Psalm 139:3 in the Amplified Bible reads, “You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” In the language of the Psalmist David, to sift out meant to toss about, by implication to diffuse and winnow; so the picture is that of threshing grain, in which the grain is removed and separated from the husks, called chaff. The process used wind, either natural or artificial, to blow the chaff away. As the ancient farmer tossed the product into the air, the crushed stalks, husks and dust would be carried away by the wind (threshing floors were usually located in a place where strong winds blew), while the heavier grain would fall in a heap. As the wind would blow away the chaff, that which was of no value to the harvest, so God desires to remove the chaff, that which is of no value, from our path, our ways, our life; and, yes, He knows what needs to be removed, we just need to submit to it being removed, so the “grain” of our entire life can be pure in His hands! The tossing in our lives may sometimes seem a little rough as stubborn chaff vies to remain, but God is working to “thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn” (Matthew 3:12). God is always concerned for us, and He never asks anything to be removed from our lives except that He has something better with which to replace it. He uses another simile to describe the process of our purification, which is the refining of precious metal. The Amplified Bible in Job 23:10 says, “But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].” Then the final reward is seen in James 1:12, Amplified Bible, “Blessed, happy, to be envied is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those that love Him.”

Choosing The Right Way

(Prophetic words by Rose Hill)

To you who see the pathway dark at this time – the path that you travel seems to be covered over with many briers, weeds, and rocks, so that you can hardly see the way the path leads. You want to go the right way and do the right thing, but you cannot see the way to take, saith God. Do not try to proceed any further! Don’t step into that mess of briers, you will get hurt. But wait upon Me, and I will go ahead of you, and clear your path, and remove all those things out of your way, so that you can clearly see which way to go.