Psalms 12:5

"who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”"

Key Reflection

These verses reveal a boastful attitude where people assert their autonomy and challenge any authority beyond themselves. They refuse to acknowledge any higher power or ruler, seeing their words as sovereign, thus highlighting the rebellion against divine governance and the need for humility before God.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

For the oppression of the poor -That is, on account of the wrong done to the poor in the manner specified above - by the abuse of the power of speech. On account of the slanders uttered against them, or the frauds perpetrated on them by the abuse of this power. The reference is to the wrongs done when no confidence could be placed in men’s words; when they uttered words of “vanity” and “flattery”Psalms 12:2; when promises were made only to be broken, and obligations assumed never to be fulfilled. In such a state of things the “poor” were the most likely to suffer.

More from Psalms 12

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