⁰⁶      The words of the LORD
              are pure words,
              like silver refined in a furnace of  clay,
              purified seven times over.

⁰⁷      You, O LORD, will keep us;
            You will guard us from this generation forever.
⁰⁸      On every side the wicked strut about,
            when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

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Introduction:  There is one thing that preachers, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, tradesmen and all working people have in common.  A small minority of their group vocational calling are truly dangerous to their clients and customers.  Another small minority are gifted to rise above their peers and stand out above the common crowd for many generations.  In between are the less talented but honest workers who seek to do at least no harm.  However, those in the middle are generally very easily influenced to follow the habits and methods of those who are in the social ascent.  And sadly, it is not always the best gifted, most honest and hard working in their craft who win the adulation and imitation of their brethren.  We have only to look around at a fallen world and realize that it is the crème de la crud, the bottom feeders: who have won the attention and affection as well as the reward of the worldly in all too many professional and vocational areas of life today!

I begin in this manner to follow the chiastic methodology whereby the last thought of this psalm hearkens back to the first thought.  Therefore  that should be our beginning point in consideration of the dark themes that surround the experience of the psalmist and the promises of the Lord: “Now I will arise” that are central to the real purpose of this prayer song.

And so we begin by looking carefully at the final, the eighth verse:  “On every side the wicked strut about, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”  This is David’s description of a time when the worst of men were in ascent, and the controlling positions of society within their care.  We in this country know from first hand experience in the seventies and the nineties when this was the ongoing reality.  And sadly, the better leadership of the eighties and the current decade were and are unable to put to rest all of the vile habits of power brokering that had transpired in the previous administrations.

I can well remember the sudden decline in public education when the NEA politicos paid the way for their man to create the Education department and to grease the skids for an ever increasing intellectual, social and moral decline.  Then in the eighties, at least the bar of expectation was raised and it almost seemed that the roller coaster track was raised uphill for a time.  The coaster itself still had plenty of momentum, but the center of gravity had shifted ever so slightly that the ongoing decline slowed considerably.  Then President Reagan was able to keep his promise to slow the growth in government.

But, then the political scene changed again in ninety-two, and the forces of amorality were strengthened and the tides of change accelerated to the point that the educational landscape was no longer recognizable.

Truly, David’s poignant words describe troubled times such as these:  “On every side the wicked strut about, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”  The center, as the politicos call them are still tilted to the left in ever increasing numbers  who have been bought and paid for by government largesse.

Development:  But, within that dark cloud of David’s experience and even our own  there remains an incredible silver lining.  To see this, we must look at the second stepping stone schematic in the chiastic methodology, whereby the words of the ungodly summarized in verse two are compared to the words of the Lord God in verses six and seven:  “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times over.  You, O LORD, will keep us; You will guard us from this generation forever.”

What an eternal difference there is here between the lies, flattering lips and deceitful heart of the wicked and the plain spoken revelations of our God and King.  Just as the church is tempted, tested and refined through the providential working out of God’s will  so is the inspired revelation given to the church carefully prepared, guarded and brought about within the providence of God’s will and purpose.

Some years ago I taught a simple children’s sermon to illustrate the point here.  I had in my possession a Personal Check, a Federal Reserve Note, a Silver Certificate, a base coin and an ounce of silver.  In comparing these to the revealed truths of God, I simply asked which would last the longest and which would retain their value.  The three paper currencies were quickly dismissed as worthless over a long period of time  but it took some explaining to demonstrate the superiority of the pure silver over the cheaper imitative coin with is purposeful dross to demean its final value.

Nations have played games with their coinage since the dawn of time, and the paper substitutes not only increase the stakes but also the manipulation of their value to serve the purpose of the politicians.  And so it is within the various churches as well.  In some places the revealed truths of the Bible are so much paper only guaranteed by the cultic organization in power.  In other places, the values of the revealed truths are corrupted with so much garbage that real truth is little recognized.  How much more valuable is the “True Truth”, as Francis Schaeffer called it of God’s voice within those precious texts which have been assembled, guarded and treasured down through the ages.

God has spoken, David tells us  and the value of His words is like the finest coin, carefully refined to guarantee the very best value and usefulness to those who would hear it and listen heartfully to it.

Spurgeon contrasts the fiery composing of fine silver with the formation of the scriptural canon:  “so clear and free from all alloy of error or unfaithfulness is the book of the words of the Lord.  The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution, literary criticism, philosophic doubt, and scientific discovery, and has lost nothing but those human interpretations which clung to it as alloy of precious store.  The experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner, but not a single doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat.  What God’s words are, the words of his children should be.”

Application:  And what does that precious word guarantee us?  “You, O LORD, will keep us; You will guard us from this generation forever.”  Because of God eternal love and purpose  those who believe in Him and obey Him to the best of their abilities will be kept eternally safe.

Spurgeon observed that “to fall into the hands of an evil generation, so as to be baited by their cruelty, or polluted by their influence is an evil to be dreaded beyond measure; but it is an evil foreseen and provided for in the text.”  How appropriate was Spurgeon’s vision for his day and ours as well.  In Spurgeon’s day the British government argued long and hard about bringing peace and security to far off provinces.  They argued about the value of spending their treasure to benefit people who least might appreciate it.  The soldiers of the Queen fought in the same areas where our troops are laboring today.  And partly because of the increasing liberality of the Queen’s government, the task of civilization was cut short and left for another great power two centuries later.  I sometimes wonder if it were not for Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and their kin, would the major media already have accomplished the snatching of defeat out of the all too apparent jaws of an early spring and summer victory.

The contemporary baiting of the church in our day is too well noted, and so is the immoral social pollution of the liberals increasing the decline of our own Republic

And in point of fact  the very denial of the gospel truths in all but a handful of seminaries and denominational administrations should be cause for grave concern.  And yet, the Lord protects his own.  Why should I or any other pastor who come over to the PCA have done so?  It wasn’t because we were especially stubborn or intellectually gifted  but because like Abraham, we were led from our former spiritual homes into a broader space where the truths of God may be proclaimed, enjoined and studiously appreciated.  “How I love Your Law” was the theme of a letter I recently wrote to several people coming into the PCA.  And there I tried to stress the studied difference between where they were coming from and where they were headed?  I tried to encourage them to see the doctrines of grace not as a burden to be studied, but life giving ideas to free them from sin and to prepare them for service.

“You O LORD will keep us,” David wrote so many centuries before.  And that He certainly has as Calvin well observed on these words:  “David, animated with holy confidence, boasts of the certain safety of all the godly, of whom God, who neither can deceive nor lie, avows himself to be the guardian.”

Even in a corrupt and evil generation  the Church of the Living God still survives and even thrives as God’s people come out of lesser organizations to serve Him better in Christ’s own Churches.  May David’s God arise and be our own in this life and the next.  Amen.