Bible Commentaries
Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psalms 12
Psalms 12:1. Help, Lord; for the godly, Hebrews חסיד chasid, the merciful man ceaseth. The true reading is preferable, because it joins piety with usefulness. In this manner David is thought to have prayed in the wilderness of Ziph, against the vices of the court, after the eighty priests of Nob, and their city, were destroyed. 1 Samuel 22:23.
REFLECTIONS.
The lying tongue of Doeg, who misguided his sovereign to a rash and bloody act, pierced the soul of David. But he who for the moment prevails against his neighbour, shall soon himself be cut off. The sword of the Philistines in a few years proved sharper than the sword of Saul.
The great sin of slander and falsehood is to be noted here, as it led to all those foul and cruel deeds that followed. It was for the oppression of the defenceless poor, to whom they should have been fathers and protectors, that the day of visitation was reserved.
But this should console the afflicted in all such circumstances, that while the tongues of wicked men utter the malice of their hearts, the words of the Lord are pure, like gold seven times refined. He is not as man, that he should lie: his truth and faithfulness endure for ever. The promises made to the fathers are made to the children, to the generations not yet born. Fret not thyself then, oh my soul, when the vilest of men obtain promotion; for the Lord shall cast them down, and number them with the dust.
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