How Long, O Lord? Psalm 12, and 13, Day 30, Jan 30 | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

King David

Psalm 12

The Psalmist describes a fraught, divisive situation in which no one can be trusted, for everyone tells his neighbour a version of the truth, and everyone conceals some of their hearts’ truth.
ESV This is a community lament, suited to occasions when the people of God are dominated by liars in positions of authority.
ESV The Psalmist describes flattering lips and insincere speech (a double heart) both of which manipulate others for the sake of gain. In such an environment, the godly and the faithful become so rare that it seems as if they have disappeared, either because they have been suppressed, or because they have been seduced into lying themselves.
It seems very contemporary, and I read it with curiosity to see what David, with his vast experience of life thought God would do about it.

¹ Help, LORD, for no one is faithful any more;

   those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
² Everyone lies to their neighbor;
   they flatter with their lips
   but harbor 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?”

Those in power rely on their smooth speech to talk themselves out of a fix.

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.”

NIV A reassuring word from the Lord.

But evil does reach a tipping point. And at a certain point, God intervenes.

⁶ And the words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold refined seven times.
In such a climate of insincerity, God’s promises give hope. What the Lord says will happen.

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 honored by the human race.

When people value power, money and success more than character and goodness, the wicked temporarily have the upper hand.

ESV The Psalm closes with assurance–God will protect his faithful followers. David is confident, even though, at present, the wicked think they have the upper hand.

Psalm 13

¹ How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?

   How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
   and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
   How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
   Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
   and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
   my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the LORD’s praise,
   for he has been good to me.

The Psalmist begins in despair, yet his spirits pick up as he recalls God’s unfailing love and goodness to him.