Thursday, January 12, 2012

150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 12


I guess since we hear sooooo much lately about politics because of the primaries going on, when I read the first few verses of Psalm 12 I thought about politicians. haha.

But rather than focus on the obvious and point out that ALL of us have those deceitful moments in our lives, I want to focus on vs. 6.

"The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times."

 The phrase "purified seven times" is an expression to show that it is completely pure - no impurities are in it. The psalmist is conveying the message that God's words are completely trustworthy.

One of the reasons I thought of this 150 Psalms a Day challenge is that I thought this would be a fun way to get a bunch of us to read through the Psalms. By just reading one a day we won't fall into the bad habit I have found myself in before of just reading through something quickly so I could check it off my list. By focusing on one psalm a day my prayer is that I will put these words in my heart and life and not just have them run on by as I hurry on to the next chapter.

As you read these pure words each day, let me encourage you to spend some time with them and apply them to your life. Don't just check a Psalm off your list (Yep! Read that one.) put it in your life.

1 comment:

Phyllis Hobson said...

I liked the picture of silver being refined "seven times" and looked up how you refine silver ("you can do this at home!" it states!). Of course one primary ingredient is acid. I think of acid burning and destroying, but in this sense, I see God burning and destroying the impurities in me.

Beyond that, though (and I enjoy savoring a Psalm a day - I usually read it in two or three versions to see different phrasing), I saw the KJV wording of verse 2 a "double heart." I guess rather than being heartless, you can have too many hearts! Maybe more two-sided (to go with the flattering lips).

And then in another version, the very last line is stated as "what is worthless is exalted by the human race." Isn't that the truth! I think of Paul's words of counting all he had as loss...