Psalms 12 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Traditionally the reign of David, roughly 1010 to 970 BC, though the words fit any period when public honesty broke down
Location
Jerusalem, in the setting of the city gate and marketplace where deals were struck and disputes settled by spoken word
Audience
Worshipping Israelites who depended on truthful speech in a society with little written contract law
Situation
A lament that faithful people have vanished and that flattery and double talk have taken over public life. God answers with a promise to rise up for the plundered poor, and the singer contrasts God's flawless words with the slippery talk around him.
Key Background
In ancient Israel most agreements, testimony, and property transfers were oral and witnessed at the city gate, so a culture of lying was not merely a moral failure but a collapse of the legal system itself. The heading mentions an eight-stringed setting, one of several musical directions in the Psalms whose exact meaning is now uncertain. The picture of silver refined seven times in a clay furnace reflects real metal working, where repeated smelting drove off impurities, and it becomes the standard for how trustworthy God's spoken promise is.