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Psalm Twelve
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 12
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith
a Psalm of David.
The
word "sheminith" is used in the title of Psalm 6:1
and signifies
"eighth"; and intends either the eighth note
to which the psalm was
sung
or rather the harp of eight chords
to which it was set
as the Targum
and Jarchi interpret it. Some Jewish writersF25Sepher Lekach
Shechachah apud Caphtor
fol. 64. 1. & Ceseph Misnah in Maimon. Hilch.
Teshuvah
c. 9. understand it of the times of the Messiah; and the Syriac
version entitles the psalm
"an
accusation of the wicked
and a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah:'
and
the Arabic version says
it is concerning the end of the world
which shall be
in the eighth day; and concerning the coming of the Messiah: but Arnobius
interprets it of the Lord's day.
Psalm 12:1 Help
Lord
for the godly
man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
YLT
1To the Overseer
on the
octave. -- A Psalm of David. Save
Jehovah
for the saintly hath failed
For the
stedfast have ceased From the sons of men:
Help
Lord
for the godly man ceaseth
.... A godly
man
according to the notation of the wordF26חסיד
"passive pro beneficiario
sive alterius beneficiis gratiosis
cumulato"
Gejerus.
is one that has received grace and mercy of the
Lord; as pardoning mercy
justifying and adopting grace; and who has principles
of grace
goodness
and holiness
wrought in him; who fears the Lord
and
serves him acceptably
with reverence and godly fear
and sorrows for sin
after
a godly sort; who loves the Lord
and hopes and believes in him; who is
regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God
and is a true worshipper of
God
and lives in all holy conversation and godliness; and
particularly
is
"beneficent"
"kind"
and "merciful"F1"Misericors"
Pagninus
Mariana; beneficus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator. unto men: such
may be said to "cease" when there are but few of them; when their
number is greatly reducedF2"Rari quippe boni"
&c.
Juvenal. Satyr. 13. v. 36.
either by death
or when such who have seemed
and
have been thought to be so
prove otherwise: in a view of which
the psalmist
prays for help and salvation; "help"
or "save"F3הושיעה "serva"
Pagninus
Cocceius; "da
salutem"
Junius & Tremellius. Lord; meaning himself
being destitute
of the company
counsel
and assistance of good and gracious men; or the cause
and interest of religion
which he feared would sink by the ceasing of godly
men. When all friends and refuge fail
saints betake themselves to God
and
their salvation is of him; and he is their present help in a time of trouble;
and he saves and reserves for himself a number in the worst of times; as he did
in Elijah's time
who thought there was no godly man left but himself; see Romans 11:1;
for the faithful fail from among the children of men; so that there
are none left among them but carnal
unregenerate
ungodly
and unfaithful men.
The "faithful" are such who are upright in heart and conversation;
who trust in the Lord
and believe in the Messiah; who abide by the truths and
ordinances of God; and are faithful in what is committed to their trust
whether they be gifts of nature
Providence
or grace; and to their fellow
Christians
in advising
reproving
&c. when needful: these may fail in the
exercise of grace
and in the discharge of duty
but not so as to perish eternally.
The words design the paucity of them
and the sad degeneracy of the times to
which they refer: and they may belong either to the times of David
when Saul's
courtiers flattered him
and spoke evil of David; when the men of Keilah
intended to have delivered him up; when the Ziphites discovered him to Saul
and invited him to come and take him; or when Absalom rose up in rebellion
against him
and so many of the people fell off from him: or else to the times
of Christ; the people of the Jews in his age were a wicked and faithless
generation; and even among his own disciples there was great want of fidelity:
one betrayed him
another denied him
and all forsook him and fled; after his
death
some doubted his being the Redeemer
and one of them could not believe
he was risen from the dead
when he was. And these words may be applied to the
antichristian times
the times of the grand apostasy
and falling away from the
faith
upon the revealing of the man of sin; since which the holy city is
trodden under foot; the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth; and the church is in
the wilderness
and is hid there. Yea
to the second coming of Christ
when
there will be great carnality and security
and little faith found in the
earth. A like complaint with this see in Isaiah 57:1.
Psalm 12:2 2 They speak idly everyone
with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they
speak.
YLT
2Vanity they speak each with
his neighbour
Lip of flattery! With heart and heart they speak.
They speak vanity everyone with his neighbour
.... That
which is false and a lie
either doctrinal or practical; what was not according
to the word of God
and was vain and empty
frothy
filthy
and corrupt; and
which no godly and faithful man would do. And this being done in common
by the
generality of men
one with another
shows the degeneracy of the age
and
supports the complaint before made. They speak even
with flattering
lips; as Cain did to Abel
Joab to Amasa
the Herodians to Christ
Judas to his Master
false teachers to those that are simple
hypocrites to God
himself
when they draw nigh to him only with their lips
and all formal
professors to the churches of Christ
when they profess themselves to be what
they are not. And this is a further proof of the justness of the above
complaint;
and with a double heart do
they speak: or "with an heart and an heart"F4בלב ולב "in corde &
corde"
V. L. Pagninus
Montanus
Gejerus. ; such are double minded men
who say one thing
and mean another; their words are not to be depended upon;
there is no faithfulness in them. The ChineseF5Martin. Sinic. Hist.
p. 144. a heart having διχομυθον νοημα
a double meaning
as Pittacus says
Laert. in Vit. Pittac. l. 1. p. 53. reckon
a man of "two hearts"
as they call him
a very wicked man
and none
more remote from honesty.
Psalm 12:3 3 May the Lord cut off all
flattering lips
And the tongue that speaks proud things
YLT
3Jehovah doth cut off all
lips of flattery
A tongue speaking great things
The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips
.... This is
either a prophecy or a prayer
as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe; that God either
would or should cut off such who used flattery with their lips
by inflicting
some judgment in this life
or everlasting punishment hereafter; by taking them
away by death "out of the world"
as the Targum paraphrases it; or by
casting them into hell
where all liars and deceitful persons will have their
portion; see Job 32:21;
and the tongue that speaketh
proud things
or "great things"F6גדלות
"magna"
Pagninus
Montanus
Vatablus
Piscator
Gejerus
Michaelis;
"grandia"
Cocceius.
as the little horn
Daniel 7:20; and the beast
or Romish
antichrist
who is designed by both
Revelation 13:5; and which will be
accomplished when Christ shall destroy him with the breath of his mouth
and
the brightness of his coming; and indeed every tongue that riseth up against
God
Christ
and his people
will be condemned; when ungodly sinners will be
convinced of all their hard speeches
Isaiah 54:17
Judges 1:15. Perhaps some regard may be had
to the tongue of Doeg the Edomite; see Psalm 52:3.
Psalm 12:4 4 Who have said
“With our
tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over
us?”
YLT
4Who said
`By our tongue we
do mightily: Our lips [are] our own; who [is] lord over us?'
Who have said
with our tongue will we prevail
.... Either
through the eloquence of them
or the outward force and power with which they
are backed. The sense is
as we say
so shall it be; our words are laws
and
shall be obeyed
there is no standing against them; our edicts and decrees
shall everywhere be regarded: or "we will make one to prevail"
or
"have the dominion"F7נגביר
"prevalere ac dominare
faciemus
scil. aliquem regem
dominum"
Cocceius. ; meaning antichrist
the man of sin; for all this is true of the
tongues of the antichristian party
and of their laws
edicts
and decrees and
which have obtained everywhere
and by which the wicked one has been
established in his tyrannical power and authority;
our lips are our own
or "with us"F8אתנו "nobiscum"
Musculus
Pagninus
Montanus
Vatablus
Cocceius
Gejerus
Michaelis; so Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Ainsworth. : we will say what we please
and make what laws and decrees we
think fit
and impose them upon men; and so change times and laws without
control
Daniel 7:25;
who is Lord over us? which is the very
language and conduct of antichrist
who opposes and exalts himself above all
that is called God
2 Thessalonians 2:4; and is indeed the
language of the hearts and lives of all wicked and ungodly men
sons of Belial
men without any yoke or restraint; who walk
and are resolved to walk
after
the imagination of their own evil hearts; not knowing the Lord
and being
unwilling to obey him
or to be restrained by him; see Exodus 5:2.
Psalm 12:5 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.”
YLT
5Because of the spoiling of
the poor
Because of the groaning of the needy
Now do I arise
saith Jehovah
I set in safety [him who] doth breathe for it.
For the oppression of the poor
.... The servants and
people of God
who
for the most part
are poor in a temporal sense
and are
all of them
and always
so in a spiritual sense
standing continually in need
of fresh supplies of grace; and being often afflicted
as the word signifies
are mean and despicable in the eyes of the men of this world
and so oppressed
by them
as the poor generally are by the rich; and as the people of Israel
were oppressed by the Egyptians
so are the people of God by antichrist
and by
his tyrannical laws and edicts
and by such haughty and insolent persons as
before described;
for the sighing of the needy; who groan under their
oppressions; being stripped of all good things
their friends
and worldly
substance
they sigh inwardly
and cry unto the Lord
who sees their
oppressions
hears their groans; and though he cannot be moved
as men are
by
anything without himself
yet
according to his abundant mercy and sovereign
will
he appears and exerts himself on the behalf of his people
and for their
relief and assistance;
now will I arise
saith the Lord; to have mercy on the
poor and needy
and to avenge them on their oppressors
and free them from them.
And this the Lord promises to do "now"
speedily
immediately; God
arises in the most seasonable time
when his people are in the greatest
straits
and in the utmost distress and herein displays his wisdom
power
and
goodness. This is an answer to the petition of the psalmist in Psalm 12:1;
I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at
him; or "in salvation"F9בישע
"in salute"
Pagninus
Montanus
Mariana
Vatablus
Junius
&
Tremeliius
Piscator; so Ainsworth. ; in Christ the Saviour. All God's people
are put into the hands of Christ
and are preserved in him; there they are in
safety
for out of his hands none can pluck them; and being built on him
the
Rock
they are safe
notwithstanding the waves and winds of temptation
persecution
&c. come with ever so much force upon them. Here it seems to
signify
that God would deliver his poor and needy from their oppressions
and
put them into a comfortable
prosperous
safe
and happy situation
in which
they will be out of the reach of their enemies; as will be the witnesses
when
they shall ascend to heaven
Revelation 11:11; even out of the reach of
him that "puffeth at" them
despises them
and treats them with the
utmost scorn and contempt; see Psalm 10:5. Or that "breathes"
or "let him breathe"F11יפיח לו "spiret vel spirabit sibi"
De Dieu.
threatenings and slaughters; as Saul did against the disciples of Christ
Acts 9:1; or that "lays snares for
him"F12"Qui ponit ei laqueum"
Munster; "qui
laqueum injicit illis"
Heb. "illi"
Muis; so Kimchi.
as the
wicked do for the righteous; or that "speaks unto him" in such
haughty and insolent language as before expressed. Some make this clause a
proposition of itself
"he puffeth at him"; meaning either that he
that is secure
safety puffs at his enemy
despises him
as he has been
despised by him; or God
who breathes upon him
and whose breath is as a stream
of brimstone
which kindles in him a fire of divine wrath
which is
unquenchable; or else the sense is
God will "speak to himself"
or
"to him"F13"Loquetur sibi vel ei"
Vatablus. ;
in which sense the word is used Habakkuk 2:4; that is
good and comfortable
words to the poor; or "he will give him refreshment"
or
"rest": which he will determine in himself to speak to him: or
"he shall have breathing"
or "let him breathe"F14"Respirationem
dabit illi"
Cloppenburgius; so Ainsworth
and some in Michaelis. : he
shall have times of refreshing from the Lord
and rest from adversity
from the
oppositions and persecutions of his enemies.
Psalm 12:6 6 The words of the Lord are
pure words
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth
Purified seven
times.
YLT
6Sayings of Jehovah [are]
pure sayings; Silver tried in a furnace of earth refined sevenfold.
The words of the Lord are pure words
.... This
observation the psalmist makes in reference to what is just now said in Psalm 12:5
and in opposition to the words
of wicked men in Psalm 12:2; which are deceitful
sinful
and impure. The Scriptures are the words of God; and they are pure and holy
free from all human mixtures
and from all fraud and deceit; they are the
Scriptures of truth. The promises are the words of God
and they are firm and
stable
and always to be depended on
and are ever fulfilled
being yea and
amen in Christ Jesus. The Gospel
and the doctrines of it
are the words of
God; that is the sincere milk of the word
pure and incorrupt; as it is in
itself
and as it is dispensed by the faithful ministers of it; and they are
all according to godliness
and tend to encourage and promote purity and
holiness of heart and life; See Proverbs 30:5;
as silver tried in a furnace
of earth; they are as "silver" for worth and value; yea
they
are more valuable than silver or gold
Psalm 19:10. The Bible is a mine of rich
treasure
and to be searched into as for it; the promises in it are exceeding
precious; they are like apples of gold in pictures of silver
and yield more
joy than the finding a great spoil. The doctrines of the Gospel are comparable
to gold and silver and precious stones
and to be bought at any rate
but to be
sold at none: and they are as silver "tried"
which is pure
and free
from dross. The words of men
of false teachers
are as dross and reprobate
silver; but the words of the Lord are tried
and are pure
and free from all
the dross of error and falsehood
Psalm 18:30. And they are as silver tried
"in a furnace of earth"
which someF15Vid. Jarchi
Kimchi
& Ben Melech in loc. so some in David de Pomis
Lexic. fol. 11. 1. taking ב in בעליל to be radical
and ל doubled as if it was בעל.
render "by the Lord of the earth"; but the word rather signifies a
furnace
or an refinery
in which metal is melted and purified; and may be
applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in human nature
in whom are all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge
and who came full fraught with the doctrines of the
Gospel; and in whom they have been "tried"
by his sufferings and
death
and are found to be pure
solid
and substantial: or to the ministers of
the Gospel
who have this treasure in earthen vessels
whose works and words
and ministry are tried by many fiery trials
and abide: or to all the people of
God in general
who dwelt in earthly tabernacles; and who
in the midst of
various afflictions
have a comfortable and confirming evidence of the purity
and truth of the words of God
of the promises of his covenant
and the
doctrines of the Gospel;
purified seven times; that is
many times
Proverbs 24:16; and so completely and
perfectly pure
and clear of all dross whatsoever
as silver so many times
tried must needs be: and so the words of God are not only pure
but very pure
exceeding pure
Psalm 119:140.
Psalm 12:7 7 You shall keep them
O Lord
You shall
preserve them from this generation forever.
YLT
7Thou
O Jehovah
dost
preserve them
Thou keepest us from this generation to the age.
Thou shall keep them
O Lord
.... Not the words before
mentioned
as Aben Ezra explains it
for the affix is masculine and not
feminine; not but God has wonderfully kept and preserved the sacred writings;
and he keeps every word of promise which he has made; and the doctrines of the
Gospel will always continue from one generation to another; but the sense is
that God will keep the poor and needy
and such as he sets in safety
as Kimchi
rightly observes: they are not their own keepers
but God is the keeper of
them; he keeps them by his power
and in his Son
in whose hands they are
and
who is able to keep them from falling; they are kept by him from a total and
final falling away; from the dominion and damning power of sin
and from being
devoured by Satan
and from the evil of the world: and this the psalmist had
good reason to believe
because of the love of God to them
his covenant with
them
and the promises of safety and salvation he has made unto them;
thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever; or "thou
shalt preserve him"F16תצרנו
"custodies eum"
Pagninus
Montanus
Gejerus
Michaelis; so
Ainsworth. ; that is
everyone of the poor and needy
from the wicked
generation of men in which they live
from being corrupted or intimidated by
them; and who are described in the beginning of the psalm. Some take these
words to be a prayer
"keep thou them
O Lord
and preserve them"
&c.F17"Custodi eum"
Tigurine version
Vatablus
"custodito eorum quemque"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator. ; and
so the following words may be thought to be a reason or argument enforcing the
request.
Psalm 12:8 8 The wicked prowl on every
side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
YLT
8Around the wicked walk
continually
According as vileness is exalted by sons of men!
The wicked walk on every side
.... Of the poor and
needy
of the righteous ones
to watch them
lay snares for them
and hurt
them; therefore
Lord
keep and preserve them: the wicked are everywhere in
great numbers
the whole world lies in wickedness; and the men of it are like their
father the devil
they go about to do all the mischief they can to the saints;
wherefore they stand in need continually of divine preservation;
when the vilest men are exalted: either to great
dignities and high offices
to be magistrates and rulers; see Proverbs 29:2; or are highly esteemed and
caressed; which shows the sad degeneracy and badness of the times
and the
unsafe and dangerous condition the people of God are in
unless kept by him;
see Malachi 3:15; or else these words may be
considered as expressive of the judgment of God upon wicked men
and so confirm
what the psalmist had said of God's regard to and preservation of his own
people; and the sense be
that the wicked shall walk up and down here and
there
as outcasts and vagabonds
in a most desolate
destitute
and miserable
condition; and as the latter clause may be rendered
"according to their
exaltation shall be the vileness"
depression
or humiliation
"of the children of men"F18כרם זלות "secundum superelevationem
vilitas (erit vel
est)"
Cocceius. ; they shall be brought as low as they have been made
high; by how much the more highly they have been exalted
by so much the more
deeply they shall be humbled: or else the meaning is
they shall walk about
here and there fretting and vexing
when they shall see such who in their
opinion are the meanest and basest of men
of low degree
and of a mean
extract
exalted to the highest posts of honour and dignity; as David
who was
taken from the sheepfold
and placed on the throne of Israel; so Jarchi
who
observes that the Haggadah explains it of the Israelites
who will be exalted
in time to come.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)