Psalms 12
Big idea: A psalm about words, in a world where words have stopped working. Everyone lies to his neighbor; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart; their boast is that our lips are our own — who is lord over us? Into that, one sentence of God's own speech breaks in at verse 5: because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise. And the psalmist's comment is a comparison of two kinds of speech: Yahweh's words are silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.
Psalm 12 says the godly man has ceased. Psalm 13 is one of those few, asking how long.
12:1–8 — Silver refined seven times
Two speeches, and everything depends on hearing them against each other. The first is a boast about ownership — our lips are our own, who is lord over us — which is a claim that words belong to whoever says them. The second is God's, and it is not a rebuttal but an intervention on behalf of people whose words got them nowhere. Then the poem prices the two: one kind of speech is silver refined seven times, and the psalm ends with the other kind still walking about.
1 For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. 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?” 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.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).