Psalm 12:6; Psalm 23:1-6
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Words are used in Scripture with the most exact precision and discrimination.
WILLIAM PRINGLE (1790-1858): It is impossible not to see that here.
A. W. PINK: The One present was Jehovah, whom David knew and owned as “my Shepherd” in the opening verse. But observe a striking alteration in David’s language in the latter part of Psalm 23. In the first three verses all the pronouns referring to the Lord are in the third person: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul.” But in the last three verses David changes to the second person: “Thou art with me. Thy rod”—not ‘His’ rod—and Thy staff. Thou preparest a table before me, Thou anointest my head.” Why the variation? Ah, there is something inexpressibly blessed in that change. During life the believer speaks of the Lord—“He leadeth me;” but as he enters the valley of the shadow of death, he speaks to the Lord, for He is there by his side!
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Martin Luther used to say, “All vital religion is in the personal and possessive pronouns.” Is it not so? “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee!” Isaiah 43:2…How sweetly does David address the Lord in Psalm 84:3—“O Jehovah of Hosts, my King and my God.” The people of God love possessive pronouns—“my King and my God”…Let us also value the personal possessive pronouns—the sweetness of the promises lies in them. These are our arms with which we embrace the promises.
A. W. PINK: Here the change of pronouns brings out a precious line of truth.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” Luke 22:31,32. Our Lord directs His speech to Peter—though it appears He had a respect to them all, for the word “you” is in the plural number.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Satan hath desired to have you all in his hands—that he may sift you as wheat.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): “But,” continues our Lord, “I have prayed for thee,”—Peter in particular.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The NIV, ESV, NKJV, and RSV translations of the Bible replace all “thee and thou” singular pronouns with the plural pronoun “you.” Here they read as if Satan wanted to sift only Peter. But Jesus knew Satan wanted all of His apostles, and that the devil’s main assault would come upon Peter, for whom He prayed in particular, that Peter’s faith would not totally fail. Thus details of God’s truth which are seen in the original Greek and Hebrew texts, and in the King James Bible, are hidden in those modern English translations.
MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): No greater mischief can happen to a Christian people, than to have God’s Word taken from them, or falsified, so they no longer have it pure and clear.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): We are told today we must realize that we are living in a ‘post-Christian’ era and that the greatest obstacle to preaching today, is that people do not understand our terms. They sound archaic to them, they are not modern, they are not up-to-date. The result is this great modern craze for new translations of the Scriptures in familiar, ordinary everyday language, and the fashion of no longer addressing God as “Thee” and “Thou,” but “You.” This, we are told, is all-important—that when the modern man hears “Thee” and “Thou” it is almost impossible for him to listen to the gospel, leave alone to believe it. So we have to change our language, and we do this in our new translations of the Bible, and in our prayers.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s nonsense. When Canadians sing their national anthem before the start of a hockey game, they have no trouble understanding, “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land, glorious and free.” The same is true for Americans when they sing, “America, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.”
LORD SHAFTESBURY (1801-1885): I see that the revision of the Scriptures is to impoverish our language.
C. H. SPURGEON: At first, Calvinism was too harsh, then evangelical doctrines became too antiquated—now the Scriptures themselves must bow to man’s alteration and improvement.
LORD SHAFTESBURY: All is in keeping. These fellows are enfeebling our doctrine; and it is quite in harmony to enfeeble the language in which it is expressed.
JOHN ROBINSON (1575-1625): That translation is most exact, which agrees best with the original, word for word, so far as the idiom, or propriety of the language will bear.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me,” John 15:26. One thing comes out very plainly here, and that is the personality of the Holy Ghost. In Greek it stands out very prominently in the gender of the pronouns, which our English language cannot reach. The word we render “whom,” in the Greek text is masculine;—“which” is neuter;—and “he” is masculine again.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: Let us have the best that the translators can give us. But that is not the real point behind the idea that you must now address God as “You” rather than “Thee” or “Thou” if you are to communicate the Gospel to modern man. The basic assumption behind that thinking is that the reason people do not believe in God, and do not pray to Him and accept the Gospel, is the archaic language of the King James Version—and if only that is put right the whole situation will be changed.
J. C. RYLE: Let us be on our guard against the devil’s devices. He is very subtle. The personality, activity, and power of the devil are not sufficiently thought of by Christians. This is he who brought sin into the world at the beginning, by tempting Eve.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The last fifty years have shown that much of modern English language revisionism has a far deeper Satanic agenda, under a guise of equality and human rights. First, in 1969, feminist “equality” activism instigated the ordination of women and their preaching in churches, contrary to God’s Word, 1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:11,12. In 1989, the first “gender neutral” Bible was published, when the New Revised Standard Version adopted a policy of “inclusiveness in gender language,” using non-masculine pronouns for God. By the late 20th century, the word “gay,” traditionally meaning “cheerful” or “carefree,” had replaced the term “homosexual,” a subtle cultural rebranding to legitimize an anti-Christian “lifestyle.” In 2001, came the world’s first legalization of “gay marriage.” Its opponents were labelled “homophobic,” which, by its psychological connotation, perversely slandered them as having a mental disorder. Now feminist/homosexual activists insist that gender is not inherently male or female, but a matter of choice, so everyone must address “trans-gender” people by whatever pronouns they choose to use. The Satanic design behind these lies and unholy practices is to undermine the authority of the Bible, and the natural order of God’s Creation.
