Psalm
12 tackles the issue of liars in our midst.
As king, David certainly encountered many people who lied – flatterers seeking
to gain favor or opponents seeking to bring ruin. David’s prayer here is a prayer for help
since he is surrounded by the ungodly.
The tongue can do great damage.
As a child, I grew up hearing the old adage “sticks and stones may break
my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Sure, it was mildly helpful when that kid at recess called me a dork,
but the adage is flat wrong. Bones will
heal after a few weeks, but words can hurt much deeper and that hurt can last
much longer.
Fortunately
for David, he has one source of truth that can rely on – God’s Word. “[T]he words of the Lord are flawless,” he
writes, “like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times” (Psalm
12:6). The image of refined silver is
one that recurs throughout the Bible. As
silver is melted in the fire, the impurities will rise to the surface to be
removed. Each time the silver is put in
the fire, is another chance to purify it further. The words of the Lord, having been purified
seven times, are perfect. They are a
dependable source of truth, even when we are surrounded by lies.
Psalm
13 is another short psalm that quite accurately reflects some of my own
feelings regarding my current situation.
1How long, O Lord? Will
you forget me forever? How long will you
hide your face from me? 2How
long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3Look on me and answer, O Lord my
God. Give light to my eyes, or I will
sleep in death; 4my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my
foes will rejoice when I fall. 5But
I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6I will sing to the Lord, for he
has been good to me.
The first half of this psalm perfectly captures my
feelings regarding infertility. I’m
tired of waiting. I’m tired of cancelled
cycles. I’m tired of hearing that the
last cycle didn’t take. I’m tired of the
daily “sorrow in my heart.” Some days I
can be like David and trust in God’s goodness.
Other days, all I can do is ask “How long?” I really like verse 3. I can imagine the intensity with which David
writes this. There is an urgent pleading
there, laced with a hint on anger. This
isn’t a wishy-washy ‘if you don’t mind could you please’ kind of request. This is a bold ‘answer me or I die’ demand. The hard part is knowing that God hears our
pleas and he hears the intensity of our requests and trusting that he will be faithful to answer. David’s affirmation of his trust in the
goodness of the Lord is an important reminder to me because I am forced to
acknowledge the truth of verse 6. The
Lord has been good to me and the Bible is full of passages an examples of God
being good to those who trust in him.
Sometimes they have to wait a while, but God is always faithful.
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