Today’s Scripture Reading: Psalms 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21
David speaking to the Lord:
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. —Psalm 19: 12-14
In this Psalm it seems as though David said everything that every human being trying to live for God has thought at one time or another.
It is comforting to me to pray this Psalm to my God.
You see, I have a problem; I tend to think I’m better than I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of things that bug me about me, but I know that some of the things that bug me don’t bug my Lord and some of the things that don’t bug me really bug my Lord.
The problem is Satan, my spiritual enemy distracts me with silly things so I don’t notice the heart things—the hidden faults.
I’m worried about check lists: Daily Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, etc. and my heavenly Father is looking to see why I am doing those things— He goes straight to the heart!
If my heart isn’t right it doesn’t matter how much I read, pray, or go to church—it’s the “why” that counts.
The interesting thing about the way God wired us is– what’s in our heart WILL eventually come out of our mouth. David knew this and prayed for both to be pleasing to God. So the lesson for us is:
- If you don’t like what’s coming out of your mouth check your heart
- If you’re controlling your mouth but have sin in your heart; watch out, it will come out when you’re least expecting it
In Psalm 119: 9-11, an unknown psalmist (it sure sounds like David to me) gave us instructions to keep our heart pure:
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.
I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Heavenly Father, we don’t want to be controlled by sin. We join with David and ask you to show us our hidden sins and faults. We want a pure heart; continue to draw us to Your Word. Help us to treasure Your word and read it, meditate on it, memorize it, and talk about it so that we might not sin against You!
Thank you Lord for speaking through Your Word!
©2012, Dianne Guthmuller
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalms 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
The Journey 