Psalms · psalm 12 of 150
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Psalm 12 is a lament of David over a world where the faithful vanish and everyone speaks with lies and flattering lips. God answers that he will rise for the poor who are plundered, and his words are pure like silver refined seven times. The psalm ends asking the Lord to keep his people even though the wicked abound.
The title directs the psalm to the choirmaster, according to the Sheminith (probably a musical reference, meaning eighth or an eight-stringed instrument). It is a community lament with a direct divine answer, which is uncommon in the psalms. The theme is the power of words: the lies of people and the reliable word of God.
David begins with a cry: Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone! The faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
David asks the Lord to cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that makes great boasts, the ones who say that with their tongues they will prevail, their lips are their own, and no one will be their master. Then the Lord speaks: because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise, he says, and I will place him in the safety for which he longs.
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. David trusts that the Lord will keep his people and guard them from this generation forever. But the psalm ends with realism: on every side the wicked prowl as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David cries to God because the godly and the faithful are gone. The experience of feeling alone in faith is real, and the psalm turns it into a prayer.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor, with flattering lips and a double heart. The sin of the tongue, which corrupts trust between people, is the main theme of this lament.
God answers: because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, he will arise and place in safety the one who longs for it. It is one of the few times in the psalms when God himself speaks.
The words of the Lord are pure, like silver refined in a furnace and purified seven times. Unlike human words, God's promises have no dross and no deceit.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That the godly are gone and the faithful have vanished among men. — Psalm 12:1
Answer: With lies, with flattering lips and a double heart. — Psalm 12:2
Answer: To cut them off, along with the tongue that boasts. — Psalm 12:3
Answer: Arise because the poor are plundered and place in safety the one who longs for it. — Psalm 12:5
Answer: Silver refined in a furnace on the ground and purified seven times. — Psalm 12:6
Answer: With the wicked prowling on every side as vileness is exalted. — Psalm 12:8
Psalm 12 makes us think about how we use words. We live in a setting of flattery, exaggeration and convenient lies, including in the church. A good group practice is to ask where we say one thing and think another, or where we flatter in order to get something.
The psalm also offers comfort: God sees the poor and will rise for them, and his word does not deceive. For someone who feels that truth is scarce, returning each day to Scripture is returning to silver without dross. Trust in that word is what sustains us when vileness seems to triumph.
Psalm 12 closes with the picture of the wicked on every side and with trust in the Lord's pure word. Psalm 13 takes that tension into a more personal prayer, with the question that repeats four times: how long?
The number seven expresses fullness: God's word is completely pure. Refining silver means melting it to remove impurities, and the psalmist uses that picture to say that his promises contain no deceit.
The Lord himself, who answers David's cry. It is one of the few cases in the psalms where a direct word from God is recorded inside the poem.
The word means eighth. It is usually understood as a musical direction, perhaps a melody in the octave or an eight-stringed instrument, but its exact sense is not known with certainty.