the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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King James Version
Psalms 12:1
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For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.
Help, O Lord , for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!For the Chief Musician; set to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases; For the faithful fail from among the sons of man.
For the director of music. Upon the sheminith. A psalm of David.
Save me, Lord , because the good people are all gone; no true believers are left on earth.For the music director; according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.
Deliver, Lord ! For the godly have disappeared; people of integrity have vanished.To the chief Musician upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
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Save and help and rescue, LORD, for godly people cease to be, For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Save, O Lord , for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.The title of the eleuenthe salm. To the victorie on the eiyte, the song of Dauid. Lord, make thou me saaf, for the hooli failide; for treuthis ben maad litle fro the sones of men.
For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
Please help me, Lord ! All who were faithful and all who were loyal have disappeared.For the Chief Musician; set to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Help, Jehovah; for the godly man ceaseth; For the faithful fail from among the children of men.For the leader. On sh'minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:
To the chief Musician. Upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Save, Jehovah, for the godly man is gone; for the faithful have failed from among the children of men.To the director: With the sheminith. A song of David.
Save me, Lord ! We can no longer trust anyone! All the good, loyal people are gone.For the Leader; on the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
[To the chiefe Musician vpon Sheminith. A Psalme of Dauid.] Helpe Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithfull faile from among the children of men.
Help, Lord! For God-like men are here no more. The faithful can no longer be seen among the sons of men.
To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Help, O Lord , for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.To him that excelleth vpon the eight tune. A Psalme of Dauid. Helpe Lord, for there is not a godly man left: for the faithfull are fayled from among the children of men.
SAVE, O LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for faith hath disappeared from the earth.
Help us, Lord ! There is not a good person left; honest people can no longer be found.
(11-1) <Unto the end: for the octave, a psalm for David.> (11-2) Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men.
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for there is no longer any that is godly; for the faithful have vanished from among the sons of men.
Saue thou [me] O God, for there is not one godly man left: for the faythfull are diminished from among the chyldren of men.
Save me, O Lord; for the godly man has failed; for truth is diminished from among the children of men.
Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;the loyal have disappeared from the human race.
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For the music director; on the Sheminith. A psalm of David.
Save, O Yahweh, for the pious have ceased to be; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of humankind.To the chief musician, on eight. A Psalm of David. Help, O Jehovah, for the godly ceases to be; for the faithful fail from among the sons of men.
To the Overseer, on the octave. -- A Psalm of David. Save, Jehovah, for the saintly hath failed, For the stedfast have ceased From the sons of men:
Helpe LORDE, for there is not one saynte more: very fewe faithfull are there amonge the children off men.
A David Psalm Quick, God , I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, All the friends I depended on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues.
Help, LORD, for the godly person has come to an end, For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. [fn] A Psalm of David. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
Help, Lord , for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.Save, O Yahweh, for the holy man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Help: or, Save, Psalms 3:7, Psalms 6:4, Psalms 54:1, Matthew 8:25, Matthew 14:30
godly: Genesis 6:12, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 1:21, Isaiah 1:22, Isaiah 57:1, Isaiah 63:5, Jeremiah 5:1, Micah 7:1, Micah 7:2, Matthew 24:12
faithful: Proverbs 20:6, Isaiah 59:4, Isaiah 59:13-15
Reciprocal: 2 Kings 13:14 - he died 1 Chronicles 12:17 - If ye be come 1 Chronicles 15:21 - Sheminith to excel 1 Chronicles 16:7 - into the hand Job 30:25 - was Psalms 6:1 - Sheminith Psalms 60:4 - because Ecclesiastes 7:28 - one Isaiah 59:15 - truth Amos 7:2 - for Habakkuk 1:3 - General 2 Peter 2:9 - the godly
Cross-References
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth,.... A godly man, according to the notation of the word z, is one that has received grace and mercy of the Lord; as pardoning mercy, justifying and adopting grace; and who has principles of grace, goodness, and holiness, wrought in him; who fears the Lord, and serves him acceptably, with reverence and godly fear, and sorrows for sin, after a godly sort; who loves the Lord, and hopes and believes in him; who is regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and is a true worshipper of God, and lives in all holy conversation and godliness; and, particularly, is "beneficent", "kind", and "merciful" a unto men: such may be said to "cease" when there are but few of them; when their number is greatly reduced b, either by death, or when such who have seemed, and have been thought to be so, prove otherwise: in a view of which, the psalmist prays for help and salvation; "help", or "save" c Lord; meaning himself, being destitute of the company, counsel, and assistance of good and gracious men; or the cause and interest of religion, which he feared would sink by the ceasing of godly men. When all friends and refuge fail, saints betake themselves to God, and their salvation is of him; and he is their present help in a time of trouble; and he saves and reserves for himself a number in the worst of times; as he did in Elijah's time, who thought there was no godly man left but himself; see Romans 11:1;
for the faithful fail from among the children of men; so that there are none left among them but carnal, unregenerate, ungodly, and unfaithful men. The "faithful" are such who are upright in heart and conversation; who trust in the Lord, and believe in the Messiah; who abide by the truths and ordinances of God; and are faithful in what is committed to their trust, whether they be gifts of nature, Providence, or grace; and to their fellow Christians, in advising, reproving, c. when needful: these may fail in the exercise of grace, and in the discharge of duty, but not so as to perish eternally. The words design the paucity of them, and the sad degeneracy of the times to which they refer: and they may belong either to the times of David, when Saul's courtiers flattered him, and spoke evil of David when the men of Keilah intended to have delivered him up; when the Ziphites discovered him to Saul, and invited him to come and take him; or when Absalom rose up in rebellion against him, and so many of the people fell off from him: or else to the times of Christ; the people of the Jews in his age were a wicked and faithless generation; and even among his own disciples there was great want of fidelity: one betrayed him, another denied him, and all forsook him and fled; after his death, some doubted his being the Redeemer, and one of them could not believe he was risen from the dead, when he was. And these words may be applied to the antichristian times, the times of the grand apostasy, and falling away from the faith, upon the revealing of the man of sin; since which the holy city is trodden under foot; the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth; and the church is in the wilderness, and is hid there. Yea, to the second coming of Christ, when there will be great carnality and security, and little faith found in the earth. A like complaint with this see in Isaiah 57:1.
z חסיד "passive pro beneficiario, sive alterius beneficiis gratiosis cumulato", Gejerus. a "Misericors", Pagninus, Mariana; beneficus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator. b "Rari quippe boni", &c. Juvenal. Satyr. 13. v. 36. c הושיעה "serva", Pagninus, Cocceius "da salutem", Junius & Tremellius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Help, Lord - Hebrew, “Save, Yahweh.” The idea is that there was no human help, and, therefore, the divine help is implored. The psalmist saw that those on whom reliance was usually placed for the promotion of the cause of truth and virtue now failed, and hence, he invites the divine interposition.
For the godly man - The word used here properly denotes the “merciful” man - חסיד châsı̂yd. It is a term applied to the righteous, because it is a prominent trait in the character of a pious man that he is merciful, kind, benignant. Hence, the general character is often denoted by the special characteristic; in the same way as we speak of a pious man as a good man, a just man, a righteous man. The idea suggested by the use of the term here is, that it is always a characteristic of a pious man that he is merciful or benignant. Compare Psalms 4:3; Psalms 32:6, where the same word is rendered “godly;” Psalms 30:4; Psalms 31:23; Psalms 37:28; Psalms 50:5; Psalms 52:9; Psalms 79:2; Psalms 85:8, where it is rendered saints; and Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalms 16:10; Psalms 86:2; Psalms 89:19, where it is rendered “holy.” “Ceaseth.” The word used here - גמר gâmar - means properly to bring to an end; to complete; to perfect. Hence, it means to come to an end, to cease, to fail.
Gesenius. - This might occur either by their being cut off by death; or by their ceasing to exert their influence in favor of religion; that is, by a general prevalence of wickedness among those who professed to be the friends of God. The latter seems to be the meaning here, since, in the following verses, the psalmist proceeds to specify the manner in which they “fail;” not by death, but by speaking vanity, falsehood, and flattery. That is, their conduct was such that their influence failed, or was lost to the community. No reliance could be placed on them, and, therefore, the psalmist so earnestly calls on God for his interposition. The idea is, that when men professing religion become conformed to the world - when they live like other men - when they cease to exert an influence in favor of piety - when they fall into habits of sin, it is a time to call on God with special earnestness for his aid. Often such conduct on the part of the professed friends of religion makes such an appeal to God more proper than even the death of good men does, for, in the latter case, their influence is simply withdrawn; in the former, not only is this influence which they might exert lost to the church, but there is a positive bad influence to be counteracted. The fall of a professor of religion into sin is a greater loss to the church than his death would be.
For the faithful - Those who profess faith; those who are bound by their vows to be faithful to God and to his cause. The word is equivalent to the believing, and is properly expressive of trust or faith in God.
Fail from among the children of men - Fail, as above noted, by their misconduct; by being false to the trust committed to them.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM XII
The psalmist, destitute of human comfort, craves help from God,
1;
gives the character of those who surrounded him, and denounces
God's judgments against them, 2-5;
confides in the promises of God, and in his protection of him
and all good men, 6-8.
NOTES ON PSALM XII
The inscription to this Psalm is: To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. See on the title of Psalms 6:1. The Arabic has "Concerning the end (of the world which shall happen) on the eighth day. A prophecy relative to the Advent of the Messiah."
Some think that this Psalm was made when Doeg and the Ziphites betrayed David to Saul, see 1 Samuel 22:9; 1 Samuel 23:19; c., but it is most likely that was written during the Babylonish captivity.
Verse Psalms 12:1. Help, Lord — Save me, O Lord for merciful men fail, and faithful men have passed away from the sons of Adam. Make safe me, Lord; for haly failed, for lessed es sothfastnes fra sons of men. OLD MS.
