David, destitute of human comfort, craves help from God, 1, 2. He comforts himself with God's promises and judgments on the wicked, 3-8.
1 [To the Chief Musician upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.]
Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases,/
for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 They each speak vanity with his neighbor./
With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips/
and the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail./
Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?"
5 "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,/
now I will arise," says the LORD./
"I will set him in safety from him who puffs at him."
6 The words of the LORD are pure words,/
as silver tried in a furnace of earth,/
purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O LORD,/
you shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked walk on every side/
when the vilest men are exalted.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Psalms, Chapter 12[➚]
John Calvin's Chapter Summary:
David, deploring the wretched and forlorn condition of his people, and the utter overthrow of good order, beseeches God to afford them speedy relief. Then, in order to comfort both himself and all the godly, after having mentioned God's promise of assisting his people, he magnifies his faithfulness and constancy in performing his promises. From this he concludes, that at length God will deliver the godly, even when the world may be in a state of the greatest corruption.