“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Are our words and thoughts acceptable in God’s sight? Do we place ourselves prostrate before Him in all we say and do?Do we exemplify that He is the source of our strength? Do we live a life sold out to Him as our actual redeemer?
Unfortunately, for many of us, we don’t conduct our lives this way. We fall into snares of pride, judgmentality, and gossip with what seems like no self-control. The effects of these sins are so damaging. They hurt our testimonies, our communion with God, our relationships with others, and our witness to the lost. They also hurt our churches and our bond with the body of Christ. Also, when we allow worry and fear to plague us, our strength in God is not evident. Our faith loses its power when we respond to uncertainty with anything other than absolute confidence in His provision.
But we are commanded to live ‘set apart’ lives. We are told to rise above the status quo in all we think, say and do. We’re not like every one else. We don’t have to continue in these destructive behaviors. What makes us different from everyone else is that through the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us, we can rise above. We are enabled to ‘take every thought captive’ (2 Corinthians 10:5) and keep our ‘tongues from evil and our lips from speaking deceit’ (Psalm 34:13). We are also able to glorify God as our redeemer and the source of our strength.
Matthew Henry notes, “Having prayed to God to keep him from sin, {David} begs God to accept his actions. His actions are services to God, the ‘words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart’, his holy devotions offered to God.”
The Life Application Commentary records this footnote, “David asks that God approve his words and reflections as though they were offerings brought to the altar.”
This doesn’t mean we won’t ever fall short. We will trip up and fall into snares laid especially for us, but we have to remember we have God’s power and provision of forgiveness if we are willing to turn away from our ‘snares’ in true repentance. And God will empower us to resist each snare if we will just turn to Him.
What kinds of thoughts have we had today? In what kinds of conversations did we participate? If our thoughts and words were all we had to lay on God’s holy altar as our devotion to Him, would we be satisfied in our efforts?
bearingwithlove 