Who Can Be Believed, and Why?

Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone,

for the faithful have vanished

from among the children of man.

  Everyone utters lies to his neighbor,

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak...

The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times. 

Psalm 12:1-2, 6

My dear husband is a man of integrity, and he has a tendency to want to believe the best of people.  In his eyes, if a man says something, his word should be his word.  Needless to say, he has been disappointed countless times.  Unfortunately, true godliness, faithfulness and truthfulness have become mere words of the past in the hearts of many.  It is no different today than it was during the time of David.  "With flattering lips and a double heart they speak."  The only way that mankind can be preserved from this horrible condition is to cry out to the Savior,"Save, O Lord."  Only in Him is there hope for a double-hearted people.

So who can be believed, and why?  Praise God that the One whom we worship is the God of Truth.  His words are pure.   The psalmist described the verity of God using the refining process for silver. Not only are his words refined, but they have been refined 7 times, the number of perfection. We can perfectly believe our perfect God.

 

Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse:

"And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (Malachi 3:3)"

One lady proposed to visit a silversmith, and report to them on what he said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the object of her errand, begged the silversmith to tell her about the
process of refining silver.

After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "But Sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?"

"Oh, yes madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure.

Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?"

"Why, that is quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished."  (http://www.atimetolaugh.orgthesilversmith.html)

Believing,
Gloria