Fathers

Psalms 12

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Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 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 pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 12:2

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

There is a double heart there, not a simple one; it is not what it has within itself that it utters outwardly. The double heart, once upon a time, received this damning judgment: "Deceitful lips in heart and heart have spoken evil." It should have been enough to say, "In the heart they have spoken evil." How are lips deceitful? What is deceit? When one thing is done openly, another covered up. …

Sermon 133:4 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, "vain things," he sets forth the sign of the failure of holiness; and it is twofold, namely vanity and deceitfulness. The first sign of failure is vanity; and with regard to this he says, "they have spoken vain things," etc. That is vain which has no substance. True things, therefore, under which no vanity lies, are firm. Hence 1 Tim. 1: "The end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith; from which some, straying, have turned aside to vain talking." Jer. …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗