Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Psalm 12 (NIV)
For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. 2 Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception.
Request to Yahweh for help because of bad speaking in the community.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue 4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips – who is our master?"
With a strong hint about how Yahweh should respond.
5 "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."
6 And the words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver refined in a furnace of clay,
purified seven times.
Yahweh’s response.
7 O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever. 8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honoured among men.
The psalmist’s comment.
Here is a 6 minute reflection on Psalm 12 as an introduction.
Notes
1. Though the Psalm is billed as a ‘psalm of David’ it is not written as from a king, or even a leader, which David was from his youth. It is written from a position of helplessness and resultant despair as if the writer can see the problem but has no power or authority to change anything. Perhaps David wrote it when he was on the run from Saul during a time of despondency (1 Samuel 21-27). Or possibly, ‘of David’ refers to a poetic style or could it be a token of approval by the national psalm approval committee, if something like that had existed? The author was a godly person so maybe he/she was a member of his generation’s equivalent of the 7,000 ‘whose knees had not bowed down to Baal’ in Elijah’s day (1 King 19:18).
2. ‘According to sheminith’ in the title, is thought probably to be a musical direction for the benefit of the ‘Director of Music.’ It does not appear to be a part of the psalm even though in Jewish versions the title of each psalm is included as verse 1.
3. The psalm praises Yahweh (7) who protects us in trouble although he does not necessarily remove us from danger or destroy those who cause the trouble (8), much as we might wish and request (3-4).
4. Evil speaking and lack of truthfulness were serious problems in the business life of an ancient community for writing materials were not readily available so, even though there probably were many who were literate, written contracts would rarely be used. The spoken word therefore, needed to be depended on in business,[1] courts and all areas of social intercourse. This deterioration in public honesty and integrity struck at the heart of society. The loss of truthfulness damaged everyone.
5. The psalmist requests that Yahweh should reject such people. ‘Cut off’ (Hebrew karat) in verse 3 is a technical word relating to covenants that were sealed by an animal sacrifice. The animal was cut in two and the ‘signatories’ walked between the halves before burning them to indicate that they should be treated like this if they ever broke the covenant (Genesis 15:9-10, 17-18, Jeremiah 34:18-20).[2] The latest NIV version (2011) has ‘silence’ instead of ‘cut off.’ That carries the meaning of the word but misses out on the deeper significance of basing it in religious and contractual terms, for they emphasis the serious implications of such behaviour.
6. Using this religious language seems to imply that the evil people described were Jews, Yahweh’s people, but who had evidently forsaken Yahweh’s way. That is doubly hurtful. Opposition to God’s truth from ‘outside’ is hurtful but we can see that is inspired by forces of evil and is, in a sense, understandable (see note 27). However, when opposition comes from within the fellowship this is so much harder to bear, for God’s people, in such circumstances, have rejected God’s ways and, by their actions, are damaging the fellowship of God’s people.
7. Yahweh’s response (5), however, is not in judgment. Instead, he expresses his heart of compassion for the vulnerable who were most at risk of being harmed. He commits to protect them and ignores the psalmist’s request for retribution.
8. The psalmist acknowledges the correctness, relevance and merit of Yahweh’s comment by comparing its perfection and value (6) with the preceding lies, flattering lips, boastful tongue and malignity shown by the ungodly (2-5).
9. This psalm is a lament, a complaint, addressed to Yahweh with a typical pattern as shown in the table below. Often, complaints are bold and even aggressive, blaming Yahweh himself for his lack of care or interest in the misfortunes described. But not here.
10. The request too is softer than the often rude and pressing demands that feature in other lament psalms and there is an acknowledgment that Yahweh has previously proved trustworthy (6).
11. And Yahweh has a chance to reply (5). That is most unusual too (Psalm 60 is the only other lament psalm in which Yahweh’s voice is heard).
12. The psalm is addressed (1, 7) to Yahweh, the God who was, is and forever will be, the Almighty, the Ever-living One. That is the name God invited his people to use (Exodus 3:15). Hence, Yahweh is used in this commentary rather than the traditional, ‘the LORD’ which sounds more like a title than a personal name.
13. The complaint (1-2, 8) both introduces and ends the psalm. The godly and faithful have disappeared from society as it seems everyone lies and deceives by flattery. This is poetic hyperbole, of course, indicating that the godly and faithful are side-lined and no longer have influence so it feels as if they have disappeared.
14. Nevertheless, the psalmist is confident in Yahweh. His prayer for help (1) is answered by Yahweh himself in his promise, “Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” (5), so he ends with a declaration of his faith, ‘You, Yahweh, will keep the needy safe and will protect us’ (7).
15. This psalm therefore appears to be a complaint by a godly person about the problems of living in an ungodly society. It focuses on the use of language that is used abusively by society as a whole but particularly by the community leaders. In comparison, Yahweh’s words are exemplary – but they have no impact for the psalm ends as it started with no resolution. And then, Yahweh’s intervention does not address the complaint at all; instead, it raises other issues of concern. The psalm, therefore, appears disjointed and at cross purposes; though that is only when the English poetic layout is considered.
16. Further insights come to light when the psalm is considered using the Hebraic poetic pattern, as follows.
17. The psalm readily divides into five strophes which are couplets, except for the single-line B1, and that variation is a significant feature of the poetic structure that is discussed in notes 22-23. Each strophe expresses an idea (see column on right). They are paired in a chiastic structure A-A1, B-B1 with a parallel idea, that may match, develop or contrast, with the partner strophe. An unpaired couplet X is in the centre, at the heart of the psalm.
18. The pairing of strophes A-A1 shows that the faithful godly who were ‘no more’ and ‘vanished,’ probably meaning they were overruled and ignored, were actually kept safe and protected by Yahweh ‘for ever.’ The contrast is due to a different perspective that we are all aware of but often forget. For when we take our eyes off the troubles of life (strophe A) and focus on Yahweh (strophe A1) we recognise the shalom that Yahweh brings even in the middle of trauma inducing experiences. That is true even though the lie and deception in strophe A continue in the vileness in strophe A1. This contrast is explored further in Psalm 11.
19. God’s words described in strophe B1, in contrast to the flattery and boastfulness of strophe B, are ‘flawless,’ as precious as refined silver or purified gold. ‘Purified in a crucible’ parallels the ‘cut off’ in strophe B. Both refer to fire, the first is about destruction and the second about purification.
20. The full phrase, ‘like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times,’ refers to the way metals were refined as illustrated below in this description of how copper was refined.[3]
21. This imagery is used elsewhere in Scripture and is, according to Mounce, ‘a metaphor for the refining work of God in a person’s life.’[4]
For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver (Psalm 66:10).
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but Yahweh tests the heart (Proverbs 17:3).
Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silversmith; remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness (Proverbs 25:4-5).
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives (Proverbs 27:21).
See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10).
Then the word of Yahweh came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. Therefore this is what Sovereign Yahweh says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath upon you‘” (Ezekiel 22:17-22).
In the whole land,” declares Yahweh, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is our God'” (Zechariah 13:8-9).
22. The succinctness and respect of the one line statement in strophe B1 is in pointed contrast to the chaos and rebelliousness of the longer complaint in strophe B.
23. This break in the poetic symmetry draws the readers attention to the statement being made and away from the poet’s skill. It is a feature of Hebraic poetry.
24. In spite of the prayer, calling on Yahweh’s help, the trouble continues. There is no change as the psalm ends in strophe A1, for the wicked are still strutting about honouring what is vile. Such powerful emotive imagery!
25. This is so similar to our day. Crime and immorality hold sway. Honour, respect, fairness and integrity in business, government and social structures no longer are valued, if they ever were. Even the church is caught up in this so it is known for its paedophilia and sexual abuse, its property empires and unwise investments.
26. So what is the point of praying if nothing has changed? Does Yahweh not care? Are Yahweh’s people inept and irrelevant?
27. But why are we shocked and upset that the world does not follow God’s way? Does not Paul in Romans make the situation clear?
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:18-32).
Paul continues in Romans 2 to demonstrate that the Jews, the religious righteous of his day, were equally at risk of being drawn into ungodly and evil practices. All that was as true upward of 3,000 years ago when Psalm 12 was written as it was when Paul wrote to the believers in Rome in about AD 57 and as we experience life in the 21st century.
28. In the middle of Psalm 12, strophe X, the crux, the central message of the psalm, Yahweh speaks and answers such objections. I take this to be a prophetic message in which Yahweh uses the psalmist to share a message that he wants his people to hear from himself.
29. In all the sinfulness and evil in the world Yahweh identifies where his heart is – with the weak and needy. ‘I will protect them from those who malign them,’ he says.
30. We can safely assume that this was a genuine prophetic word. The psalmist was not promoting his own ideas and assuming he had Yahweh’s approval. The prophecy is counterintuitive. It is unexpected. Most of all it is in keeping with Yahweh’s will and purpose as revealed in Scripture, most clearly in Jesus’ ‘mission statement’ when he preached at Nazareth and quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and Psalm 146:7-8:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18-19).
31. Yes! Yahweh’s heart is for those who are suffering; the abused, oppressed and needy both then and now.
32. Psalm 12 is not the usual self-centred lament, though it starts out like that. It primarily is a lament on behalf of those who have no voice to cry out, no strength to dig themselves out and perhaps worst of all no vision to see a way out.
33. Just might Yahweh have a part for us to play in his plans? Is that where he wants us to focus our prayers and attention?
34. Is this psalm therefore, not so much about surviving in a godless society but rather is it a call to the heart of Yahweh’s people to catch the burden of Yahweh’s heart and share his passion to see rescue, healing and salvation come to those in desperate need, the weak and needy? In our modern jargon we may refer to them as ‘the traumatised.’
35. This psalm has an important message for us who live in a world in which ‘trauma is perhaps the greatest mission field of the twenty-first century.’[5]
36. I think the psalm may resonate particularly well with those who have been traumatised by abuse whether physical, emotional, sexual or even spiritual (such as in a Christian or church context).
37. In such situations, where the abuser has used a position of authority and power to take advantage of those abused, the abused are still assured of Yahweh’s presence, attention and care.
38. They are the weak and needy of strophe X. While all else fails Yahweh remains faithful and true.
39. There is a lot more that could and should be said about such topics but poetry, as in the Psalms, never presents a full analysis and management plan of a topic. Instead its focus is on one or two points that are presented in a way that speaks into our emotions as well as our intellect; to our hearts as well as our minds.
40. Stop. Listen. Rest in Yahweh’s shalom.
Endnotes
[1] Ruth 4:1-12 illustrates how this took place.
[2] Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, general ed. William D. Mounce, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006) p. 143.
[3] A. Stuart and J Ruffle, ‘Metals and Mining’ in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary ed. By J. D. Douglas and others, (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980) p.1004.
[4] Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary, p. 654.
[5] Diane Langberg, Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores, (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2015) p. 8.
Written: 23 October 2021
Published: 20 December 2022
Updated: 20 April 2024