Psalm 12
I recall John saying a few days ago, essentially, that the psalms are timeless. I surely see that in today’s reading: You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. (vv. 7-8) David is asking to be guarded …from this generation forever. He goes on to speak of the wicked and of vileness being exalted. Again I think of Hollywood – television and the movies! Yes, wickedness IS exalted. We do need to be guarded from this generation.
I’m sharing an article about the refining of silver which relates to the reference in verse 6. I know nothing about the process of silver refining so I looked it up. “In metallurgy, refining consists of purifying an impure metal. It is to be distinguished from other processes such as smelting and calcining in that those two involve a chemical change to the raw material, whereas in refining, the final material is usually identical chemically to the original one only it is purer.” Wikipedia
Courtenay, thanks for the insight on refining. I am so thankful God is refining me. But ouch, it hurts!
Yes, Fred there is a lot of vileness all around. But not just from Hollywood or movies. I think of partisan “entertainment” (both sides) and echo chambers, etc. The sad fact is that the human heart, including our own, enjoys this, so it sells. How foolish we are, pretending it is outside us.
Verses 6 and 7 reminded me that the existence of the Bible (the Word of God) today, after close to 3000 years for these psalms and some other Old Testament passages, and 2000 years for the New Testament, is a miracle.