2 Vanity they speak each with his neighbour, Lip of flattery! With heart and heart they speak.
for such our Lord Jesus Christ do not serve, but their own belly; and through the good word and fair speech they deceive the hearts of the harmless,
And if he came to see -- vanity he speaketh, His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, He goeth out -- at the street he speaketh.
Of oaths his mouth is full, And deceits, and fraud: Under his tongue `is' perverseness and iniquity,
Draw me not with the wicked, And with workers of iniquity, Speaking peace with their neighbours, And evil in their heart.
For there is no stability in their mouth. Their heart `is' mischiefs, An open grave `is' their throat, Their tongue they make smooth.
For there is no more any vain vision, and flattering divination, In the midst of the house of Israel.
for at no time did we come with speech of flattery, (as ye have known,) nor in a pretext for covetousness, (God `is' witness!)
Who doth give me in a wilderness A lodging-place of travellers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them `are' adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones. And they bend their tongue, their bow `is' a lie, And not for stedfastness have they been mighty in the land, For from evil unto evil they have gone forth, And Me they have not known, An affirmation of Jehovah! Each of his friend -- beware ye, And on any brother, do not trust, For every brother doth utterly supplant, For every friend slanderously doth walk, And each at his friend they mock, And truth they do not speak, They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, To commit iniquity they have laboured. thy dwelling `is' in the midst of deceit, Through deceit they refused to know Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.
A man taking a portion above his neighbour, Spreadeth a net for his own steps.
Free me, and deliver me From the hand of sons of a stranger, Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their right hand `is' a right hand of falsehood,
Only -- from his excellency They have consulted to drive away, They enjoy a lie, with their mouth they bless, And with their heart revile. Selah.
Sweeter than honey hath been his mouth, And his heart `is' war! Softer have been his words than oil, And they `are' drawn `swords'.
To the Overseer. -- An instruction, by David, in the coming in of Doeg the Edomite, and he declareth to Saul, and saith to him, `David came in unto the house of Ahimelech.' What, boasteth thou in evil, O mighty one? The kindness of God `is' all the day. Mischiefs doth thy tongue devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit. Thou hast loved evil rather than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. Selah. Thou hast loved all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 12
Commentary on Psalms 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 12
It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies.
Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. "O tempora, O mores!-Oh the times! Oh the manners!'
To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
Psa 12:1-8
This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which, though the prudent will keep silent (Amos 5:13) because a man may then be made an offender for a word, yet we may comfort ourselves with such suitable meditations and prayers as are here got ready to our hand.
In singing this psalm, and praying it over, we must bewail the general corruption of manners, thank God that things are not worse than they are, but pray and hope that they will be better in God's due time.