Psalms 12 — The LORD’s Pure Words in a Generation of False Speech | World English Bible | OliveGrove

Psalms 12

The LORD’s Pure Words in a Generation of False Speech

The psalm moves from lament over vanishing faithfulness, to exposure of deceitful and arrogant speech, to the LORD’s promise to arise for the oppressed, to confidence in the purity and preservation of his words, ending with sober realism about wickedness still prowling.

World English Bible, Public Domain

Psalms 12:1–4

The Lord is summoned to help as the faithful vanish and the arrogant use deceit to claim they have no master.

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1 Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.

2 Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

3 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,

4 who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”

Psalms 12:5–8

The Lord arises to protect the needy with promises as pure as refined silver, even in a world that honors worthlessness.

Authority of Scripture Divine Mercy Deliverance Remnant Judgment

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5 “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”

6 Yahweh’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.

7 You will keep them, Yahweh. You will preserve them from this generation forever.

8 The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.

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