponsible talk for which
they do not expect to be held to account – they think they can talk their way
to success
Maybe ‘et – our lips will
be our blade (Goldingay) – if this is right, their words seem smooth but they
are actually sharp!
Cf. Ps 36:1-4
Fake news?
From a truth-twisting
society to a truth-speaking God (Davis)
Last half of v5 “those who
malign them” tricky to translate – something to do with blowing / panting /
longing – NRSV: I will place them in the safety for which they long – or
perhaps breathe out a curse – cf. Ezek 21:31
Goldingay, v5, he
witnesses to him from puah
V5 – the first time the
LORD speaks in the David Collection!
The wicked say, “we will
triumph” (v4), but God says, “I will arise” / shine forth (v5)
V5 – “protect” is from the
same root as help / save / deliver (v1), could be put in safety
Cf. Ps 3 – taking a stand
/ arise / deliver language similar
Similarly God’s promises
in Ps 34:22; 46:10; 94:14
V6 is an assurance about
the assurance given in v5 (Davis) – Yahweh’s words can be trusted
V6 – furnace of clay – on
the earth? To the earth? Of the earth? A change of letter would make it gold,
“a furnace, gold purified”
Contrast vv6 and 2 – God’s
sayings solid wealth against empty tokens / fake coinage
V6 – 7 representing
perfection / completeness – rigorous quality control. Human words are tested
and fail in this Psalm. Yahweh’s words are tested and pass – no dross,
impurity, corruption in them.
The statement in v6 is of
course a general truth always applicable to all of God’s words, but what
difference does it make to apply them particularly to God’s words in v5? God’s
justice and timing perfect and so on.
V7 – lit. the generation
this, from this generation for ever?
The clear confidence of v7
seems to contrast with the present reality of v8
V8 – vile – Kidner:
cheapness, worthless (Jer 15:19), shameful excess, gluttonous, Pr 23:20; Dt
21:20
V8 – zullut – worthless / trivial – they treat the valuable as worthless
and the worthless as valuable and they can walk about freely, heads held high,
because society shares their estimate of things
V8 – lit. when triviality
is exalted for the sons of man, that is, in the estimation of people
V8 – the wicked still walking
about openly, swaggering about, strutting their stuff, flaunt themselves – back
to the situation of vv1-4! – outwardly nothing has changed – living by faith
not by sight, with confidence that God will act decisively if not now then at
the judgement day
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