The Words Of The LORD Are Pure Words Like Silver Refined Seven Times (Psalm 12:6)

 The Words Of The LORD Are Pure Words Like Silver Refined Seven Times (Psalm 12:6)

The LORD God is our only refuge. All people have come from God and must return to Him. Therefore, there is no other refuge. This world is full of wolves in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be truth. They deceive people, seize wealth, oppress, and treat others harshly. But God is the refuge, shield, and very great reward for the poor and needy.

Psalm 12 is a psalm of David, singing of God’s promise to deliver us in the day of trouble and lead us to the safe place He desires.

For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

1 Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts. (Psalm 12:1-2)

The psalmist cries out to God for help, for the godly have vanished and the faithful are gone. The world is corrupt and depraved—full of lies, flattery, and people with divided hearts who deceive. The temptation of worldly desires is strong enough to devour a person. The media overflows with lies and propaganda.

Who, then, are the godly and the faithful? To be godly means to be after God’s heart. To be faithful means to have faith in God. These are the people who are righteous before God.

Before God, no one is righteous except His Son, Jesus Christ. This is because all have fallen in Adam. There is not one righteous person on earth. We must be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus shed His blood and offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice before God so that we who are under sin might be declared righteous.

The blood of Jesus has the power and authority to cleanse and purify the sins and iniquities of those who are in Adam. Whoever is washed by His blood has put on God’s righteousness and can stand boldly before His holy throne of grace. Truly, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).

Yet we still stumble, fail, and sin. The forefathers of faith did so, King David did so, and so did the prophets and apostles. But those in Christ Jesus are not condemned. This may sound contradictory—until we remember how we were made righteous. It was not by our own strength, will, or effort, but by God’s grace from above, through faith in Jesus Christ. That grace remains the same from the beginning until now. The way is always to receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith—believing specifically that through the merit of His blood, all our sins are forgiven. Without the shedding of Jesus’ blood there is no forgiveness of sins; without His death there is no salvation. Believing that Jesus died in our place also means believing that we died with Him on the cross (Galatians 2:20). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Without death, there is no resurrection.

Therefore, we can always come boldly before the throne of God’s grace. But to stand before the Holy God, we must be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Being clothed in Christ’s righteousness comes through faith that we have died with Him. At that moment, God sees the blood of the Lamb and passes over our sins and iniquities.

Think of a lamb that has become an orphan. A mother ewe knows her own lamb, and an orphaned lamb cannot nurse from her. But if the skin of her own dead lamb is placed over the orphan, she will accept it as her own and feed it. In the same way, God’s grace is poured out abundantly, like a waterfall, on all who rely on the blood of Christ.

May The LORD Silence All Flattering Lips And Every Boastful Tongue

3 May the LORD silence all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.” (Psalm 12:3-5)

The psalmist appeals that the Lord may rise up and cut off every flattering lip and boastful tongue. They had boasted, “Our tongues will prevail, our lips are our own—who is lord over us?” In Genesis 11, people built a city in the land of Shinar, and a tower reaching to the heavens, to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:2-4). But God came down, saw the city and the tower, and confused their language—scattering them over the face of the earth so the building stopped (Genesis 11:7-8).

The tongue is a small part of the body, but like the rudder of a ship, it has the power to steer a person (James 3:4). James says, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:6-8)

The tongue itself is not evil—it is a part of the body God created with purpose. As a means of communication, it expresses thoughts and intentions. The reason it is called a fire and a world of evil is because the thoughts and desires of the human heart are evil. The sin dwelling in us cannot be tamed; it is unceasing evil and poison.

The wages of sin is death. Without death, there is no forgiveness. The problem of sin cannot be solved by education or money, nor by human determination or dedication. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross in our place, as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. God, seeing our weakness in the flesh, gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice for us.

God overlooks our sins only because of the grace of Christ’s blood. We have no merit of our own. Even after entering the grace of salvation (initial salvation) through Christ, we are brought to completion (fulfillmentin life) only by the grace of His blood.

7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (Ephesians 2:7-8)

The LORD rises to place the oppressed and needy in the safe place He desires

“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.” (Psalm 12:5)

This world follows the principle of the strong ruling over the weak. In it are widows, orphans, and others who are oppressed, groaning in poverty. As the saying goes, the law favors the rich and punishes the poor. For the weak, justice and righteousness seem like luxuries.

But the LORD speaks and promises to hear their sighs and groans, to place them in the safe place He desires. God lets justice roll on like a river.

The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion. (Psalm 11:4–5)

Here, the oppressed and needy are not only those who are physically poor. David is the author of this psalm. We do not know exactly when he wrote it, but there were times when, without doing anything wrong, he became a fugitive, pursued by King Saul’s jealousy, and lived in hardship and want. When the king’s army hunted him like prey, he was in such distress that he even sought help from the Philistine king, Israel’s enemy. In that desperate moment, he turned to the LORD as his refuge (Psalm 11:1).

In the same way, the LORD has compassion on those in this world who are treated unfairly and unjustly, those who are rejected and shunned. God rises to lead them to the safe place He desires. Jesus Christ came as the Messiah, but people did not recognize Him. They treated Him with contempt and finally handed Him over to be crucified. But God raised His Son from the dead on the third day and seated Him at the highest throne in heaven. The safe place God desires is His heavenly kingdom—imperishable, undefiled, and unfading—filled with love, joy, and peace.

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever. (Psalm 23:1–6)

The Words Of The LORD Are Like Silver Refined Seven Times

And the words of the LORD are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold refined seven times.
You, LORD, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the wicked,
who freely strut about
when what is vile is honored by the human race. (Psalm 12:6–8)

The words of the LORD are pure—unchanging truth—like silver refined seven times. The lies, flattery, empty praise, and propaganda of this world will all perish, because they are corrupt and unjust. But though heaven and earth pass away, not one word from God will fail to be fulfilled.

In this corrupt and evil generation, what is vile is exalted and the wicked run rampant. Flatterers and self-promoters are favored. It was the same in the days of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, and in the days of Noah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the prophets. From the first century until today, the world has remained full of corruption, injustice, and violence.

But the LORD faithfully keeps the godly from this corrupt and evil generation. Though they are rejected, mistreated, and groaning in this world, He will place them in the safe place He desires, and preserve them from now to eternity. For them, He has prepared a city in heaven, built by His own hand. This is our eternal hope and glory. God rejected Saul but saved David. He opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

August 10, 2025
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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.