Title--A psalm of David, The Faithful Have Vanished
My guess is that this poem will be about a time David felt abandoned--perhaps by his son, by God, or by the people he led. He may question God and where He is in this moment. He may look to God as his strength.
Paraphrase--
Help--godly men cease to be.
Men speak flattery and lies to each other constantly.
The Lord will stop those lips.
Who boasts that they will succeed, not needing God?
God will rise to help the poor and needy and keep them safe from the boastful.
The words of God are pure and trustworthy.
God will preserve His word from this generation to forever.
When evil men are praised, the wicked are all around us.
Connotation
Verse 1 sets up the essential problem; the godly are gone and wicked men abound.
Verses 2 through 5 switch back and forth between the perspective of God and of evil men: "They speak vanity" (v2), "The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips."
In verse 4, David includes the questions of the prideful to emphasize the arrogance of those who view themselves self-sufficient, "Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
Then, to emphasize the dramatic difference in perspective, David shifts to the Lord's thoughts in verse 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."
The words of the Lord are the focus of verses 6 and 7, shifting the reader's focus again. God's word is compared to silver refined in a furnace seven times, extremely pure. Verse 7 emphasizes His commitment to preserving and honoring this word.
The last verse shifts back to the wickedness of the current generation.
Attitude
David's tone is imploring and discouraged, as he starkly contrasts the wicked's point of view with the Lord's. It sets up a situation of me vs. them. David faced life threatening circumstances upon multiple occasions and was abandoned by those closest to him at key times. He is also hopeful, particularly with regard to the preservation of God's word and His promises.
Shift
There are multiple shifts in this psalm. It begins and ends by presenting the essential problem; the good people are gone and evil people dominate. The middle section develops the difference between God's perspective and evil men's. Then it shifts to the qualities and preservation of God's word. After this, it circles back to the problem of the wicked.
Title Revisited--After analysis, I would say that "The Faithful Have Vanished" illustrates how alone David feels in his culture and His desire to focus on God's permanence and promises.
Theme
There are multiple lessons in this psalm. People should not view themselves as independent from God, self-sufficient. This type of pride leads to double speech, lies and flattery. In contrast, we should look to God and His word, which he guarantees. I think it's also functions to warn us that we will operate and serve in midst of evil men, as did David. We should not be distracted or surprised.
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