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Psalm 12 · a question people ask

"The godly man ceases" (12:1). Was there really no one faithful left?

In the text

The psalm says it that way: "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men" (12:1). It says it to the LORD, as a cry for help. The same psalm goes on to speak of people the LORD will act for: "the weak" and "the needy" (12:5), and it says, "You will keep them, LORD" (12:7). Micah speaks the same way, with the same Hebrew word for godly: "The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men" (Micah 7:2). Psalm 12 doesn't say whether anyone faithful remained; it says what the psalmist saw and brings it to the LORD. These notes don't say more than it does.

The verses

“For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.”
Psalm 12:1 · World English Bible
““Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.””
Psalm 12:5 · World English Bible
“You will keep them, LORD. You will preserve them from this generation forever.”
Psalm 12:7 · World English Bible
“The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.”
Micah 7:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 12

Psalm 12: Flawless words

Psalm 12 is words against words: empty speech, smooth lips and a double heart (in Hebrew, heart said twice), and the boast "Who is lord over us?" (12:4). Then the LORD speaks for himself, "I will now arise" (12:5), the verb the psalms cry to him with, and the psalm calls his words silver refined, "purified seven times" (12:6).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions