Psalm 12:5

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 12:5

For the oppression of the poor ,.... The servants and people of God, who, for the most part, are poor in a temporal sense, and are all of them, and always, so in a spiritual sense, standing continually in need of fresh supplies of grace; and being often afflicted, as the word signifies, are mean and despicable in the eyes of the men of this world, and so oppressed by them, as the poor generally are by the rich; and as the people of Israel were oppressed by the Egyptians, so are the people of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:5

For the oppression of the poor - This seems to refer best to the tribulations which the poor Israelites suffered while captives in Babylon. The Lord represents himself as looking on and seeing their affliction; and, hearing their cry, he determines to come forward to their help. Now will I arise - I alone delivered them into the hands of their enemies, because of their transgressions; I alone can and will deliver them from the hands of their enemies; and the manner of their deliverance... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:5

Verse 5 5.Because of the spoiling of the needy. David now sets before himself as matter of consolation, the truth that God will not suffer the wicked thus to make havoc without end and measure. The more effectually to establish himself and others in the belief of this truth, he introduces God himself as speaking. The expression is more emphatic when God is represented as coming forward and declaring with his own mouth that he is come to deliver the poor and distressed. There is also great... 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 12:5

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord . The ungodly having been threatened, a promise of assistance is made to the righteous whom they oppress. God declares that, in response to the many calls made upon him ( Psalms 3:7 ; Psalms 7:6 ; Psalms 9:19 ; Psalms 10:12 ), he will "now," at last, "arise"—interpose on behalf of the oppressed, and deliver them (comp. Exodus 3:7 , Exodus 3:8 ). I will set him in safety from him that... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 12:5

For the oppression of the poor - That is, on account of the wrong done to the poor in the manner specified above - by the abuse of the power of speech. On account of the slanders uttered against them, or the frauds perpetrated on them by the abuse of this power. The reference is to the wrongs done when no confidence could be placed in men’s words; when they uttered words of “vanity” and “flattery” Psalms 12:2; when promises were made only to be broken, and obligations assumed never to be... read more

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