Psalms 12:1

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth,.... A godly man, according to the notation of the word (z), is one that has received grace and mercy of the Lord; as pardoning mercy, justifying and adopting

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. Title. - Upon Sheminith - Note on title, Psalms 6:1-10.

Psalms 12 The same title is prefixed to Psalms 6. This Psalm was composed in the time and upon the occasion of Saul’ s ill government, and his persecution of David, and other good men who favoured him. David, being destitute of human comfort, craveth help of God, . He exclaims against flattering and deceitful tongues, ; and comforteth himself with God’ s judgment on them, ,4; and assureth himself of his tried mercies to the needy, . Help; or, save me and other good men from the subtlety and rage of wicked men. Saul will not help us, and other men cannot help; therefore it is a fit season for thee to help. The godly; or, kind, or merciful, as this word is oft used, as 31:24 86:2: q.d. I and my friends are sorely and causelessly persecuted, banished from our homes and friends, and, which is worst of all, from God’ s sanctuary, and yet few or none pity us; all mercy and humanity is lost. The faithful fail; men have lost not only serious piety, but even common honesty, in their words and dealings with men.

Psalms 12:1 « To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. » Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.Ver. 1. Help, Lord] It was high time to call to heaven for help when Saul cried, Go, kill me up the priests of Jehovah (the occasion, as it is thought, of making this psalm), and therein committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, as some grave divines are of the opinion, 1 Samuel 22:17. David, after many sad thoughts about that slaughter, and the occasion of it, Doeg’ s malicious information, together with the paucity of his fast friends and the multitude of his sworn enemies at court, breaks forth abruptly into these words, "Help, Lord," help at a dead lift. The Arabic version hath it, Deliver me by main force, as with weapons of war, for the Lord is a man of war, Exodus 15:3. For the godly man ceaseth] Heb. the merciful man, who, having obtained mercy from thee, would show me mercy, and defend mine innocence; such as these are banished the court, which is now possessed by parasites and sycophants. For the faithful fail] Veraces, the true and trusty ones, such as a man may safely confide in; these are rare birds. See Micah 7:1-3, &c., When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith (in this sense also) in the earth? Luke 18:8, hard and scarce. When Varus was slain Augustus complained that now he had none left that would deal plainly and faithfully with him. Lewis XI of France would say, that he had plenty of all things but of one. And being asked of what? Of truth, quoth he, Aurelian the emperor was brought and sold by his counsellors, for he might know nothing but as they informed him. David complaineth of Saul, that he was too apt to hearken to every claw back tell tale, 1 Samuel 24:9; 1 Samuel 26:19, so that he could have no fair dealing.

(1) Ceaseth.—Intransitive, as in Psalms 7:9. The faithful.—The Vulg. and Syriac treat this word as abstract: “truth,” “faithfulness.” So Ewald; but the parallelism here, as in Psalms 31:23, requires it in the concrete. (Comp. 2 Samuel 20:19.) The Hebrew is cognate with “amen,” and Luther has “amen’s leute,” people as good as their word.

PSALM XII The psalmist, destitute of human comfort, craves help from God, 1; gives the character of those who surrounded him, and denounces God's judgments against them, 2-5; confides in the promises of God, and in his protection of him and all good men, 6-8. NOTES ON PSALM XII The inscription to this Psalm is: To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. See on the title of Ps 6:1. The Arabic has "Concerning the end (of the world which shall happen) on the eighth day. A prophecy relative to the Advent of the Messiah." Some think that this Psalm was made when Doeg and the Ziphites betrayed David to Saul, see 1 Samuel 22:9; 1 Samuel 23:19; c., but it is most likely that was written during the Babylonish captivity. Verse 1. Help, Lord] Save me, O Lord for merciful men fail, and faithful men have passed away from the sons of Adam. Make safe me, Lord; for haly failed, for lessed es sothfastnes fra sons of men. OLD MS.

1, 2. A cry for help in the midst of prevailing faithlessness.

Help, Lord - Hebrew, “Save, Yahweh.” The idea is that there was no human help, and, therefore, the divine help is implored.

1. Help, Lord—The call is abrupt, impassioned, and universal. The verb has no object, because the evil is not local and personal, but general.