Psalm of the Week- Psalm 12:1-2 From King David to John Gill to the Week of October 6, 2014

1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;

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.

King David was feeling alone when he wrote these words. However, he turned to the Lord during his time of trouble. As a king, he was surrounded by people who had their own agendas. 

I am amazed at how pertinent King David's words are today. However, every generation of the faithful has felt this way. John Gill, an English Baptist pastor, felt that verses one and two of this psalm applied to his own generation (1697) and future generations. (2014 and beyond)

This is what John Gill wrote:

• "...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;..."

• "...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..."

• "...And these words may be applied to the anti-christian times, the times of the grand apostasy, and falling away from the faith, upon the revealing of the man of sin;... 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..."

 (Italics and bold print is mine, SalleeB.)

• "...with flattering lips; as Cain did to Abel, Joab to Amasa, the Herodians to Christ, Judas to his Master, false teachers to those that are simple, hypocrites to God himself, when they draw nigh to him only with their lips, and all formal professors to the churches of Christ, when they profess themselves to be what they are not..."

In my opinion, the continuity and applicability of the scriptures from King David's time, to John Gill's time, to today is just further proof that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The Bible contains answers to every problem that we face today and will continue to do so until the the second coming of Christ.