THE WORDS OF THE LORD

" The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." [Psalm 12:6-7]


This is a word picture taken from the process of purifying silver in a furnace or oven. These clay ovens are still in use in the Arab world today.The clay furnace represents the human element; the silver represents the Divine message which is to be conveyed through the human channel.[ 2 Peter 1:21]

The fire which ensures the absolute purity of the silver, that is, the absolute accuracy of the message, represents the Holy Spirit.
The phrase "seven times" indicates- as the number 7 does many times in the Bible-the absolute perfection of the Holy Spirit's work. So, the whole picture here assures us that the total accuracy of the Divine message in the scriptures is due to the perfect operation of the Holy Spirit, overruling all the fraility of human clay and purging all the dross of human error from the flawless silver of God's message.

The message is Divine. It is other than the messenger[man]. Man recieves God's word by the Power of the Holy Spirit which is made possible because of what Jesus did at the Cross.

A person cannot really understand the Word as it should be understood, unless they have placed their faith totally in what Jesus did at the Cross, thereby ensuring the help of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 7 says" Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever". This has a double meaning. God will keep His Words and God will keep His people. God will preserve His Words and He will preserve His people. No matter how evil and wicked men attack the word of God, they will not prevail.

From the very time that God uttered His Word it is most surely to come to pass exactly as He has spoken it.