Knowing The Word in Psalm 12

The Faithful Have Vanished

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. 2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” 6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

Comments

The community speaks this psalm together in a prayer asking God to deliver them from the lies of their neighbors. God expects us to live in the tensions of walking in faith, especially when we have to live side by side with the wicked. Yet we know that in Christ we are and will be found righteous and victorious.

Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said that thou art the way, the truth, and the life: suffer us not at any time to stray from thee, who art the way; nor to distrust thy promises, who art the truth; nor to rest in any other thing than thee, who art the life; beyond which there is nothing to be desired, neither in heaven, nor in earth; for thy name’s sake.

Christian Prayers, 1578 (based on Erasmus, 1467-1536)