God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak [b]falsehood to one another;
With flattering [c]lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [d]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”6 The words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The wicked strut about on every side
When [e]vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
This psalm has a similar theme to the last, as we see the faithfulness of God emphasized in verse 6. This could seem an odd juxtaposition to verse 5, where God only moves into action when the needy are groaning and his people are devastated and afflicted. Yet I don’t think that’s really what the psalmist intended, and reflects only a human perspective.
God is always on the move, and he sees everything that happens, to the believe and the nonbeliever alike. Yet his timing is not our own, and we sometimes wonder why he doesn’t do some mighty miracle to change our circumstances. Ultimately, verse 6 stands, because God knows what we need, and he knows exactly what is good for us. The difficult pill to swallow is that God also knows when tragedy in our lives will bring us, or others, closer to Him.
Yet through it all, His word is true, and He will keep and preserve us forever. Because this world is not our home, and our soul is eternal, it’s worth all the sorrow in the world to keep you safe in his hand–and to bring others to that mighty place of refuge. Always remember, God is sure and true, and when you trust in him, you will not be put to shame, no matter what happens in this earth below.