Every word of God is tested (tried, purged, purified with all impurities melted away). Proverbs 30:5
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
If God says He will rise up, count on it! If He says He loves you, there is no insincerity in the statement. His tongue is pure, lips speaking only truth, unadulterated by lies and flattery. Look to Him to be completely honest with you. No bull. That is at once terrifying and comforting. David is comparing God's tongue to that of the flattering liar who goes after the naive and destitute. Filth in the presence of purest gold. The untrustworthy up against the All-Faithful God.
Our mouths. Oh, dear. Sigh with me. So many thousands of words dripping or exploding from my own mouth...words I wish I could stuff back where they came from. Take a broom and sweep them from the floor now soiled with their intent. Grab them back from the heart they stuck to when I struck it with them. James, the brother of Jesus, said: The tongue is a small member (of our body) yet it boasts great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness...staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life. Wow..that is serious! A whole life course can be changed by what is said. That is why it is so important that we heed what God says. That changes our entire life, too.
At the turnaround place of my beach walk there are two large dumpsters set up to hold the garbage that is collected from the trash containers along the beach. I turn to head home slightly before I get there because the smell is horrible. It is the one place on the beach that is defiled with this pungent smell. Trash that has not been purified. Reminds me of trash talk. Maybe that is why it is labeled thus. It reeks of the detritus of our lives. It "stinks to high heaven," as my Mother would say. Maybe we should be as concerned about how our words smell as we are about whether or not our breath stinks.
When, in Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the Lord, the first thing that occurs to him is this: "Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He did not say, "I am such a sinner...I have done this and that." Isaiah knew that in the presence of holiness, his mouth was the most unclean, unredeemed thing about him and his society. When God had one of the seraphim take a coal from the altar of incense and place it on Isaiah's tongue, the angel pronounced Isaiah clean, forgiven of his guilt, his sin atoned for. Because the prophets lips were clean, he was clean. Isaiah was going to speak for God. His words had to match the purity of the One he would represent. That coal had been taken with tongs from the altar of sacrifice and placed on the altar of incense. Holy fire burned away the dross...melted off the impurity. Isaiah was ready to speak for God.
How about us? I am trying to imagine my entrance into the throne room of God. Knowing that my turn is next, seeing the alphabet splayed before me, forming words on the ground around me and the air above me, words that I regret, words that wounded, words that were just dumb, I would grab for them and try to hide them from His gaze. Ashamed that I did not test them. Refine my speech before I blabbed whatever was on my mind at the time. The door then would open, light pouring from the throne and I would step into His presence defiled. I would not stand there for long. Overwhelmed by His purity, covered in my rags, I would drop to my knees. No words. I have nothing to say that matches the moment. I am emptied of any expression. In the presence of The Word, I would be speechless. I know I would want to say nothing that did not come from Him. All other words would fall worthless from my lips. I would yearn for holy fire to burn away the impurities, melt the meaning of all the words I have spoken that started fires, large and small. I would want a cleaned up mouth, holy lips.
Oh, Father, today Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, my Rock and my Redeemer.
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
If God says He will rise up, count on it! If He says He loves you, there is no insincerity in the statement. His tongue is pure, lips speaking only truth, unadulterated by lies and flattery. Look to Him to be completely honest with you. No bull. That is at once terrifying and comforting. David is comparing God's tongue to that of the flattering liar who goes after the naive and destitute. Filth in the presence of purest gold. The untrustworthy up against the All-Faithful God.
Our mouths. Oh, dear. Sigh with me. So many thousands of words dripping or exploding from my own mouth...words I wish I could stuff back where they came from. Take a broom and sweep them from the floor now soiled with their intent. Grab them back from the heart they stuck to when I struck it with them. James, the brother of Jesus, said: The tongue is a small member (of our body) yet it boasts great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness...staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life. Wow..that is serious! A whole life course can be changed by what is said. That is why it is so important that we heed what God says. That changes our entire life, too.
At the turnaround place of my beach walk there are two large dumpsters set up to hold the garbage that is collected from the trash containers along the beach. I turn to head home slightly before I get there because the smell is horrible. It is the one place on the beach that is defiled with this pungent smell. Trash that has not been purified. Reminds me of trash talk. Maybe that is why it is labeled thus. It reeks of the detritus of our lives. It "stinks to high heaven," as my Mother would say. Maybe we should be as concerned about how our words smell as we are about whether or not our breath stinks.
When, in Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the Lord, the first thing that occurs to him is this: "Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He did not say, "I am such a sinner...I have done this and that." Isaiah knew that in the presence of holiness, his mouth was the most unclean, unredeemed thing about him and his society. When God had one of the seraphim take a coal from the altar of incense and place it on Isaiah's tongue, the angel pronounced Isaiah clean, forgiven of his guilt, his sin atoned for. Because the prophets lips were clean, he was clean. Isaiah was going to speak for God. His words had to match the purity of the One he would represent. That coal had been taken with tongs from the altar of sacrifice and placed on the altar of incense. Holy fire burned away the dross...melted off the impurity. Isaiah was ready to speak for God.
How about us? I am trying to imagine my entrance into the throne room of God. Knowing that my turn is next, seeing the alphabet splayed before me, forming words on the ground around me and the air above me, words that I regret, words that wounded, words that were just dumb, I would grab for them and try to hide them from His gaze. Ashamed that I did not test them. Refine my speech before I blabbed whatever was on my mind at the time. The door then would open, light pouring from the throne and I would step into His presence defiled. I would not stand there for long. Overwhelmed by His purity, covered in my rags, I would drop to my knees. No words. I have nothing to say that matches the moment. I am emptied of any expression. In the presence of The Word, I would be speechless. I know I would want to say nothing that did not come from Him. All other words would fall worthless from my lips. I would yearn for holy fire to burn away the impurities, melt the meaning of all the words I have spoken that started fires, large and small. I would want a cleaned up mouth, holy lips.
Oh, Father, today Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, my Rock and my Redeemer.
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