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Matthew Henry

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words ,.... This observation the psalmist makes in reference to what is just now said in Psalm 12:5 ,, and in opposition to the words of wicked men in Psalm 12:2 ; which are deceitful, sinful, and impure. The Scriptures are the words of God; and they are pure and holy, free from all human mixtures, and from all fraud and deceit; they are the Scriptures of truth. The promises are the words of God, and they are firm and stable, and always to be depended on,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 12:7

Thou shall keep them, O Lord ,.... Not the words before mentioned, as Aben Ezra explains it, for the affix is masculine and not feminine; not but God has wonderfully kept and preserved the sacred writings; and he keeps every word of promise which he has made; and the doctrines of the Gospel will always continue from one generation to another; but the sense is, that God will keep the poor and needy, and such as he sets in safety, as Kimchi rightly observes: they are not their own keepers, but... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 12:8

The wicked walk on every side ,.... Of the poor and needy, of the righteous ones, to watch them, lay snares for them, and hurt them; therefore, Lord, keep and preserve them: the wicked are everywhere in great numbers, the whole world lies in wickedness; and the men of it are like their father the devil, they go about to do all the mischief they can to the saints; wherefore they stand in need continually of divine preservation; when the vilest men are exalted : either to great dignities... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words - None of his promises shall fall to the ground; the salvation which he has promised shall be communicated. Silver tried in a furnace of earth - A refer ence to the purification of silver by the cupel. This is a sort of instrument used in the purification of silver. It may be formed out of a strong iron ring or hoop, adjusted in width and depth to the quantum of silver to be purified, and rammed full of well pulverized calcined bone. The metal to be... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:7

Thou shalt keep them - thou shalt preserve them - Instead of the pronoun them in these clauses, several MSS., with the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Arabic, have us. The sense is equally good in both readings. God did bring forth the Israelites from Babylon, according to his word; he separated them from that generation. and reinstated them in their own land, according to his word; and most certainly he has preserved them from generation to generation to the present day, in a most... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 12:8

The wicked walk on every side - The land is full of them. When the vilest men are exalted; rather, As villany gains ground among the sons of Adam. See the Hebrew. The Vulgate has, " In circuito impii ambulant; secundum altitudinem tuam multiplicasti filios hominum ;" which is thus translated and paraphrased in my old MS.: - Trans. In umgang wiked gos: eftir thy heenes thu has multiplied the sons of man. 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

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