Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- BSB 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.
- NKJV Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
- NASB Help, Lord, for the godly person has come to an end, For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
- NLT Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David cries for help because the godly and faithful seem to be vanishing. Surrounded by faithlessness, he turns to God for rescue.
Overview
Psalm 12 opens with a lament over the apparent disappearance of godly, faithful people. David feels morally isolated in a society of deceit. His response is not despair but a cry to God, modeling reliance on the Lord when faithfulness seems rare among people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Isa 57:1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
- Jer 5:1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
- Matt 24:12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
- Isa 59:13–15In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Isa 1:21–22How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
- Ps 6:1O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
- Isa 63:5And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
- Gen 6:12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
- Prov 20:6Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
- Mic 7:1–2Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
- Ps 6:4Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.
- 1 Chr 15:21And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel.
- Isa 1:9Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
- Matt 8:25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
- Ps 54:1Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.
- Ps 3:7Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
- Matt 14:30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
- Isa 59:4None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 12:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.