The Biblical Illustrator
Psalms 12:6
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
The excellence of the Holy Scriptures
I. The holy description of the sacred writings here given. It tells of--
1. Their high authority. The men who wrote these books say, “The Spirit of God spoke by me, and His Word was upon my tongue,” “Thus saith the Lord,” and so on. Thus they claim high authority. But you may ask, “How are we to know it?” Therefore note--
2. Their inherent sanctity. “The words of the Lord are pure words.” And are they not so? Some say the book is immoral because it records immoral actions. But could the Scriptures have given a faithful account of human nature without such records? Those who study the Bible most are those who most of all live and practise all the public and social virtues. Modern infidels are not so candid as those of the former century. Rousseau could say, “I will confess that, the majority of the Scriptures strike me with admiration, as the purity of the Gospel hath its influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of diction: how mean, how contemptible are they compared with the Scriptures! Is it possible that a book at once so simple and sublime should be merely the work of man?”
3. Their intrinsic worth. In our text they are compared to the finest silver and gold. And in Psalms 119:1. And this eulogy is deserved, because they speak of God and man reasonably and in harmony with our experience. They satisfy man upon the most anxious questions.
II. The scrutiny they have endured. “Tried in the furnace, purified seven times.” The reference is to the searching process of the refiner, by which he detects the presence of any alloy and removes it. And the Word of God has passed under a scrutiny like that of fire: It is not accepted on mere hearsay and because of the teachings of priests.
1. It has been thoroughly investigated. Josephus gives his testimony to the sacred books of the Jews. Hence the Old Testament is evidently not a book of yesterday. And from the testimony of the Fathers we know that the books of the New Testament have existed from the time they profess. The ancient versions confirm this. The entire New Testament might be collated out of the quotations made by the Fathers.
2. Then there has been antiquarian and scientific research. And these do homage to the testimony of revelation.
3. Philosophical and moral discoveries likewise bear their testimony in the philosophies of China and India, and yet others, have been searched, and they have been found poor and unsatisfactory, like the glimmer of gas lights at noonday, compared with the Scriptures. That eminent Oriental scholar, Sir William Jones, says, “The Scriptures contain, independently of a Divine origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains, both of poetry and eloquence, than could be collected within the same compass from all other books that were ever composed in any age or in any tongue.” Now these are not the testimonies of priests, but of laymen, learned, travelled, and who have become acquainted with the literature of all nations. And should any be disposed to trifle with the Bible, let me quote to him two lines from a poem penned by one of the greatest geniuses that has ever adorned our empire, and whose intellectual light has been just lost to us--
“Better he had ne’er been born
Who reads to doubt, who reads to scorn.”
(J. Blackburn.)
Testing the truth
The Psalmist is telling of the Word of God, and contrasting it with the words of men. He tells of those who speak vanity. “With flattering lips and a double heart do they speak.” He wants something better, and finds it in the Word of the Lord. For in contrast with man’s weakness and falsehood there was the Divine promise immediately made, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now,” etc. May that be depended upon! May we take heart? Yes, “For the words of the Lord are pure words,” etc. So then, we may apply this text to the Bible.
I. By the prolonged and severe conflict it has had with all the evil of our world. There are two great forces in the moral world, that of evil--the world, the flesh, and the devil, and that of good--in truth, in holiness, and in love. And God is the source of all this good. Now, if the words are of God they will be like Him; which is just what they are. And they will occupy His place, bitter against nothing but evil, enamoured of nothing but good. And they will do His work. So they do, have done everywhere and always, under all circumstances and amid all conditions.
II. By all the contradictions of unbelief. Concerning Him it is said, “He endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself.” Just so it has been with the Word of God, and is so now. They have heated the furnace to the intensest heat, and cast the Bible in, and the result is that it has lost nothing but the tinsel of man’s folly or the bonds wherewith men’s authority sought to bind it.
III. By the evil consequences of the conduct of false professors. We complain of the unfair dealing of unbelief. Naturally. But there are others who deserve our indignation far more, and these are those who profess to be, but are not, friends of the Gospel or of the words of God. Worldly men, who have determined to make it a political engine. Hence it has been encumbered with ceremonies and dogmas; kept back from the people; man’s own interpretations fastened upon it, as if they were the words of God Himself.
IV. The infirmities and inconsistencies of its real friends. Many of you here profess to be its real friends. Some of you hold prominent positions, and, like Peter and John, you bid men look on you and see what your religion can do. And men do look on you and judge the Word of God by you. And they see very soon where there are inconsistencies in you; whilst, on the other hand, there is nothing so awes the world as the spirituality, unselfishness, and devotedness of earnest holiness. But who of us can profess fitly to represent the Word of God? How imperfect are the best of men.
V. By the spiritual discernment of all sanctified men. In one sense the Word of God tries a man, for according as he acts towards it so does he reveal his spiritual state. On the other hand, all holy souls test the living Word. “My sheep hear My voice,” said the Saviour, “but a stranger will they not follow.”
VI. By the personal experience of both saints and sinners. VII. by those, most of all, who have most thoroughly lived in it and worked hardest for it. If I want to know the sustaining qualities of any particular kind of food I observe those who live most on it, yet do the greatest amount of work, and with the greatest ease, and, nevertheless, show the most robust health. And so, would I know what the Word of God can do, I turn to those who are such as I have described. See Paul. Hear him say, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthened me.” All of you who hear the Word, bind it to your hearts, and let it be your holy resolve, God helping you, to live as well as speak His Word. (John Aldis.)
The Word of God tested and proven
The fable that there were animals that lived in the fire, called Salamanders, came from the glowing brilliance of some metals that, when they are heated to a white heat, acquire a supernatural splendour, and apparently a new and mysterious life. The metal seems now to live, breathe, heave, move at every new expansion and contraction; a hundred hues, indescribably brilliant and radiant, play around the molten surface. Of all books, the Word of God is the only one with Salamander qualities. The flames of persecution and hostile criticism, instead of effecting its destruction, have but added to its lustre and strengthened its claims to be indeed “the Word of the Lord that endureth forever.” (A. T. Pierson D. D.).