Psalm 12, The Arrogance of the Wicked!

For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

The Hebrew word "Sheminith" is presumably a musical term. It appears two other times in the Old Testament, in the heading of Psalm 6 and in 1 Chronicles 15: 21 where it describes singing before the ark in Jerusalem. The word apparently has an association with the word "eight" and the Strong's concordance link above suggests that the word refers to an eight string lyre.

Psalm 12: 1-2, Everyone lies!

Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;

 the faithful have vanished from among men.

Everyone lies to his neighbor; 

their flattering lips speak with deception.

This psalm follows a thread from Psalm 11 and elaborates on it.  It is a specific case of "The Problem of Evil".  How can a just and sovereign God allow evil?  For David, the evil here is personal.  He is likely the target of the lies and deception.  So David's question is, "God, how can you allow such evil to happen to me?"

The success of evil has apparently led "everyone" to practice it.  No one is "godly" or "faithful"!  David feels alone, abandoned.

Psalm 12: 3-4, Boastful tongues

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips 

and every boastful tongue that says, 

"We will triumph with our tongues; 

we own our lips --who is our master?"

James elaborates on this concept in a series of proverbs in his New Testament letter.  See James 3:1-12 regarding our inability to "tame the tongue".

Psalm 12: 5-6, Flawless words of YHWH

"Because of the oppression of the weak 

and the groaning of the needy, 

I will now arise," says the LORD. 

"I will protect them from those who malign them."

And the words of the LORD are flawless, 

like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.

As in most of David's songs, there is resolution at the end.  He eventually hears an answer from God, who promises to "arise".  God will protect the weak.

In some way this is linked to God's "words"; I think the meaning here is that if God says that He/She will arise, then those actions will indeed be done.

The psalms of David have a repeated emphasis on social justice.  This is, apparently, a major characteristic of God.  The Jewish leader -- or any citizen of the kingdom of God -- should have similar concerns for justice!

Psalm 12: 7-8, Safe

O LORD, you will keep us safe 

and protect us from such people forever.

The wicked freely strut about 

when what is vile is honored among men.

I have old notes which say to read II Samuel 23, where we see David's last psalm.

Note how the psalm ends in verse 8?  Is this verse a positive or negative statement?  Is this the ending you would have expected?  (Verse 8, "The wicked freely strut", may be a proverb of David's day, which David is repeating.)

Embedded in the problem of evil is a secondary question: If God eventually deals with evil and injustice, why is God's action so slow?