Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 12:1

"Help, Jehovah; for the godly man ceaseth; For the faithful fail from among the children of men." — Psalms 12:1 (ASV)

Help, Lord – Hebrew, “Save, Yahweh.” The idea is that there was no human help, and therefore, divine help is implored. The psalmist saw that those on whom reliance was usually placed for the promotion of the cause of truth and virtue now failed, and for this reason, he invites divine intervention.

For the godly man – The word used here properly denotes the “merciful” man – חסיד châsı̂yd. It is a term applied to the righteous because it is a prominent trait in the character of a pious man that he is merciful, kind, and benevolent. Therefore, the general character is often denoted by the special characteristic, in the same way as we speak of a pious man as a good man, a just man, or a righteous man. The idea suggested by the use of this term here is that it is always a characteristic of a pious man that he is merciful or benevolent. (Psalms 32:6, where the same word is rendered “godly”; Psalms 30:4; Psalms 31:23; Psalms 37:28; Psalms 50:5; Psalms 52:9; Psalms 79:2; Psalms 85:8, where it is rendered “saints”; Psalms 16:10; Psalms 86:2; Psalms 89:19, where it is rendered “holy.”)

“Ceaseth.” The word used here – גמר gâmar – properly means to bring to an end, to complete, or to perfect. Thus, it means to come to an end, to cease, or to fail.

Gesenius explains that this might occur either by their being cut off by death or by their ceasing to exert their influence in favor of religion—that is, by a general prevalence of wickedness among those who professed to be the friends of God. The latter seems to be the meaning here, since in the following verses the psalmist proceeds to specify how they “fail”: not by death, but by speaking vanity, falsehood, and flattery.

That is, their conduct was such that their influence failed or was lost to the community.

No reliance could be placed on them, and therefore, the psalmist so earnestly calls on God for his intervention. The idea is that when men professing religion become conformed to the world—when they live like other men, when they cease to exert an influence in favor of piety, when they fall into habits of sin—it is a time to call on God with special earnestness for his aid.

Often, such conduct by professed friends of religion makes an appeal to God more appropriate than even the death of good men does. In the latter case, their influence is simply withdrawn. In the former, not only is the influence they might exert lost to the church, but there is also a positive bad influence to be counteracted. The fall of a professor of religion into sin is a greater loss to the church than his death would be.

For the faithful – These are those who profess faith, those who are bound by their vows to be faithful to God and to his cause. The word is equivalent to “the believing” and is properly expressive of trust or faith in God.

Fail from among the children of men – They fail, as noted above, by their misconduct; by being false to the trust committed to them.