Alexander Ewing, minister of the Square Chapel Congregational Church in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, used Psalm 12:6-7 as the basis for his discourse on “The Claims of the Bible to Be Received as a Divine Revelation,” which was printed in 1839.
“It is true, the scriptures have been assailed by the enemies of our faith, in every possible shape and form, and with all the subtlety and malignity of hell. But they have passed, through every fiery ordeal, uninjured, and have even gained additional brightness and strength, from the trial to which they have been subjected. The text affirms, ‘The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.’ That is, as the precious metals, when cast into a crucible or fining pot, and subjected to the scorching flames, seven times, in succession, come forth with increasing brilliancy; so the words of the Lord, the more they have been tried, whether by friends or foes, the more their truth, their uncorruptness, and integrity have been manifested. While all the shafts of malice, have rebounded back upon those by whom they were discharged, the oracles of divine truth have remained impervious to their strokes. Nor shall infidels ever be permitted to succeed, in their desperate enterprise against the words of the Lord, for it is added, ‘Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.’ .... The care of divine providence, is remarkably displayed, in the preservation, and transmission of the sacred scriptures during so many ages, in all their integrity, and purity, to the present time. Indeed, when we consider, how the Bible has been assailed, and maligned, by its avowed enemies, and misrepresented by the infidelity and treachery of its professed friends, its preservation seems truly miraculous. But the Lord of all, who has never permitted the gates of hell to prevail against his church, has watched over with peculiar care, the sacred oracles, on which it rests ‘as the pillar and ground of the truth.’”
“Discourse III, The Claims of the Bible to Be Received as a Divine Revelation, Psalm XII. 6,7.” Discourses on Various Subjects, Designed to Illustrate the Excellency of Christianity, Alexander Ewing, London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1839, pp. 86-87, 94
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