A PURE WORD

Verse 6 of this psalm declares that “the words of the Lord are pure words”, and they are likened to silver which has been purified in the furnace. Notice that the writer speaks of “words” and not of “the word”. Led by the Spirit of God, the writer is drawing attention to the fact that the individual words, used by God in the giving of His revelation, are pure. In making his declaration concerning the purity of the words, David uses a word which has within it the thought of purging, of being uncontaminated or unadulterated.

Some years ago, a Bible teacher made a suggestion that another comma should be placed after the word “furnace”. This would then indicate that the words of the Lord are of earth, but purified seven times, that is, completely. It may well be that this is what is intended. God has used the words of men, human language, in writing His Book, but He has exercised His divine control to ensure that the very words used are the words of His choice. It is pure, unadulterated, because of this control. He did not merely convey a thought to the penman and then leave him to express it in his own way. He gave the very words.

In Psalm 19. 8, David again stresses the fact of the purity of the commandment of the Lord, and declares the effect of this to be “enlightening the eyes”. If we are satisfied that God has controlled what is written, then we can see plainly what is meant, there is no dubiety. How confused we would be if we felt that what we were reading was only the words of men.

In John 17. 8, the Lord Jesus in speaking to His Father said, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me”, and frequently in the course of His public ministry He stressed that the words that He uttered were given to Him by God.

In like manner, when the apostle Paul spoke of God’s revelation, much of which came through him, he said, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth”, 1 Cor. 2. 13. God used the words of men in which to give His revelation to us, but He kept them free from error, so that we may have pure words and a pure Word.