Devotional Short Note on Psalm 12: David
is using a word here that he also used in 6:1, namely Sheminith. Scholars do
not know what it means. It may be that the Hittites also used this word and it
seems as if the context are the same in which it was employed. The Hittite word
“šimmanata(r) n.; outer
appearance, (facial) features (of a person)” (H. Güterbock, Hittite Dictionary 369), is very
attractive here. It just so happen that David is talking about his appearance
in Psalm 6. Here in Psalm 12 it is the appearance of the pious (ḥasid) that
attracts his attention. The appearance of the pious is in jeopardy since the
pious and godly is “blotted out [Akkadian pasâsu]” here “from the sons of men”
(12:1). The wicked’s appearances are listed: they speak falsehood, flatter, is
double hearted (12:2). David is convinced and informed about eschatology or the
end-time events because he said in 12:3 translated literally: “The Lord will
cut off all flattering lips….” Not humans but God. And the word only means
immediately stop existing and disintegrate to nothingness. According to a study
done on the Warrior Messiah of the Hell, He does not fight, He only speaks and
it is as He spoke (Sookyoung Kim, Warrior
Messiah, see Amazon.com). The tongue is flattering since it said that “our
tongue we will make mighty” (12:5). They are blasphemous saying “our lips are
with us, Who is Lord over us?” They are challenging the Lord. “Which is the
oppression of the poor, which is the sighing of the needy” (12:6). A specific
time zone of the eschaton is in mind here by David. It is the Small Time of Tribulation that precedes the
Closing of the Door of Mercy. During
this time “wicked will walk back and forth [hithpael form of the Hebrew verb]
like the exaltation of vileness [role and function of the Antichrist final
scenes] to the sons of mankind” (12:9). Because of this “oppression” and “sighing”
(12:6), the Lord will “now” (atta) “arise/stand-up”. When God at that time when
the Door of Mercy closes stand-up,
the Investigative Judgment is over and the short time of the Time of Trouble like there never was
will be with Michael = Christ “standing” (Daniel 12:1). In this time Michael
want to save and protect the faithful, and come and resurrect them. It is not a
preteristic “now” in David’s day. It is a virtual fast-forwarded “vision” of
the eschaton charts of God, that David saw here. In Psalm 12:6b-c the Lord
(Christ) said: “I will set in safety. He puffed at him”. David like what the
Lord said about the eschaton here very much. He said that these eschatological
words here of the Lord are silver that is tried. It is refined seven times. The
word seven was very popular in the Ancient Near East even though their system
was decimal (10) and sexagesimal (6) actually since the time of the Sumerians
(see D. O. Edzard, Sumerian Grammar,
61). My own research indicated that they had 7 days, spirits, gods, sisters,
weapons, symbols, thunders, years, cities, winds, seals and many texts in the
Bible on it can be found in the Concordance (Job 5:19; Prov. 6:16; Prov.
24:16). The promise during the Small and Great Tribulations in this Psalm is in
12:8 “You will keep them, O Lord, You will preserve us from this generation
unto eternity”. Why eternity? Because it will be close to eternity when this
happens. We may be close to that time.