Tried and Pure
The Sapphire Review Vol. 1 | No. 17 • September 13, 2024
As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
This verse is one of many to cling to amid the trials and adversities of life. It serves as a fundamental building block pertaining to scriptures and how we are to stand upon them during difficulties.
HEBREW TEXT
To grasp the fullness of the treasure of truth being presented here, we can look at the Hebrew text for the word translated as “tried.” This word, “צְרוּפָ֑ה” - tse-ru-phah, is a verb variation of the root word “צָרַף” - tsaw-raf (H6884), which means to refine. A picture of smelting a precious metal through immensely heated fire comes to mind.
ISAIAH AND JOSEPH
We find in the book of Isaiah the following verse:
“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)
Speaking of Joseph we find the following verse in Psalms:
“Until the time that his word came: The word of the LORD tried him.” (Psalm 105:19)
Though different variations than our word for “is tried” in this week’s verse, “refined” and “tried” in the two verses above are both also variations of the same Strong’s root word H6884.
THREE POINTS OF SMELTING
The fire that burns hot enough to turn a metal in a molten liquid serves a few purposes. First, it allows impurities to be separated and removed. Second, it allows the metal to be poured into a mold, thus reshaping it into a different form.
We can see this application playing out in our own lives, where trials, afflictions, rejections, and sufferings of various kinds are the very instruments God works through to drive sin out of our hearts and to shape us into the character of Jesus Christ.1
But what of the word of God? Certainly, it has no need to be purified. There is yet a third purpose to the refiner’s fire that we have not yet considered. Peter writes the following:
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” (1 Peter 1:6–7)
Here Peter compares the trial of our faith to gold which is “tried with fire.” So the refiner’s fire may also be used to assess the quality and genuineness of a precious metal. Pure gold will have no impurities that come forth when it is put to the test of the smelting pot. Such is the word of God.
DEEPER INTO THE HEBREW TEXT
Let’s briefly go back to the Hebrew text of our verse. Whereas the root (H6884) speaks to an active action of smelting, refining, or testing (see “is refined” in Zech 13:9), the verb variation in Psalm 18:30 is a passive form which describes something that has already been through the smelting process, so to speak. As helpful as the Strong’s definitions are to our studies, sometimes by digging a bit deeper, we can extract additional treasures that are not seen through just the Strong’s root word extractions. To understand this word in our verse this week more clearly we can look at how this exact Hebrew word is translated in one other place in scripture where it is used:
“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Proverbs 30:5)
The same exact word (not just the root) translated as “is tried” in Psalm 18:30 is translated as “is pure” in Proverbs 30:5. Now this gives us a clear picture! When a metal comes forth from the smelting pot, it is pure and absent of all impurities. Thus we have a picture of God’s word as: tried, pure, and absent of any and all impurities. When assessed during the fiery trials of our lives, it is found genuine and lacking in no part. What a beautiful picture!
RICHARD WURMBRAND
Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor in Romania during and after WWII, considered that there were 366 scriptures in the Bible about not being afraid. He considered this as being one for every day of the year, plus one extra to cover the years with a leap day. This truth came to his mind as a source of great encouragement on February 29, 1948 (a leap day in a year with 366 days). On this day, the Communists secretly abducted him. When he realized what day it was, “do not fear” filled his mind. He knew God’s word and he was comforted in knowing that God was with him, despite the horrible atrocities that were ahead of him.
CHALLENGE
We are now living in a time of ease and comfort compared to the time of trouble and persecution that is just up the road and soon to come upon God’s people. We will be pressed upon like never before in our lives. We must be preparing for this time now. If we aren’t ready when the storm hits the shore, it will be too late to prepare at that time.
We must be storing up in our hearts, now, the vast treasures within God’s word. Scriptures must be committed to memory, that we may draw comfort and encouragement from them when the fires of persecution have been fanned to a flame that is “seven times hotter” than anything we have ever faced.2 The person who then stands firmly upon the word of God, bringing forth its treasures out of their heart, will stand as a light and encouragement to others who are being shaken during this time. The one who neglects the time of preparation now given unto us will be as a dry well without water and a lamp without oil, having nothing to offer the shaken, but rather will be found amongst the shaken.
The “tried” word of God is that which goes with us into our times of difficulty, need, and suffering. It is in the smelting pot of those times that the Christian finds God’s ways to be perfect. He finds the promises and truths of His word to be pure, true, and without flaw. He finds that truly God is a buckler to those that trust in Him.
PRAYER
May God Help us to be diligent students of the Bible, and to make every effort that we can to commit more scriptures to heart. May He help us to prepare now, that we may stand ready whenever difficulty arises.
God Bless,
Charles
Praise the Lord!