May We Be Pleasing In Your Sight

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Scripture: Psalm 19:11-14 (NIV)

11 By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

 

Devotion:

 

            As we finish with our study of Psalm nineteen, we see a humble petitioner asking the Lord to have mercy on him. Verse eleven looks backward to the prior section and praises the Lord that he knows God’s laws and is warned against sin by them. In verse twelve we see an honest lament that it is hard to see one’s own sin. Because of the fall we are all prone to self-deception. The writer is aware of this tendency and seeks forgiveness even for these sins.

 

            The psalmist asks for protection against committing willful sins, he asks not to be brought again into slavery to these sins. The writer wants to go on to experience wholeness and holiness in his life. The psalm closes in verse fourteen with a direct petition to the God who is faithful to His children. This verse is used often in the churches liturgy as a prayer for illumination upon the word of the gospel message.

 

            Applying this section of the psalm to twenty-first century life brings light to bear on our secret sins and exposes them. Many Christians today live lives of secret sin. These verses seek to shed light on the dark areas in our own lives. It is not an invitation to reveal secret sins of other people and gossip about them. With David we need to ask to be kept from such sins. Not submitting to the yoke of slavery that accompanies all sin. “May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to God.” Let us pray for that to happen in our lives.

 

Prayer:

           

            Lord, we come before you today asking for a greater awareness of your word. We desire to behave in our world in ways that bring glory to your name. Show us our secret sins that we have treasured in our hearts. Help us to eliminate any faults we find in our innermost being. Lord, help us to speak words of edification and encouragement to one another at every opportunity. Thank you for being a God who can be depended on, and a God who seeks our deliverance from sin. Amen.

 

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