Psalm 12--The Faithful Have Vanished

Psalm 12
English Standard Version

The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
12 Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the LORD;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.
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7 You, O LORD, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

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David seems to be in a place of despair here as he sees nothing but evil around him everywhere he looks now.  He seemingly cannot find one righteous person among those who call themselves the people of God.  Even those who call themselves by God's name have lying and flattering lips that are arrogant, boastful and duplicitous in what they speak.

David calls for God to cut off the lips and the tongues of such people who use their words to harm others and damage the name of the LORD by claiming to be one thing and their tongues and mouths proving that something else is in control of their hearts and minds.  (See James 3:1-12 for how the tongue reveals what is in the heart).

David seems to hear the words of the LORD (probably not audibly, but in his heart) and quotes the LORD saying, “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise.”  The LORD is patient, but does hear the cries of the victims and will execute both justice and vengeance in His time according to His perfect plan.  David trusts the words of the LORD and clings to them as precious treasure--like refined silver.  Maybe David didn't mean it this way, but silver that is so refined is what was used at the time for mirrors because when you look into it, you see a reflection.  When we look into the word of the LORD, we see a reflection of who we truly are and the Word of God examines us and shows us where we are at fault--perhaps David even realizes a bit that he too is one of those he's asking to be judged since we know from the book of Romans, "There is none righteous, no, not even one."

It is the LORD's job to protect the innocent (though we know that He uses government to do so).  It is also true that we are going to see wickedness around us in all places and at all times until Christ returns to be the Righteous Judge of the living and the dead.  Every generation is born into sin and even the young ones will naturally do what is evil because they need a change of nature that can only come through Christ.  We must therefore be careful to share the gospel with every generation and teach them how to not be conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of their mind that comes from being "born again" (see John 3) and "new creation" that God makes us in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).