Read
Psalm 12:1
For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
1For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,
Notice
“Help, LORD” begins a prayer shaped by the loss of faithful people, naming the distress of looking around and finding few who can be trusted.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Where have you felt the loss of people whose word you could trust?
Write on thisWhat would you name after “Help, LORD” if you prayed David’s words today?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 57:1The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.Both passages mourn the disappearance of righteous people, with Isaiah stressing how little those left behind take that loss to heart.
Jeremiah 5:1“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does …Both texts describe a scarcity of faithful people; Jeremiah makes the search concrete in Jerusalem’s streets.
Matthew 24:12Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.Both describe the erosion of goodness among people: faithfulness fails in the psalm, and love grows cold in Matthew.
Isaiah 59:13–15transgressing and denying the LORD, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of …Both texts speak of faithfulness breaking down, with Isaiah naming denial of the LORD and words of falsehood.
Isaiah 1:21–22How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice. Righteousness lodged in her, but now there are murderers.Both lament lost faithfulness; Isaiah describes a city where righteousness once lodged and murderers now live.
Psalm 6:1For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in …Both psalms name David and the eight-stringed lyre in their headings, then address the LORD with an urgent plea.
Isaiah 63:5I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me.Both speak of absent human support, though the psalm asks the LORD for help while Isaiah describes the speaker’s own arm bringing salvation.
Micah 7:2The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.Both lament that the godly have vanished, with Micah describing violence among those who remain.
Micah 7:1–2Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard. There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat …The shared thread is lament over absence: David lacks faithful people, while Micah’s opening image describes finding no fruit.
Genesis 6:12God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.Both describe widespread human moral failure, using sweeping language about the loss of faithfulness and the spread of corruption.
Proverbs 20:6Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?Both focus on the scarcity of a faithful person, with Proverbs contrasting claims of unfailing love with the difficulty of finding faithfulness.
1 Chronicles 15:21and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.Both mention the eight-stringed lyre in a musical setting; the connection concerns the instrument rather than the psalm’s plea.
Where this verse fits
Broken friendship. church hurt. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
A short cry for help is a prayer worth bringing to God. David speaks to YHWH while the loss of faithful people remains unresolved.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 12:1. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 12 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).