Pure Are the Promises of God

“The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,

silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.”

~Psalm 12:6 (NRSV)

In Psalm 12 there is a general lament that the faithful have disappeared, such is the prevalence, in that day, of wickedness. There are always those, in every generation and age, who will see society these ways. But we take David at his word. This day must have been a scary one to live in.

But from this sort of then-present day the contrast of the Lord’s purity against a backdrop of wickedness is ever starker. Yet, when we focus on Lord’s purity, we quickly see our wickedness in its correct light. Grace becomes, as a result, even more wondrous. That’s the point. Rather than focus on our lack we’re better to focus on the magnificence of God’s grace that sweeps down and saves us.

We are better to focus back onto the purity of the promises of God.

Interminable Holiness

The character of God, we know, never changes. And in this, a central part is the Word; the Word as it is spoken into existence via creation, the natural laws we come to rely on, and in many other ways, with hardly a need to mention the Bible.

Of all the things that do change, including many matters of our lives that seem so fluid, we often don’t recognise the trustworthiness enfolded in the Lord.

We need to be reminded, very frequently daily, of God’s faithfulness, and sometimes these reminders take some work fitting through our understanding.

Sometimes we become seasonally deluded, backwashed in a mood of disconsolation against the Lord. There is a block to receiving grace. Only in the moment that the deception is fractured do we see the absolute purity of the Lord sponsoring us. It has been and always will be there.

Then we believe that the promises of God are infinite in their goodness.

There is never a better place to be than this. A correct seeing of God is heavenly.

The Blessing Of Corrected Sight

Because we all fall into even fleeting moments of doubt our sight for the Lord needs to be, occasionally, corrected. This is nothing to be ashamed about. There is nothing shameful about being human. We were created to be nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

But it is a blessing when our sight has been corrected. It’s a gift we receive when we experience our hearts melting. Suddenly the truth is known, and the purity of God’s Word is believed again.

***

The promises of God of goodness and grace are unchanging. When we are caused to believe this, because our hearts have been melted in the presence of the truth, we are blessed and heaven is experienced.

The promises of God, purified seven times, are complete and perfect.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.