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英文原文
It is supposed that David penned this psalm in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends and the insolence of his sworn enemies. I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst trust, Ps 12:1,2. II. He foretels the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies, Ps 12:3,4. III. He assures himself and others that, how ill soever things went now (Ps 12:8), God would preserve and secure to himself his own people (Ps 12:5,7), and would certainly make good his promises to them, Ps 12:6. Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. "O tempora, O mores!—Oh the times! Oh the manners!"
1-8
Complaints of the Times
对时代的哀叹
交与伶长，调用「舍弥尼」。大卫的诗篇。
¹ 耶和华啊，求你帮助；因敬虔人断绝了；世人中间的忠信人没有了。
² 人人向邻舍说谎；他们说话，是嘴唇油滑、心存两样。
³ 凡嘴唇油滑、说话高傲的，耶和华必要剪除。
⁴ 他们曾说，我们必能以舌头得胜；我们的嘴唇是我们自己的；谁能作我们的主呢？
⁵ 耶和华说，因为困苦人受欺压、穷乏人叹息，我现在要起来；把他安置在他所切慕的稳妥之地。
⁶ 耶和华的言语是纯净的言语，如同银子在泥炉中炼过七次。
⁷ 耶和华啊，你必保佑他们，你必保佑他们脱离这世代，直到永远。
⁸ 下流人在世人中升高，就有恶人到处游行。
本诗篇为我们提供了为恶时当有的好思想；在恶时中，智慧人虽要静默（摩5:13）——因那时人可能因一句话而获罪——但我们仍可借此处已为我们预备的合宜默想和祷告得着安慰。
一、让我们看看是什么使时代变坏，以及何时可称为坏。问这世界之子，在他们看来什么使时代变坏，他们必说：缺钱、贸易衰败、战争荒凉使时代变坏。但圣经把时代的败坏归于别种性质的原因。提后3:1，「末世必有危险的日子」，因为「罪恶增多」；这正是大卫在此所哀叹的。
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当敬虔和诚实在人间普遍衰败之时，时代便实在败坏（诗12:1）：「敬虔人断绝，世人中间的忠信人没有了」。请注意这两个品格在此如何并列——敬虔人和忠信人。没有诚实，就没有真敬虔，正如没有真敬虔也没有真政策。敬虔人就是忠信人——「坚定的」人——他们有时被人如此称呼；他们的话如誓言般确定，如契据般约束；他们以对神对人真实为良心所系。他们在此被称为「断绝」、「没有」——或因死亡，或因背道，或二者兼有。那敬虔忠信的人被取去，所剩下的可悲败坏了，不再是从前的样子；以致几乎寻不见真正心里没有诡诈的以色列人。或许他的意思是在扫罗的朝臣中没有敬虔忠信之人；若他的意思是以色列中几乎没有，我们盼望他如以利亚一样犯了同样的错误——以为只剩自己一人，而神还留下七千未曾向巴力屈膝的（罗11:3）；或者他的意思是相比之下极少——宗教和美德普遍衰败（如此时代实在败坏、极其败坏），「找不到一个行公义的人」（耶5:1）。
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当虚伪和奉承败坏并毒化了所有交谈，时代便极其败坏（诗12:2）——当人普遍如此放荡，以致不以说谎为意，又如此恶毒，以致对邻舍图谋最厉害的祸患，又如此卑鄙，以最堂皇、最似善的友谊借口和宣言为遮盖。如此「人人向邻舍说谎（即虚假和谎言），是嘴唇油滑、心存两样」。他们要亲嘴又要杀害（如约押在大卫自己的时代对押尼珥和亚玛撒所行的），要向你脸上微笑，却要割你的喉咙。这正是魔鬼完全的形像——恶毒与虚假的复合。当人间再无真诚可寻，诚实人不知该信谁、不知该托谁，也不敢信赖朋友、信赖向导（弥7:5、6；耶9:4、5）——时代实在败坏。那助长时代变得如此危险的人有祸了。
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当神、宗教和敬虔之人的仇敌放胆无忌，威胁要颠覆一切公正和神圣之物，时代便极其败坏——当骄傲的罪人已到了如此不敬的地步，竟说：「『我们必能以舌头得胜』胜过美德的事业；『我们的嘴唇是我们自己的』，我们可随意说话；『谁能作我们的主』——无论是约束我们或追究我们？」（诗12:4）。这表明：〔1〕他们对自己骄傲的矜夸和自信，仿佛因吃禁果确实如他们所愿，他们如神一样独立、自足，分辨善恶的知识无误，因此配作权威；他们的权势无敌，因此配作立法者——他们能以舌头得胜，如神自己一般，说话就成了。〔2〕对神主权的傲慢蔑视，仿佛他对他们没有所有权——「我们的嘴唇是我们自己的」（这是不义的声称，因为造人口的是谁？人气息在他手中，他所吸的空气又是谁的？）又仿佛他既无权命令他们，也无权审判他们：「谁能作我们的主呢？」如法老（出5:1）。这与前者一样荒谬无理；因为我们「生活、动作、存留」都在乎的那位，必无可争议地是我们的主。
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当困苦穷乏的人受欺压、受虐待、被嗤笑，时代便极其败坏。这暗指在诗12:5，神亲自留意「困苦人受欺压」、「穷乏人叹息」；他们受欺压是因他们穷乏，各样冤屈加在他们身上，只因他们无力自卫。他们既受欺压，又不敢为自己说话，恐怕辩护反成罪名；他们只叹息——暗自哀叹所受的灾祸，将心以叹息倾于神前。若有人为他们的缘故向他们的欺压者进言，他们便嗤之以鼻，对自己的罪和穷乏人的苦境都漫不经心；见诗10:5。
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当罪恶在掌权者的保护和纵容之下 abound，肆无忌惮，时代便极其败坏（诗12:8）。当「下流人」被高举到信任和有权柄的地位（他们不仅不执行律法惩治罪恶和不公、按罪人所当得的报应他们，反而包庇保护他们，给予他们面子，并以自己的榜样支持他们的名声），那时「恶人到处游行」——他们在各处成群结队，往来寻求欺骗、引诱、毁灭别人；他们既不惧怕也不羞于暴露自己；他们「如所多玛一样公开犯罪」，无人阻止。恶人就是卑鄙的人——最卑鄙的人——无论他们在今世被高举到何等地步，他们仍是如此。圣经称那显赫的安提阿古为「卑鄙的人」（但11:21）。但当一国偏举这样的人，国事就坏了；罪恶那时变得放肆傲慢也不足为奇。「恶人掌权，百姓就叹息」。
二、现在让我们看看在此为这样坏的时代所预备的好思想；我们将来还可能被留在怎样的时代中，无人能知。当时代如此败坏时，思想以下的事是安慰：
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我们有一位可投靠的神——我们可从他求、并期待他纠正我们一切的委屈。他以此开始（诗12:1）：「耶和华啊，求你帮助，因敬虔人断绝。」一切别的帮助和帮助者都失效；连那些本当伸出援手扶持垂死之宗教事业的敬虔忠信之人也不在了——所以我们还向谁求，岂不向你？请注意，当敬虔忠信之人断绝失败时，正是呼求「主啊，帮助」之时。罪恶的增多威胁着洪水泛滥。「主啊，帮助——帮助那行善的人；很少有人寻求持守正直、站在破口；求你帮助你自己在世上的利益不至下沉。『耶和华啊，这是你动工的时候。』」
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神必向虚假骄傲的人追讨，必刑罚并约束他们的傲慢。他们超出人的管制，向之夸口。人不能识破奉承者的虚假，也不能使那说骄傲话的人谦卑；但公义的神必「剪除凡嘴唇油滑的」——那卖主之吻的嘴唇，那心中有战争口中之言却柔如油的话；他必拔出「那说骄傲话、得罪神和宗教的舌头」（诗12:3）。有人译作祷告：「愿神剪除那些虚假恶毒的嘴唇。」「愿说谎的嘴唇闭口无言。」
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神到了时候必为他受欺压的百姓施行拯救，并庇护他们免受逼迫者的恶计（诗12:5）：「耶和华说，我现在要起来。」这应许——大卫在此借预言的灵所传达的——正是对他借祷告的灵所献之恳求的答复。「主啊，帮助，」他说；「我必帮助，」神说；「我在此，赐及时有效的帮助。」〔1〕这是及时的，在最合适的时候。[1] 当欺压者骄傲傲慢到极点时——当他们说「谁能作我们的主」时——那时就是神的时候，要让他们付代价地知道他高于他们。[2] 当受压者陷于最深困苦沮丧之时——当他们在苦轭之下如以色列人在埃及一样叹息——那时就是神为他们显现的时候，正如以色列人最沮丧、法老最得意时神为他们显现一样。「我现在要起来。」请注意，拯救受屈无辜有定时；那时间必到，我们也可确信那是最合适的时候（诗102:13）。〔2〕这是有效的：「我必把他安置在稳妥之地（或拯救中）」，不仅保护他，还要恢复他先前的兴盛，「领他到宽阔之地」（诗66:12），因此从整体而言他并不因受苦而有所失。
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人虽虚假，神却是信实的；他们不可信靠，神却可。他们口出虚妄奉承，但「耶和华的言语是纯净的言语」（诗12:6）——不仅全然真实，而且全然纯净，如同在泥炉或坩埚中炼过的银子。这表明：〔1〕神话语的真实——一切都确如其中所记，并非别样；它不戏弄我们，不欺骗我们，它对我们别无他意，只为我们得益。〔2〕神话语的宝贵——它具有重大而内在的价值，如同炼到最高纯度的银子；其中毫无可贬之处。〔3〕其大能和真实已经多次得证——它屡经试验，历代圣徒都信靠它、如此试验它，它从未使他们失望，从未使他们期待落空，他们都为神的话语真实作见证：「信那已经试验过的」；他们确实如此发现。这话可能特别指那些帮助和救济穷苦受压者的应许。他们的朋友使他们盼望能为他们作什么，结果不过是折断的芦苇；但神的话是我们可倚靠的；人话既越不可信，我们便当越加确信地信靠神的话。
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无论时代何等败坏，神必保守他所拣选的余民归他自己（诗12:7）：「你必保佑他们脱离这世代，直到永远。」这暗示，只要世界还存在，其中或多或少必有一代骄傲作恶的人，他们要以恶劣的伎俩威胁败坏宗教——「折磨至高者的圣徒」（但7:25）。但让神自己维护他自己的利益、保守他自己的百姓。他必保守他们脱离这世代——〔1〕脱离被他们败坏、引诱离开神，脱离与他们混合、学他们的行为。在普遍背道之时，「主认识谁是他的人」，他们必蒙保守正直。〔2〕脱离被他们毁灭根除。教会建立在磐石上，其防御如此坚固，阴间的门不能胜过它。在最坏的时代，神有他的余民；在每一个世代，他必为自己保留圣洁的种子，并保守它进入他的天国。
唱诵此诗、将它作为祷告时，我们当为风气的普遍败坏哀叹，感谢神事态并未更坏，并祷告盼望到了神的时机必会好转。
英文原文
Complaints of the Times
To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
¹ Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
² They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
³ The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
⁴ Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
⁵ For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
⁶ The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
⁷ Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
⁸ The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which, though the prudent will keep silent (Am 5:13) because a man may then be made an offender for a word, yet we may comfort ourselves with such suitable meditations and prayers as are here got ready to our hand.
I. Let us see here what it is that makes the times bad, and when they may be said to be so. Ask the children of this world what it is in their account that makes the times bad, and they will tell you, Scarcity of money, decay of trade, and the desolations of war, make the times bad. But the scripture lays the badness of the times upon causes of another nature. 2Ti 3:1, Perilous times shall come, for iniquity shall abound; and that is the thing David here complains of.
1. When there is a general decay of piety and honesty among men the times are then truly bad (Ps 12:1): When the godly man ceases and the faithful fail. Observe how these two characters are here put together, the godly and the faithful. As there is no true policy, so there is no true piety, without honesty. Godly men are faithful men, fast men, so they have sometimes been called; their word is as confirming as their oath, as binding as their bond; they make conscience of being true both to God and man. They are here said to cease and fail, either by death or by desertion, or by both. Those that were godly and faithful were taken away, and those that were left had sadly degenerated and were not what they had been; so that there were few or no good people that were Israelites indeed to be met with. Perhaps he meant that there were no godly faithful men among Saul's courtiers; if he meant there were few or none in Israel, we hope he was under the same mistake that Elijah was, who thought he only was left alone, when God had 7000 who kept their integrity (Ro 11:3); or he meant that there were few in comparison; there was a general decay of religion and virtue (and the times are bad, very bad, when it is so), not a man to be found that executes judgment, Jer 5:1.
2. When dissimulation and flattery have corrupted and debauched all conversation, then the times are very bad (Ps 12:2), when men are generally so profligate that they make no conscience of a lie, are so spiteful as to design against their neighbours the worst of mischiefs, and yet so base as to cover the design with the most specious and plausible pretences and professions of friendship. Thus they speak vanity (that is, falsehood and a lie) every one to his neighbour, with flattering lips and a double heart. They will kiss and kill (as Joab did Abner and Amasa in David's own time), will smile in your face and cut your throat. This is the devil's image complete, a complication of malice and falsehood. The times are bad indeed when there is no such thing as sincerity to be met with, when an honest man knows not whom to believe nor whom to trust, nor dares put confidence in a friend, in a guide, Mic 7:5,6, Jer 9:4,5. Woe to those who help to make the times thus perilous.
3. When the enemies of God, and religion, and religious people, are impudent and daring, and threaten to run down all that is just and sacred, then the times are very bad, when proud sinners have arrived at such a pitch of impiety as to say, "With our tongue will we prevail against the cause of virtue; our lips are our own and we may say what we will; who is lord over us, either to restrain us or to call us to an account?" Ps 12:4. This bespeaks, (1.) A proud conceit of themselves and confidence in themselves, as if the point were indeed gained by eating forbidden fruit, and they were as gods, independent and self-sufficient, infallible in their knowledge of good and evil and therefore fit to be oracles, irresistible in their power and therefore fit to be lawgivers, that could prevail with their tongues, and, like God himself, speak and it is done. (2.) An insolent contempt of God's dominion as if he had no propriety in them—Our lips are our own (an unjust pretension, for who made man's mouth, in whose hand is his breath, and whose is the air he breathes in?) and as if he had no authority either to command them or to judge them: Who is Lord over us? Like Pharaoh, Ex 5:1. This is as absurd and unreasonable as the former; for he in whom we live, and move, and have our being, must needs be, by an indisputable title, Lord over us.
4. When the poor and needy are oppressed, and abused, and puffed at, then the times are very bad. This is implied (Ps 12:5) where God himself takes notice of the oppression of the poor and the sighing of the needy; they are oppressed because they are poor, have all manner of wrong done them merely because they are not in a capacity to right themselves. Being thus oppressed, they dare not speak for themselves, lest their defence should be made their offence; but they sigh, secretly bemoaning their calamities, and pouring out their souls in sighs before God. If their oppressors be spoken to on their behalf, they puff at them, make light of their own sin and the misery of the poor, and lay neither to heart; see Ps 10:5.
5. When wickedness abounds, and goes barefaced, under the protection and countenance of those in authority, then the times are very bad, Ps 12:8. When the vilest men are exalted to places of trust and power (who, instead of putting the laws in execution against vice and injustice and punishing the wicked according to their merits, patronise and protect them, give them countenance, and support their reputation by their own example), then the wicked walk on every side; they swarm in all places, and go up and down seeking to deceive, debauch, and destroy others; they are neither afraid nor ashamed to discover themselves; they declare their sin as Sodom and there is none to check or control them. Bad men are base men, the vilest of men, and they are so though they are ever so highly exalted in this world. Antiochus the illustrious the scripture calls a vile person, Da 11:21. But it is bad with a kingdom when such are preferred; no marvel if wickedness then grows impudent and insolent. When the wicked bear rule the people mourn.
II. Let us now see what good thoughts we are here furnished with for such bad times; and what times we may yet be reserved for we cannot tell. When times are thus bad it is comfortable to think,
1. That we have a God to go to, from whom we may ask and expect the redress of all our grievances. This he begins with (Ps 12:1): "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth. All other helps and helpers fail; even the godly and faithful, who should lend a helping hand to support the dying cause of religion, are gone, and therefore whither shall we seek but to thee?" Note, When godly faithful people cease and fail it is time to cry, Help, Lord! The abounding of iniquity threatens a deluge. "Help, Lord, help the virtuous; few seek to hold fast their integrity, and to stand in the gap; help to save thy own interest in the world from sinking. It is time for thee, Lord, to work."
2. That God will certainly reckon with false and proud men, and will punish and restrain their insolence. They are above the control of men and set them at defiance. Men cannot discover the falsehood of flatterers, nor humble the haughtiness of those that speak proud things; but the righteous God will cut off all flattering lips, that give the traitor's kiss and speak words softer then oil when war is in the heart; he will pluck out the tongue that speaks proud things against God and religion, Ps 12:3. Some translate it as a prayer, "May God cut off those false and spiteful lips." Let lying lips be put to silence.
3. That God will, in due time, work deliverance for his oppressed people, and shelter them from the malicious designs of their persecutors (Ps 12:5): Now, will I arise, saith the Lord. This promise of God, which David here delivered by the spirit of prophecy, is an answer to that petition which he put up to God by the spirit of prayer. "Help, Lord," says he; "I will," says God; "here I am, with seasonable and effectual help." (1.) It is seasonable, in the fittest time. [1.] When the oppressors are in the height of their pride and insolence—when they say, Who is lord over us?—then is God's time to let them know, to their cost, that he is above them. [2.] When the oppressed are in the depth of their distress and despondency, when they are sighing like Israel in Egypt by reason of the cruel bondage, then is God's time to appear for them, as for Israel when they were most dejected and Pharaoh was most elevated. Now will I arise. Note, There is a time fixed for the rescue of oppressed innocency; that time will come, and we may be sure it is the fittest time, Ps 102:13. (2.) It is effectual: I will set him in safety, or in salvation, not only protect him, but restore him to his former prosperity, will bring him out into a wealthy place (Ps 66:12), so that, upon the whole, he shall lose nothing by his sufferings.
4. That, though men are false, God is faithful; though they are not to be trusted, God is. They speak vanity and flattery, but the words of the Lord are pure words (Ps 12:6), not only all true, but all pure, like silver tried in a furnace of earth or a crucible. It denotes, (1.) The sincerity of God's word, every thing is really as it is there represented and not otherwise; it does not jest with us, not impose upon us, nor has it any other design towards us than our own good. (2.) The preciousness of God's word; it is of great and intrinsic value, like silver refined to the highest degree; it has nothing in it to depreciate it. (3.) The many proofs that have been given of its power and truth; it has been often tried, all the saints in all ages have trusted it and so tried it, and it never deceived them nor frustrated their expectation, but they have all set to their seal that God's word is true, with an Experto crede—Trust one that has made trial; they have found it so. Probably this refers especially to these promises of succouring and relieving the poor and oppressed. Their friends put them in hopes that they will do something for them, and yet prove a broken reed; but the words of God are what we may rely upon; and the less confidence is to be put in men's words let us with the more assurance trust in God's word.
5. That God will secure his chosen remnant to himself, how bad soever the times are (Ps 12:7): Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. This intimates that, as long as the world stands, there will be a generation of proud and wicked men in it, more or less, who will threaten by their wretched arts to ruin religion, by wearing out the saints of the Most High, Da 7:25. But let God alone to maintain his own interest and to preserve his own people. He will keep them from this generation, (1.) From being debauched by them and drawn away from God, from mingling with them and learning their works. In times of general apostasy the Lord knows those that are his, and they shall be enabled to keep their integrity. (2.) From being destroyed and rooted out by them. The church is built upon a rock, and so well fortified that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In the worst of times God has his remnant, and in every age will reserve to himself a holy seed and preserve that to his heavenly kingdom.
In singing this psalm, and praying it over, we must bewail the general corruption of manners, thank God that things are not worse than they are, but pray and hope that they will be better in God's due time.
据推测,大卫作本诗是在扫罗年间,当时宫廷与民间诚实与敬虔普遍衰败,他在此向神抱怨,且极其切身,因他自己因虚假之友的背信与死敌的凌辱而受苦。本篇结构如下:一、他因人中无可信靠而求神帮助(诗12:1,2);二、他预言他骄傲威吓之敌的灭亡(诗12:3,4);三、他向自己与他人保证,无论眼前光景何等恶劣(诗12:8),神必保守自己的百姓、以他们为自己之民(诗12:5,7),且必向他们成就他的应许(诗12:6)。无论本诗是否作于扫罗年间,它显然是为恶劣之朝代而设;或许大卫在灵里预见他某些后嗣会将事态推至此处所描述的那般恶劣,便为本诗存留供教会那时之用。「噢,这时代!噢,这风俗!」