They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
When the godly cease and the faithful fail, the times are truly bad, not for want of money or trade, but because wickedness abounds and honest men are scarce. These deceivers speak with flattery on one side and malice on the other, their words smooth but their hearts divided against truth.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 12:1-8
"They speak vanity every one with his neighbour." They utter that which is vain to hear, because of its frivolous, foolish, want of worth; vain to believe, because it was false and lying; vain to trust to, since it was deceitful and flattering; vain to regard, for it lifted up the hearer, filling him with proud conceit of himself.
Bad times come not chiefly from scarcity or war, but from the decay of piety and honesty among men. Godly men are faithful men; their word binds as firmly as an oath. When such men cease or fail, whether by death or desertion, the times grow truly dark.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 12:1-8