PARAPHRASE OF PSALM XII.
By Editor
1 HELP, Lord, the godly cease, the faithful fail;
No truth is found among rebellious men.
2 Let not the men of flattering lips prevail,
Who speak with double heart; their thoughts are vain.
3 O Lord, cut off the lips of flattery,
And bring down low the stubborn tongues of pride,
4 Who claim a right to utter vanity,
And have, with boastful words, the Lord denied.
5 Now will I rise to save the poor oppressed,
And set him up in safety, saith the Lord.
The sighing sufferer shall in me find rest,
And they shall know the power of my word.
6 For all the words of God are pure and tried,
As silver in a furnace purified.
7 Thou shalt, O Lord, preserve the needy poor,
From this vain generation evermore.
8 The wicked we on every side descry,
When vilest men are here exalted high.