Psalm 12:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which, though the prudent will keep silent (Amos 5:13) because a man may then be made an offender for a word, yet we may comfort ourselves with such suitable meditations and prayers as are here got ready to our hand. I. Let us see here what it is that makes the times bad, and when they may be said to be so. Ask the children of this world what it is in their account that makes the times bad, and they will tell you, Scarcity of money,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 12:3

The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips ,.... This is either a prophecy or a prayer, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe; that God either would or should cut off such who used flattery with their lips, by inflicting some judgment in this life, or everlasting punishment hereafter; by taking them away by death "out of the world", as the Targum paraphrases it; or by casting them into hell, where all liars and deceitful persons will have their portion; see Job 32:21 ; and the tongue that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:3

Proud things - גדלות gedoloth , great things; great swelling words, both in their promises and in their commendations. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:3

Verse 3 To his complaint in the preceding verse he now subjoins an imprecation, that God would cut off deceitful tongues. It is uncertain whether he wishes that deceitful men may be utterly destroyed, or only that the means of doing mischief may be taken from them; but the scope of the passage leads us rather to adopt the first sense, and to view David as desiring that God, by some means or other, would remove that plague out of the way. As he makes no mention of malice, while he inveighs so... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

Hard, times. This psalm has no indication of the time in which it was written. £ At whatever time, however, it may have been penned, there is no doubt about the general features of the age here represented. It was one in which good men were becoming more and more rare, in which the wicked abounded, and took occasion from the numerical inferiority of the righteous to indulge in haughty and vain talk against them and against God. The psalmist looks with concern and distress upon this state... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

Christian growth. I. TROUBLE MOVES MEN TO PRAYER . ( Psalms 12:1 .) As the child instinctively cries to its father, so we cry to God. Society may wax worse and worse. The righteous may fail out of the land. It is hard to serve alone. Falsehood and lust prevail. There are fears on every side. In God alone is our help found. II. PRAYER STRENGTHENS FAITH . ( Psalms 12:3 , Psalms 12:4 .) There is some relief in telling our griefs. Further, we are cheered by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

Lamentation over the growing corruption of the nation. "The psalmist is appalled by the rottenness of society around him; unscrupulous ambition appears to rule supreme; truth is scorned as folly, and the god of lies is enthroned in the national heart. But God had not left himself without a witness." Prophets and seers had already declared the Divine word of promise, that the righteous cause should be upheld and vindicated. I. A DARK PICTURE OF DEPRAVED SOCIETY . 1 .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:3

The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips . The complaint having been made, a threat follows (comp. Psalms 10:15 ; Psalms 11:6 ; Psalms 17:13 , etc.). The men who flatter with their lips, beguiling and cozening their victims to get them completely into their power, shall be "cut off" from the congregation (see Genesis 17:14 ; Exodus 12:15 , Exodus 12:19 ; Le Exodus 7:20 , 27; Exodus 17:10 , etc.). And the tongue that speaketh proud things ; literally, great things ; ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 12:3

The Lord shall cut off - This might be rendered, “May the Lord cut off,” implying a wish on the part of the psalmist that it might occur. But probably the common rendering is the correct one. It is the statement of a solemn truth, designed for warning, that all such persons would be punished.All flattering lips - The meaning is, that he will cut off all “persons” who use flattery; that is, he will cut them off from the favors which he will show to his own people, or will punish them. The word... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 12:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 12:3

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 12:3

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