It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies.
Help, LORD; for the
godly man cease; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Help, LORD; for the
godly man cease; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with
flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue
that speak proud things:
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are
our own: who is lord over us?
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the
needy, now will I arise, says the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that
puff at him.
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a
furnace of earth, purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O LORD, you shall preserve them from
this generation for ever.
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are
exalted.
(KJV)