How many of you know about the show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist? I will say that I have never watched it, so I am in no way endorsing it. The premise behind the show is that this woman is able to hear people’s thoughts. Can you imagine if that was real? What if someone was able to hear your innermost thoughts, good or bad? Guess what, someone can! Except it’s not someone you are walking around, rather it is the sovereign Lord. In our text today, David is making a sincere and earnest plea to God for help not only with his actions or his words, but also his thoughts. Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
All of Psalm 19 is David speaking of how God is intimately in tune with His creation. He hears and receives praise from all of His creation, and nothing is hidden from God. This brings David, and hopefully us, to an important realization; if God know everything about His creation, then He knows everything about us as well, because we are part of His creation. David knew the sting of sin in his life. Therefore, David is asking God to keep his words, his actions, and his attitudes pure. Yet, David recognizes that he is unable to do this on his own. Therefore, the end of verse 14 is David reminding himself of who God is to him. While David is too weak to fight temptation on his own, He knows that God will give him the necessary strength to resist temptation. David reminds himself that he can’t save himself, but God is his Redeemer. It’s is not only good for us to remind ourselves of who God is, but it is also necessary in our daily struggle against temptation and sin. Maybe you are wondering, what can I do to experience victory and purity in all areas of my life?
- Be honest with yourself about yourself. Have you ever met someone who was in denial about something that was obvious to everyone else? It’s frustrating isn’t it? Yet, we can be guilty of this ourselves with respect to our sin. Have you ever wondered why we try to find and point out other people’s sin? It’s because it is easier to focus on someone else, than to be honest about our own sinfulness. Many times, the sin that we see and despise in others is sin that we know we struggle with ourselves, and we don’t like ourselves, but we make it about them instead of about us. When the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, it means just that, we are all sinners who have and continue to come short of God’s holy standard. While it may be easier to look and judge others, we need to hold up a mirror and talk to the person who is staring back at us.
- Ask God for a heart checkup daily. One of the scariest times in my life occurred just a couple of months after I got married. Diana along with my mother-in-law and myself took a bike ride one morning before I went to work. I was trying to shed some pounds and be in better physical shape. As the ride was coming to an end, I started not feeling well. Being a guy, I ignored it. We all loaded up in the vehicle and headed back to Diana and I’s apartment so I could get showered, changed, and to work. I didn’t make it to work that day or for about two weeks after. What I ignored at first, made me deal with it later that morning. Nothing prepares a 25 year old man and his new bride to heard the words, “you have had a mild heart attack.” Yet, ready or not, that’s what had happened. Ever since then, I am supposed to have a yearly check-up not only with my regular doctor but also with a cardiologist. This is what I would come to learn, my body had been trying to send me warning signals for weeks before the cardiac event. I didn’t listen to my body, and so I missed the signs, until they were no longer deniable. The same is true for you and I in our walk with the Lord. Because we are sinners by birth and by choice, we readily choose to rebel against God. Oftentimes, we do it without really thinking about it. God in His love and grace, has given His children the Holy Spirit to act as a sin monitor, among other things. When we sin, the Holy Spirit brings conviction in our life, as a means to get us to confess our sin and turn from it. However, when we ignore that conviction, God’s discipline becomes stronger and stronger. God disciplines us according to Proverbs 3:11-12 because of His love for us. Therefore, it is important that we don’t ignore the conviction in our life, or we need to understand that we are inviting the discipline of God into our life. Just like my heart attack didn’t happen overnight, no one ruins their life overnight. It is a building up process. So, how do we keep from sin building up in our life? We daily ask the Lord what David asked of the Lord in Psalm 139, “Search me, O Lord, and try me. Reveal any wickedness that is in me, and lead me in Your way everlasting.” We need to daily get alone with the Lord in prayer and His Word, and ask God to diagnose the condition of our heart. When we do that, there could be a final step needed.
- Confess any sin and seek God’s help. As we ask God to reveal who we truly are, this is a prayer that pleases God, and therefore He will answer that prayer. When God reveals sin in our lives, we need to confess it then and there. But then we need to take it one step further. We need to ask the Lord to show us in His Word how we can turn from that sin, and not give in to that temptation the next time it comes. The Holy Spirit is there for this purpose among others. Part of seeking God’s help involves prayer, the study of the Bible, and also accountability. We need people in our lives who will hold us accountable not only for what we do or say, but also the attitudes that we are expressing in our words and actions.
What we think is private, isn’t private to God, and in His Word He says that one day everything that was done in secret will be revealed. Before that day comes, are there some things you need to talk to the Lord about, and seek His help in dealing with them? If so, spend the next little bit talking with God and seeking His help. Take your Bible with you, and allow God to speak to you through His Word. He won’t turn you away. It may be painful, but in the end, you will be stronger because you did.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin