The Words of the Lord Are Pure Words

Psalm 12 is a psalm of David about a world where honest speech is becoming rare. David cries out because the faithful seem to disappear, people speak falsehood to one another, and smooth words hide divided hearts. Against human deceit stands the purity of the Lord's words.

At the heart of this song stands the verse:

"The words of the Lord are pure words, silver refined in a furnace of earth, purified sevenfold."

Human speech can flatter, boast, deceive, and wound. God's words are clean, faithful, tested, and free from falsehood.

The psalm also hears the pain of the weak. The poor are robbed, the needy groan, and the Lord declares: "Now I will arise." Heaven is not silent before oppression.