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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM XII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there
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was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country,
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which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself
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suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his
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sworn enemies.
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I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst
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trust,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. He foretels the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. He assures himself and others that, how ill soever things went now
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:8">ver. 8</A>),
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God would preserve and secure to himself his own people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:5,7">ver. 5, 7</A>),
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and would certainly make good his promises to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:6">
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ver. 6</A>.
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Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly
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calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that
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some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here
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described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then.
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"O tempora, O mores!--Oh the times! Oh the manners!"</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ps12_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ps12_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Complaints of the Times.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<CENTER>
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<P>To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.</P>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Help, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from
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among the children of men.
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2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: <I>with</I>
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flattering lips <I>and</I> with a double heart do they speak.
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3 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall cut off all flattering lips, <I>and</I> the tongue
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that speaketh proud things:
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4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips
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<I>are</I> our own: who <I>is</I> lord over us?
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5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
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now will I arise, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; I will set <I>him</I> in safety
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<I>from him that</I> puffeth at him.
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6 The words of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>are</I> pure words: <I>as</I> silver tried in
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a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
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7 Thou shalt keep them, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, thou shalt preserve them from
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this generation for ever.
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8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are
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exalted.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which,
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though the prudent will keep silent
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+5:13">Amos v. 13</A>)
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because a man may then be made an offender for a word, yet we may
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comfort ourselves with such suitable meditations and prayers as are
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here got ready to our hand.</P>
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<P>
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I. Let us see here what it is that makes the times bad, and when they
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may be said to be so. Ask the children of this world what it is in
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their account that makes the times bad, and they will tell you,
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Scarcity of money, decay of trade, and the desolations of war, make the
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times bad. But the scripture lays the badness of the times upon causes
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of another nature.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:1">2 Tim. iii. 1</A>,
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<I>Perilous times shall come,</I> for iniquity shall abound; and that
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is the thing David here complains of.</P>
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<P>
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1. When there is a general decay of piety and honesty among men the
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times are then truly bad
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>When the godly man ceases and the faithful fail.</I> Observe how
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these two characters are here put together, the godly and the faithful.
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As there is no true policy, so there is no true piety, without honesty.
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Godly men are faithful men, <I>fast</I> men, so they have sometimes
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been called; their word is as confirming as their oath, as binding as
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their bond; they make conscience of being true both to God and man.
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They are here said to cease and fail, either by death or by desertion,
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or by both. Those that were godly and faithful were taken away, and
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those that were left had sadly degenerated and were not what they had
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been; so that there were few or no good people that were Israelites
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indeed to be met with. Perhaps he meant that there were no godly
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faithful men among Saul's courtiers; if he meant there were few or none
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in Israel, we hope he was under the same mistake that Elijah was, who
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thought he only was left alone, when God had 7000 who kept their
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integrity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:3">Rom. xi. 3</A>);
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or he meant that there were few in comparison; there was a general
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decay of religion and virtue (and the times are bad, very bad, when it
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is so), not a man to be found that executes judgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:1">Jer. v. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. When dissimulation and flattery have corrupted and debauched all
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conversation, then the times are very bad
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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when men are generally so profligate that they make no conscience of a
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lie, are so spiteful as to design against their neighbours the worst of
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mischiefs, and yet so base as to cover the design with the most
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specious and plausible pretences and professions of friendship. Thus
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<I>they speak vanity</I> (that is, falsehood and a lie) <I>every one to
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his neighbour, with flattering lips and a double heart.</I> They will
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kiss and kill (as Joab did Abner and Amasa in David's own time), will
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smile in your face and cut your throat. This is the devil's image
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complete, a complication of malice and falsehood. The times are bad
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indeed when there is no such thing as sincerity to be met with, when an
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honest man knows not whom to believe nor whom to trust, nor dares put
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confidence in a friend, in a guide,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:5,6,Jer+9:4,5">Mic. vii. 5, 6; Jer. ix. 4, 5</A>.
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Woe to those who help to make the times thus perilous.</P>
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<P>
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3. When the enemies of God, and religion, and religious people, are
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impudent and daring, and threaten to run down all that is just and
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sacred, then the times are very bad, when proud sinners have arrived at
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such a pitch of impiety as to say, "<I>With our tongue will we
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prevail</I> against the cause of virtue; <I>our lips are our own</I>
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and we may say what we will; <I>who is lord over us,</I> either to
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restrain us or to call us to an account?"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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This bespeaks,
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(1.) A proud conceit of themselves and confidence in themselves, as if
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the point were indeed gained by eating forbidden fruit, and they were
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as gods, independent and self-sufficient, infallible in their knowledge
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of good and evil and therefore fit to be oracles, irresistible in their
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power and therefore fit to be lawgivers, that could prevail with their
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tongues, and, like God himself, speak and it is done.
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(2.) An insolent contempt of God's dominion as if he had no propriety
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in them--<I>Our lips are our own</I> (an unjust pretension, for who
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made man's mouth, in whose hand is his breath, and whose is the air he
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breathes in?) and as if he had no authority either to command them or
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to judge them: <I>Who is Lord over us?</I> Like Pharaoh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+5:1">Exod. v. 1</A>.
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This is as absurd and unreasonable as the former; for he in whom we
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live, and move, and have our being, must needs be, by an indisputable
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title, Lord over us.</P>
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<P>
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4. When the poor and needy are oppressed, and abused, and puffed at,
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then the times are very bad. This is implied
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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where God himself takes notice of <I>the oppression of the poor</I> and
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<I>the sighing of the needy;</I> they are oppressed because they are
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poor, have all manner of wrong done them merely because they are not in
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a capacity to right themselves. Being thus oppressed, they dare not
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speak for themselves, lest their defence should be made their offence;
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but they sigh, secretly bemoaning their calamities, and pouring out
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their souls in sighs before God. If their oppressors be spoken to on
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their behalf, they puff at them, make light of their own sin and the
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misery of the poor, and lay neither to heart; see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+10:5">Ps. x. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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5. When wickedness abounds, and goes barefaced, under the protection
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and countenance of those in authority, then the times are very bad,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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<I>When the vilest men are exalted</I> to places of trust and power
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(who, instead of putting the laws in execution against vice and
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injustice and punishing the wicked according to their merits, patronise
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and protect them, give them countenance, and support their reputation
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by their own example), then <I>the wicked walk on every side;</I> they
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swarm in all places, and go up and down seeking to deceive, debauch,
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and destroy others; they are neither afraid nor ashamed to discover
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themselves; they declare their sin as Sodom and there is none to check
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or control them. Bad men are base men, the vilest of men, and they are
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so though they are ever so highly exalted in this world. Antiochus the
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illustrious the scripture calls <I>a vile person,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+11:21">Dan. xi. 21</A>.
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But it is bad with a kingdom when such are preferred; no marvel if
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wickedness then grows impudent and insolent. <I>When the wicked bear
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rule the people mourn.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. Let us now see what good thoughts we are here furnished with for
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such bad times; and what times we may yet be reserved for we cannot
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tell. When times are thus bad it is comfortable to think,</P>
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<P>
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1. That we have a God to go to, from whom we may ask and expect the
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redress of all our grievances. This he begins with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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"<I>Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth.</I> All other helps and
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helpers fail; even the godly and faithful, who should lend a helping
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hand to support the dying cause of religion, are gone, and therefore
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whither shall we seek but to thee?" Note, When godly faithful people
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cease and fail it is time to cry, <I>Help, Lord!</I> The abounding of
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iniquity threatens a deluge. "Help, Lord, help the virtuous; few seek
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to hold fast their integrity, and to stand in the gap; help to save thy
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own interest in the world from sinking. <I>It is time for thee, Lord,
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to work.</I>"</P>
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<P>
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2. That God will certainly reckon with false and proud men, and will
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punish and restrain their insolence. They are above the control of men
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and set them at defiance. Men cannot discover the falsehood of
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flatterers, nor humble the haughtiness of those that speak proud
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things; but the righteous God will <I>cut off all flattering lips,</I>
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that give the traitor's kiss and speak words softer then oil when war
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is in the heart; he will pluck out <I>the tongue that speaks proud
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things</I> against God and religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Some translate it as a prayer, "May God cut off those false and
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spiteful lips." <I>Let lying lips be put to silence.</I></P>
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<P>
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3. That God will, in due time, work deliverance for his oppressed
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people, and shelter them from the malicious designs of their
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persecutors
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Now, will I arise, saith the Lord.</I> This promise of God, which
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David here delivered by the spirit of prophecy, is an answer to that
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petition which he put up to God by the spirit of prayer. "Help, Lord,"
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says he; "I will," says God; "here I am, with seasonable and effectual
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help."
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(1.) It is seasonable, in the fittest time.
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[1.] When the oppressors are in the height of their pride and
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insolence--when they say, <I>Who is lord over us?</I>--then is God's
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time to let them know, to their cost, that he is above them.
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[2.] When the oppressed are in the depth of their distress and
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despondency, when they are sighing like Israel in Egypt by reason of
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the cruel bondage, then is God's time to appear for them, as for Israel
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when they were most dejected and Pharaoh was most elevated. <I>Now will
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I arise.</I> Note, There is a time fixed for the rescue of oppressed
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innocency; that time will come, and we may be sure it is the fittest
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time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+102:13">Ps. cii. 13</A>.
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(2.) It is effectual: <I>I will set him in safety,</I> or in salvation,
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not only protect him, but restore him to his former prosperity, will
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<I>bring him out into a wealthy place</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:12">Ps. lxvi. 12</A>),
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so that, upon the whole, he shall lose nothing by his sufferings.</P>
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<P>
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4. That, though men are false, God is faithful; though they are not to
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be trusted, God is. They speak vanity and flattery, but <I>the words of
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the Lord are pure words</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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not only all true, but all pure, like silver tried in a furnace of
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earth or a crucible. It denotes,
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(1.) The sincerity of God's word, every thing is really as it is there
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represented and not otherwise; it does not jest with us, not impose
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upon us, nor has it any other design towards us than our own good.
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(2.) The preciousness of God's word; it is of great and intrinsic
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value, like silver refined to the highest degree; it has nothing in it
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to depreciate it.
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(3.) The many proofs that have been given of its power and truth; it
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has been often tried, all the saints in all ages have trusted it and so
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tried it, and it never deceived them nor frustrated their expectation,
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but they have all set to their seal that God's word is true, with an
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<I>Experto crede--Trust one that has made trial;</I> they have found it
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so. Probably this refers especially to these promises of succouring and
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relieving the poor and oppressed. Their friends put them in hopes that
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they will do something for them, and yet prove a broken reed; but the
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words of God are what we may rely upon; and the less confidence is to
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be put in men's words let us with the more assurance trust in God's
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word.</P>
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<P>
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5. That God will secure his chosen remnant to himself, how bad soever
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the times are
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.</I> This
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intimates that, as long as the world stands, there will be a generation
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of proud and wicked men in it, more or less, who will threaten by their
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wretched arts to ruin religion, by <I>wearing out the saints of the
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Most High,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:25">Dan. vii. 25</A>.
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But let God alone to maintain his own interest and to preserve his own
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people. He will keep them from this generation,
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(1.) From being debauched by them and drawn away from God, from
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mingling with them and learning their works. In times of general
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apostasy the Lord knows those that are his, and they shall be enabled
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to keep their integrity.
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(2.) From being destroyed and rooted out by them. The church is built
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upon a rock, and so well fortified that the gates of hell shall not
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prevail against it. In the worst of times God has his remnant, and in
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every age will reserve to himself a holy seed and preserve that to his
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heavenly kingdom.</P>
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<P>
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In singing this psalm, and praying it over, we must bewail the general
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corruption of manners, thank God that things are not worse than they
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are, but pray and hope that they will be better in God's due time.</P>
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