Psalm 12 - Everybody Lies

For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David. Men Lie 1 Help, Lord, for good men have vanished; truth has gone from the children of men. 2 Everyone lies to their neighbour; they flatter with their lips but harbour deception in their hearts. 3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue— 4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?” God tells the truth 5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” 6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. 7 You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, 8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honoured by the children of men.

Another basic 2 part Psalm. Part 1 is about the lies men tell, Part 2 is about the truth God tells. For more information about the Sheminith see Psalm 6. This Psalm start with a simple prayer, made famous by Jeff Lucas - 'HELP'! There is a bookend link in the 1st and last verse, (inclusio) . Help, Lord, for good men have vanished; truth has gone from the children of men. when what is vile is honoured by the children of men. There is a chiasmus structure in the first line where vanished matches has gone. Also Good men is a subset of Children of men. Help, Lord, for good men have vanished; truth has gone from the children of men. It goes on to say a phrase made famous but Dr Gregory House, 'Everybody Lies'.  That's right - King David said it first - plagiarism is alive and well. James has a few things to say about Taming the Tongue in James 3:3-12  "Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." Your tongue can set the whole course of your life - with it you can praise God or reject Him and say. 'who is lord over us?” God replies to David's plea for help by echoing back the battle cry Moses used in Numbers 10:35.  Whenever the Ark of the covenant went out Moses would cry out, "Rise up, LORD! May your enemies be scattered; I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Whilst it is true that every person lies, this is not true of God. In a link back to the refining fire picture of Psalm 11 , God's words are refined in the fire to remove any trace of dross and impurities, not just once, but 7 times. His words are flawless.  He is Truth. The Hebrew word for LORD used here is Yahweh. Reading from right to left you have the letters Yodh, He, Waw and He - which have the pictogram symbols of a hand or arm doing work or a deed, a man raising his arms saying Behold or look, a nail or tent peg, and a 2nd behold symbol.  In other words God's name in pictogram form is Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail. A stunning hint at the work Jesus Christ was to do many years later.