Psalm 12 – Help In Weakness and Fear

“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)

The enemies that surround us in this day are rarely usually those that chase us like they chased David.  Our enemies are often in our minds and those demons don’t quickly relent.  

When we feel we’re all alone — and this can happen for anyone; especially the ardent Christian — we feel like there could hardly be a similar person.  This isolation over us gets us talking to ourselves, and our minds accuse of the wickedness of others and situations against us.  Everything appears a problem.

The Enemy’s Field Day

We should note who the enemy is here.  It’s no one other than ‘the accuser’ — Satan.  If it’s not our desire that’s crowding us it’s usually the devil, and desire is nowhere in sight when we’re in this lowly frame.

Isolated, we’re no match for this prince of darkness.  He’s got us right where he wants us: weak, failing and rejected — in other words, feeling this way.

We forget, however, that God’s got other plans if only we’ll draw closer to the Spirit (James 4:8). As we press in on God, not relying on our strength, God presses in on us.

The Promised ‘Safety’

In verse 5 the promises of God are issued, for the “despoiled” and because the “needy groan.”  God hears.  God, at this time, when things are haggardly awry, “will now rise up,” and provide the perfect, or complete, protection that we need.  This is what “purified seven times” means — the promise is like perfectly crafted precious metal.  The promise has the ‘quality’ of pure silver.

How this safety actually works is a mystery other than the application of the technique of focus and of drawing close to God.

As we draw away from the enemy — those pathologically-looped thought patterns — we find the weakness, sense of failure and rejection dissipating almost at a rate consistent with how much we draw away from the enemy whilst drawing closer to God.

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The mind is our greatest enemy when we’re feeling weak, failing and rejected.  But, as we reframe our thoughts, switching focus onto God, we’re reprieved. The mind can be harnessed one thought at a time.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.