Psalm 12, metered

The following is a metrical rendition/translation of Psalm 12, common meter in six stanzas.

1. Help, Lord, because the godly man
Doth daily fade away;
And from among the sons of men
The faithful do decay.

2. Unto his neighbour ev’ry one
Doth utter vanity:
They with a double heart do speak,
And lips of flattery.

3. God shall cut off all flatt’ring lips,
Tongues that speak proudly thus,
We’ll with our tongue prevail, our lips
Are ours: who’s lord o’er us?

4. For poor oppress’d, and for the sighs
Of needy, rise will I,
Saith God, and him in safety set
From such as him defy.

5. The words of God are words most pure;
They be like silver tried
In earthen furnace, seven times
That hath been purified.

6. Lord, thou shalt them preserve and keep
For ever from this race.
On each side walk the wicked, when
Vile men are high in place.

This metrical versification appears in The Psalms of David: with a Selection of Standard Music Appropriately Arranged According to the Sentiment of Each Psalm or Portion of Psalm (William W. Keys, editor. Philadelphia, PA: William S. Rentoul, 1864. Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, General Synod). It is also informally called the “Keys Psalter,” because of the editorial work of William Wallace Keys. In this book the versification is set with the tune Heber by George Kingsley. I have taken the liberty to change the verse numbering to stanza numbering, in order match the way it would be used in a song to match a tune. The psalter numbering matches the Bible verse numbers.