Psalm 12 Overview
Pure words
Psalm 12
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 12
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 12 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 12
Author:
Purpose:
- To pray for help amidst pervasive wickedness and to inspire hope in YHWH's promises.
Content:
- Help YHWH! No one is trustworthy. You alone can be trusted, and you have promised to help.
Message:
- YHWH's words are trustworthy, even when no one else can be trusted.
Psalm 12 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 12
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- YHWH's law requires people to deal with one another in loyalty and faithfulness.
- Loyalty and faithfulness refer to being committed to relational obligations. "These obligations include responsibilities towards kinspeople, spouses, friends, covenant partners, and people to whom one is indebted as a result of favors received" (SDBH).
- The opposite of loyalty and faithfulness is "falsehood," which results in pain and suffering.
- Prophets receive messages from YHWH and report those messages to others.
- David is a prophet.
- Silver is a precious metal which, when mined, is mixed with other minerals that lessen its quality. In order to become pure, silver must be refined by fire; it is placed in a crucible, and the crucible is placed in a furnace in the ground.
- When Saul had Ahimelech killed for giving David the priestly bread (1 Sam 22)
- When the Ziphites seek to betray David (1 Sam 23)
- When the Philistines refuse to let David fight alongside Achish, accusing him of being a traitor (1 Sam 29)
- When Joab murders Abner, claiming Abner came in deceit (2 Sam 3)
Background Situation for Psalm 12
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 12