Ps 19:14
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. NIV
- Rom 12:2; Your meditation and your words will always be related. They are tied together. Just as your appearance and reflection will always look alike, your meditation and words will be the same. You can only hide your meditation for a short time before you will overflow with what is inside. Matt 12:34
Ps 19:13
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then, I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
ESV
- Presumptuous is translated as willful sin in the NIV. He is worried that willful sin will rule over him, which seems odd. If it is willful, it seems you would be the one in control. He has learned that sin makes a slave of the sinner (Rom 6:16; Prov 5:22). It promises fun and lack of commitment, but it delivers something completely different. Prov 7:21-23 tells of the boy who follows sin’s promise, expecting the reward only to receive binding, destroying consequences. Much like a fish going after the bait, the boy is attracted by sin’s promise, only to receive its hooks. God, don’t let me fall for sins lies. Help me to recognize the trap for what it is.
Rom 1:32
32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. ESV
Ps 10:2
2 The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. NKJV
- ESV “In arrogance the wickedly hotly pursue the poor”
- People mistreat others out of arrogance or pride. It comes from being so self-centered that you don’t value other people. All that seems to matters is self, so they mistreat others. God, don’t let me mistreat others. Help me to see their value as you see them.
- Prov 16:18
Ps 9:1
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. ESV
IV. God’s faithfulness vs 10
Ps 7:14
14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. NIV
(My paraphrase) He who became intimate with sin, and is nurturing, feeding and dwelling on evil soon will give birth to disillusionment.
- This verse is showing us that those who get close to sin, feed and grow a lie. The devil paints a picture that just isn’t true. They press forward, expecting a rewarding end. When they get there, they find disappointment and emptiness, not the happiness and fulfillment they expected. It is the end of the illusion; it is disillusionment. Prov 17:19 Are you flirting with sin? The more you flirt, the better it looks. The reality never changes. It is still sin; it still produces sin and death in your life. Prov 5:8; 7:25 Do not go near; flirting with sin is the process of swallowing the hook. Isa 59:4;
Ezra 7:10
10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. ESV
- He set his heart. 2 Chron 12:14. Have you set your heart? Where is it set? If you don’t know where it is “set,” you wont know if or when you get off course. Is your heart set on pleasing God or yourself?
- He didn’t just study the word; he was a doer of the word. James 1:22;
2 Chron 34:27
Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
- Humility is so important. God heard, because he responded humbly. How have you responded? God, help me to respond humbly with a soft heart. Help me to be ready to change what needs to change. 1 Thess 5:17.
- Funny that this is the problem caused by those around him, yet he responds with humble repentance. Saul got called out on his own sin and blamed the people. He was proud and didn’t take responsibility for his actions. God, help me to be humble and repent for my mistakes and those I represent. Don’t let pride slip in and stop me from your will. Help me to be humble, seeking you all the days off my life. Help me to be humble enough to receive correction, regardless of how its administered. Help me to lay down my pride and my need to defend myself. I want to recognize my failures and change, not blame. God have your way in me. Ps 141:5.
2 Chron 34:3
For in the eighth year of his reign while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David, his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. ESV
- As a boy, he chose to make it his own. We all have to choose to follow God for ourselves. 1 Tim 4:12 challenges the young to be the example in faith…. what are you waiting for? We can’t let our age be an excuse for our character and our relationship with God or are lack there of. So start now. Make it your own and seek God with all your heart.
2 Chron 32:18
And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of the Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. ESV
- They were working to create fear, so they could take or rob the city. Fear is a weapon. Don’t let the enemy rob or control you through fear; 2 Tim 1:7. Take your focus off the problem and on to God. 2 Chron 32:6-8.
