Believers today often feel the pressures of taking a minority and unpopular position in society. Psalm 12 assures us this is no new problem and that God’s people have survived nonetheless. The variations in references to Yahweh—who is addressed directly (“you”), referred to (“the LORD”), and speaks himself (“I”)—make best sense in a liturgical setting. The opening petitions address Yahweh directly with the psalm’s chief concern (vv. 1–2). This is expanded in the form of a wish that refers to him in the third person (vv. 3–4). In response, Yahweh speaks and promises to intervene (v. 5, perhaps through a prophetic voice, cf. Hab. 1). A liturgist then responds to Yahweh’s words with a confession of their purity to the congregation (v. 6). In closing, he addresses Yahweh directly regarding the…