Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Title. - Upon Sheminith - Note on title, Psalms 6:1-10.
Psalms 12:1-8.-Complaint that the godly cease, the treacherous prevail (Psalms 12:1-2); prayer that Yahweh will cut off these men of proud and false tongue (Psalms 12:3-4); His reply, promising safety to the poor (Psalms 12:5); confidence in His words, though the wicked now walk on every side (Psalms 12:6-8).
Help, Lord - or, 'save.' The abrupt cry, without preface, implies the desperate urgency of the danger. The absence of the object (not Help me, but simply, "Help") implies that the cry is not restricted to the Psalmist, but is common to all the godly left.
For the godly man ceaseth. The ground for appealing to the Lord for help is, the little flock of righteous is in danger of being overwhelmed by the ungodly 'generation on every side' (Psalms 12:7-8). Micah had this psalm in view when he wrote Psalms 7:2.