Who have said: We will magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?

“Let us cleave, therefore, to those who cultivate peace with godliness, and not to those who hypocritically profess to desire it. For [the Scripture] saith in a certain place, "This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." [Isaiah 29:13] And again: "They bless with their mouth, but curse with their heart." [Psalm 62:4] And again it saith, "They loved Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue; but their heart was not right with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant." [Psalm 78:36-37] "Let the deceitful lips become silent," [and "let the Lord destroy all the lying lips, ] and the boastful tongue of those who have said, Let us magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, and for the sighing of the needy, will I now arise, saith the Lord: I will place him in safety; I will deal confidently with him." [Psalm 12:3-5]”

“In the foregoing group of ten Psalms the Psalmist treated of the persecution which he himself suffered from Absalom his son, by which was figured the persecution which Christ was to suffer from Judas; but in this second group of ten, as appears from the titles of certain Psalms, he treats of the persecution which he suffered from Saul, by which was figured the persecution which Christ was to suffer from the princes of the priests. Now this group of ten is divided into two parts. In the first he asks to be freed from his enemies. In the second, now freed, he prays for his own exaltation, in the Psalm "May the Lord hear you," which indeed fits as regards the history of David — because, Saul having died, David was promoted to be king — and as regards the mystery, Christ, whose kingdom was confirmed in his death: Philippians 2, "wherefore," namely because he was made obedient to the Father even unto death, "God exalted him." In the first part he does two things. First he asks for liberation. Second, he gives thanks for the liberation: and this in Psalm 17, "I will love you." As to the first, he does three things. First he sets forth at length the malice of his persecutors. Second he calls to mind his own righteousness, at the place, "Lord, who shall dwell." Third, on account of his righteousness, he asks for the efficacy of being heard, at the place, "Hear, O Lord," and so on. As to the first, he does two things. First he reproves the deceitfulness of his adversaries. Second he charges them with their iniquity, at the place, "The fool has said." As to the first, he does two things. First he calls to mind their deceitfulness. Second he asks for the divine light, lest he be ensnared by them, at the place, "How long, O Lord." This too fits well enough as regards the history of David, against whom Saul proceeded deceitfully. Now he prefixes to this Psalm this title: "Unto the end, for the octave, a Psalm of David," which has been expounded above. As to the first, he does three things. First he describes his calling to mind of their deceitfulness; second he asks for their destruction, at the place, "May the Lord destroy"; third he sets down the ground for being heard, at the place, "Because of the misery," and so on. As to the first, he does two things. First he describes their defect; second he adds the sign of the defect, at the place, "They have spoken vain things." As to the first, it must be known that David, considering the malice of his adversary growing strong against him, as one stupefied, first has recourse to the divine help, saying, "Lord, save me." And rightly so, because besides him there is no savior, as is said in Isaiah 45. Second, he enumerates their defects. Now two things preserve a man from evil: namely the fear of God — Ecclesiasticus 2, "he who fears God will keep his commandments" — and the love of truth; because right works are called true, as it were, in agreement with the rule, and if they are not right, they pertain to infamy. For some, even if they do not avoid evils on account of the fear of God, are nevertheless drawn back from them on account of infamy. But someone fears neither infamy: hence it is said in Luke 18, of a certain man who "neither fears God nor respects man." And these two things the Psalmist excludes from his adversaries. First indeed the fear of God, when he says, "for the holy man has failed" — for holiness consists in the fear and worship of God. Hence too the things dedicated to divine worship are called holy; as if he were to say: there is not found in this world a man who fears God. Micah 7: "the holy man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men." Second, he excludes the love of truth when he says, "for they are diminished." But it must be asked, why does he say "truths" in the plural? Hosea 4: "there is no truth of God on the earth." To which it must be said that there is one primordial truth, which is in the divine intellect. John 14: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Now just as from one face of a man diverse likenesses result in diverse mirrors, and likewise in one mirror when broken, so in diverse souls, from the one divine truth, diverse truths result. And likewise in one soul, because it does not attain to the divine simplicity, but is composed of that by which it is and that which it is, there appear, from that one truth by which the holy soul is illumined, diverse truths; and these truths indeed, when the soul withdraws from God through sins, are diminished. Or it must be said that he says "truths" on account of the threefold created truth that is in the saints: namely, the truth of life, concerning which Isaiah 38: "remember how I have walked before you in truth"; the truth of doctrine, Matthew 21: "we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in truth"; and the truth of justice, concerning which Exodus 18: "provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, in whom there is truth." It is of this truth that this Psalm seems to speak: namely, of the truth of justice; from which indeed Saul withdrew when he unjustly persecuted David himself. It must therefore be said that truths of this kind are diminished not of themselves, but "by the sons of men," through whose faults they are depraved. And indeed the truth of life is diminished when good is judged evil. The truth of doctrine, when light is called darkness. But the truth of justice, when the bitter is judged sweet, and conversely. Isaiah 5: "woe to you who call good evil, and evil good; putting light for darkness, and darkness for light; putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." Now he says that holiness fails, because since it is from God through grace, it is taken away at once by a single mortal sin. But truth is diminished, as it were, successively. Jerome has: "for the merciful man has failed"; and "for the faithful are diminished," because mercy and justice are required toward one's neighbor. Proverbs 20: "but a faithful man, who shall find?" Accordingly, when he says "vain things," he sets down the sign of the defect of holiness; and it is twofold, namely vanity and deceit. The first sign of the defect is vanity: and as to this he says, "they have spoken vain things," and so on. Vain is that which has no subsistence. True things, therefore, are those beneath which nothing of vanity lies; hence 1 Timothy 1: "the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith: from which some, having gone astray, have turned aside to vain babbling." Jeremiah 9: "let every one take heed of his neighbor." Gregory: "vain speech is the index of a vain mind." Likewise vain is that which is not grasped by the intellect: superfluous words too are vain. Proverbs 14: "where there are many words, there is frequently want." Likewise vain is that which is not stable: and thus words about temporal things are vain, John 3: "he who is of the earth speaks of the earth"; Isaiah 29: "your speech shall mutter out of the ground." But to whom do they speak vain things? "To his neighbor," to whom they ought to speak the truth. Ephesians 4: "speak each one of you the truth with his neighbor." The second sign of the defect of holiness is deceit; and as to this he says, "with deceitful lips, in heart and heart have they spoken." The doubling signifies a double heart. For they show that with their mouth they have one thing, while in heart they have another. They show themselves to grieve, and they rejoice; to love, and they hate; to have compassion, and they are glad. James 1: "a man of double mind is inconstant in all his ways." Ecclesiasticus 2: "woe to the double heart, and to wicked lips." "May he destroy." Here he asks for their destruction. And first he asks for it; second he indicates the cause, at the place, "all the lips," etc.: as if to say, may he destroy them doubly, namely in soul and in body. Jeremiah 17: "bring upon them the day of affliction, and destroy them with a double destruction, O Lord God." Accordingly he sets down the cause of their malice: and he sets down three things — namely fraudulence, because "deceitful lips": for deceit is when someone does one thing and feigns another. Deceit is conceived in the heart, but it is covered over by words or deeds. Proverbs 12: "deceit is in the heart of them that think evil things." These God scatters, in that he uncovers them; for then deceit does not have the character of deceit, since deceit is a hidden malice. Hence he does not ask for their destruction, but for the uncovering of their malice. Or he asks for their perdition through grace. Proverbs 19: "when the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become wiser"; hence he says, "deceitful lips." The Gloss: as it were, the ground of the petition is their deceit. Or "he will destroy them," as it were by punishing them out of their own malice, so that they themselves fall into it, by the just judgment of God, as is said of Haman, Esther 7, against Mordecai: "Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai." Ezekiel 3: "I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth: and you shall be dumb," as if no longer daring to practice frauds. Proverbs 21: "the pestilent man being punished, the simple will be wiser." The same, 22: "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction will drive it away." Second, he sets down their boastfulness, and "the tongue that speaks great things" about themselves before those who consider them great. Psalm 72: "they have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed through the earth." Now that which is greater in another we are accustomed to revere, and that which is lesser we do not reckon of account. In order, therefore, that they may appear great, and equal to God, they hold God in contempt — that is, divine honors. So it is said of the Antichrist, that he speaks against the God of gods. 2 Thessalonians 2: "he opposes and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." And of Antiochus, 2 Maccabees 9: "it is just to be subject to God, and that a mortal should not think himself equal to God"; and Acts 12, of Herod, that the people cried out to him "the voice of a god, and not of a man." And lest they should be able to excuse themselves that they did not do it on purpose, he adds: "who have said" — namely on purpose — "we will magnify our tongue." Third, he sets down their blasphemy or pride: "our lips are our own." For this is the first species of pride, when someone reckons that he has something from himself. 1 Kings 2: "do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting." 2 Corinthians 3: "we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God." The second species of pride is when someone wishes to glory in something above the rest; hence he says, "who is our lord?" Job 21: "who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?" Hosea 7: "they have returned that they might be without a yoke, and they have become like a deceitful bow." Job 11: "a vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinks himself born free like a wild ass's colt." "Because of." Here, thirdly, he sets down the being-heard of his prayer. And first he prefixes it; second he sets down its certainty, at the place, "the words of the Lord"; third he sets down his own belief, at the place, "you, O Lord." He says, therefore, "because of the misery" — that is, the manifold defect — "of the needy" — that is, those lacking resources — "and the groaning" — that is, the sobbing — "of the poor" — that is, those having little. Psalm 9: "to you is the poor man left." Exodus 2: "he heard their groaning, and remembered the covenant." "Now will I arise, says the Lord." "Now," in the opportune time. Psalm 9: "a helper in due time, in tribulation." Isaiah 9: "in an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." "I will put him in safety" — that is, I will add — "I will deal confidently in him" — that is, I will be in him. Jeremiah 1: "do not fear before their face, for I am with you." Isaiah 14: "the Lord of hosts has decreed: and who shall be able to disannul it? His hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away?" Jeremiah 1: "they will fight against you, and will not prevail, because I am with you to deliver you." And 39: "your life shall be to you for a salvation, because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord." Accordingly he sets down the certainty of the promise: "the words of the Lord are chaste words" — not adulterated by the admixture of anything foreign; or chastened from superfluity; or incorrupt, because someone is called chaste before experience, but continent after. Not vain, but firm. Matthew 24: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Second, they are full of truth; hence, "silver tried by fire." Silver is white without stain, sonorous without pretense, fragrant without taint. "Tried of the earth" — that is, from the earth: for the Greeks lack the ablative. Now this is a translation from the Greek — "purged seven times" — that is, perfectly. And the prophet responds: "You therefore, O Lord, will preserve us from evil. And you will keep us in good, from this generation forever." "Therefore the wicked walk round about," in such a way that they will never arrive at the end of the journey which they intend, namely to afflict others as they wish. Isaiah 59: "their paths are crooked." And why? Because, "according to your height you have multiplied the sons of men" — because in my house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware; and some indeed sanctified unto honor, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2. Or "the wicked walk round about," in a circle of vices, not attaining to the mean of virtue. 1 Kings 25: "the soul of your enemies shall be whirled about," and so on.”

“For the oppression of the poor,.... The servants and people of God, who, for the most part, are poor in a temporal sense, and are all of them, and always, so in a spiritual sense, standing continually in need of fresh supplies of grace; and being often afflicted, as the word signifies, are mean and despicable in the eyes of the men of this world, and so oppressed by them, as the poor generally are by the rich; and as the people of Israel were oppressed by the Egyptians, so are the people of God by antichrist, and by his tyrannical laws and edicts, and by such haughty and insolent persons as before described; for the sighing of the needy; who groan under their oppressions; being stripped of all good things, their friends, and worldly substance, they sigh inwardly, and cry unto the Lord, who sees their oppressions, hears their groans; and though he cannot be moved, as men are, by anything without himself, yet, according to his abundant mercy and sovereign will, he appears and exerts himself on the behalf of his people, and for their relief and assistance; now will I arise, saith the Lord; to have mercy on the poor and needy, and to avenge them on their oppressors, and free them from them. And this the Lord promises to do "now", speedily, immediately; God arises in the most seasonable time, when his people are in the greatest straits, and in the utmost distress and herein displays his wisdom, power, and goodness. This is an answer to the petition of the psalmist in Psa 12:1; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him; or "in salvation" (i); in Christ the Saviour. All God's people are put into the hands of Christ, and are preserved in him; there they are in safety, for out of his hands none can pluck them; and being built on him, the Rock, they are safe, notwithstanding the waves and winds of temptation, persecution, &c. come with ever so much force upon them. Here it seems to signify, that God would deliver his poor and needy from their oppressions, and put them into a comfortable, prosperous, safe, and happy situation, in which they will be out of the reach of their enemies; as will be the witnesses, when they shall ascend to heaven, Rev 11:11; even out of the reach of him that "puffeth at" them, despises them, and treats them with the utmost scorn and contempt; see Psa 10:5. Or that "breathes", or "let him breathe" (k) threatenings and slaughters; as Saul did against the disciples of Christ, Act 9:1; or that "lays snares for him" (l), as the wicked do for the righteous; or that "speaks unto him" in such haughty and insolent language as before expressed. Some make this clause a proposition of itself, "he puffeth at him"; meaning either that he that is secure, safety puffs at his enemy, despises him, as he has been despised by him; or God, who breathes upon him, and whose breath is as a stream of brimstone, which kindles in him a fire of divine wrath, which is unquenchable; or else the sense is, God will "speak to himself", or "to him" (m); in which sense the word is used Hab 2:4; that is, good and comfortable words to the poor; or "he will give him refreshment", or "rest": which he will determine in himself to speak to him: or "he shall have breathing", or "let him breathe" (n): he shall have times of refreshing from the Lord, and rest from adversity, from the oppositions and persecutions of his enemies. (i) "in salute", Pagninus, Montanus, Mariana, Vatablus, Junius, & Tremeliius, Piscator; so Ainsworth. (k) "spiret vel spirabit sibi", De Dieu. (l) "Qui ponit ei laqueum", Munster; "qui laqueum injicit illis", Heb. "illi", Muis; so Kimchi. (m) "Loquetur sibi vel ei", Vatablus. (n) "Respirationem dabit illi", Cloppenburgius; so Ainsworth, and some in Michaelis.”

“(Heb.: 12:6-7) In Psa 12:6 the psalmist hears Jahve Himself speak; and in Psa 12:7 he adds his Amen. The two מן in Psa 12:6 denote the motive, עתּה the decisive turning-point from forebearance to the execution of judgment, and ימר the divine determination, which has just now made itself audible; cf. Isaiah's echo of it, Isa 33:10. Jahve has hitherto looked on with seeming inactivity and indifference, now He will arise and place in ישׁע, i.e., a condition of safety (cf. שׂים בּחיּים Psa 66:9), him who languishes for deliverance. It is not to be explained: him whom he, i.e., the boaster, blows upon, which would be expressed by יפיח בּו, cf. Psa 10:5; but, with Ewald, Hengstenberg, Olshausen, and Bttcher, according to Hab 2:3, where הפיח ל occurs in the sense of panting after an object: him who longs for it. יפיח is, however, not a participial adjective = יפח, but the fut., and יפיח לו is therefore a relative clause occupying the place of the object, just as we find the same thing occurring in Job 24:19; Isa 41:2, Isa 41:25, and frequently. Hupfeld's rendering: "in order that he may gain breath (respiret)" leaves אשׁית without an object, and accords more with Aramaic and Arabic than with Hebrew usage, which would express this idea by ינוּח לו or ירוח לו. In Psa 12:7 the announcement of Jahve is followed by its echo in the heart of the seer: the words (אמרות instead of אמרות by changing the Sheb which closes the syllable into an audible one, as e.g., in אשׁרי) of Jahve are pure words, i.e., intended, and to be fulfilled, absolutely as they run without any admixture whatever of untruthfulness. The poetical אמרה (after the form זמרה) serves pre-eminently as the designation of the divine power-words of promise. The figure, which is indicated in other instances, when God's word is said to be צרוּפה (Psa 18:31; Psa 119:140; Pro 30:5), is here worked out: silver melted and thus purified בּעליל לארץ. עליל signifies either a smelting-pot from עלל, Arab. gll, immittere, whence also על (Hitz.); or, what is more probable since the language has the epithets כוּר and מצרף for this: a workshop, from עלל, Arab. ‛ll, operari (prop. to set about a thing), first that which is wrought at (after the form מעיל, פּסיל, שׁביל), then the place where the work is carried on. From this also comes the Talm. בּעליל = בּעליל manifeste, occurring in the Mishna Rosh ha-Shana 1. 5 and elsewhere, and which in its first meaning corresponds to the French en effet. (Note: On this word with reference to this passage of the Psalm vid., Steinschneider's Hebr. Bibliographie 1861, S. 83.) According to this, the ל in לארץ is not the ל of property: in a fining-pot built into the earth, for which לארץ without anything further would be an inadequate and colourless expression. But in accordance with the usual meaning of לארץ as a collateral definition it is: smelted (purified) down to the earth. As Olshausen observes on this subject, "Silver that is purified in the furnace and flows down to the ground can be seen in every smelting hut; the pure liquid silver flows down out of the smelting furnace, in which the ore is piled up." For it cannot be ל of reference: "purified with respect to the earth," since ארץ does not denote the earth as a material and cannot therefore mean an earthy element. We ought then to read לאבץ, which would not mean "to a white brilliancy," i.e., to a pure bright mass (Bttch.), but "with respect to the stannum, lead" (vid., on Isa 1:25). The verb זקק to strain, filter, cause to ooze through, corresponds to the German seihen, seigen, old High German sihan, Greek σακκεῖν (σακκίζειν), to clean by passing through a cloth as a strainer, שׂק. God's word is solid silver smelted and leaving all impurity behind, and, as it were, having passed seven times through the smelting furnace, i.e., the purest silver, entirely purged from dross. Silver is the emblem of everything precious and pure (vid., Bhr, Symbol. i. 284); and seven is the number indicating the completion of any process (Bibl. Psychol. S. 57, transl. p. 71).”