P.S. Lord, Keep Me From Presumptuous Sin

I was running this morning and as I rounded a corner I was scared witless by a dog running toward me barking.  I could not see where he was coming from but his bark made it sound as if he was hot on my trail ready to bite my heals.

  Out of my mouth flew an explitive as a quick jolt of adrenaline surged through my body.

As I ran onward,  I meditated on the passage in Luke  that ends with

 ...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

  The word I spoke and the WORD said it all.  

My heart is full of stinky foul dog excrement!  

As I continued to run the end of Psalm 19 began to play on my playlist...

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 

be acceptable in your sight, 

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  

The Psalm starts by saying;

The heavens declare the glory of God, 

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 

Day to day pours out speech, 

and night to night reveals knowledge.  

There is no speech , nor are there words, 

whose voice is not heard.  

Their voice goes out through all the earth, 

and their words to the end of the world.  

In them he has set a tent for the sun, 

which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, 

and like a strong man, runs its course with joy.  

I want my mouth to declare His glory, not my own.  I want my speech to proclaim HIS handiwork not my own.  When I talk about the Lord I want what I say to reveal who He is to the hearer.  I want to declare the fame of His name and my life to set up a sanctuary for my Bridegroom so that in all my running I run with His strength and joy. 

Am I running my course with joy?  Is my heart full of the abundance of His glory that I cannot help but declare His beauty and glory or am I a white washed tomb full of dead men's bones?  Do I look the part but have a defiled corrupted heart?

The psalmist pleads with the Lord about his great need for intervention 

Who can discern his errors?  

Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  

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.

We are unable to see our own faults and hidden sins when we isolate ourselves from the word of God and the community of God.  

We must be diligent to pray for God to give us discernment in our own hearts because we are prone to presumptuous sin and we often times have no idea what is lurking under the surface but our words can uncover the deep motives and wellspring of our hearts.  

Our words are capable of great harm or great good.  We were created to bring glory to God but we fall short on a daily basis.  Does this mean we should not try or that we are a lost cause?  Certainly not as Christ's atoning work on the cross paid the price for my sin, but it does show us our desperate need for His power in the area of our heart and mouth.  

God desires to use our mouths for His glory and for the good of others.  

The psalmist describes the active power that the words of God impart

The law of the LORD is perfect, 

reviving the soul; 

the testimony of the LORD is sure, 

making wise the simple;  

the precepts of the Lord are right, 

rejoicing the heart;  

the commandment of the LORD is pure 

enlightening the eyes; 

the fear of the LORD is clean, 

enduring forever;  

the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  

More to be desired are they than gold, 

even much fine gold;  

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; 

in keeping them there is great reward.  

So now I ask myself; do my words revive the weary soul?  Do my words make wise the simple?  Do my words rejoice the heart?  Do my words enlighten hearts?  Are my words like gold and sweeter than honey?  Do I warn others to keep God's word?  

I pray Father that you would teach me wisdom in the secret heart and purge me with hyssop and make me clean because you desire truth in my inner parts and as you break my bones Lord, let me rejoice in Your great work.  

Use me for your glory Lord to revive souls, make wise the simple, cause hearts to rejoice and eyes to be enlightened, and use me to speak sweet words of warning!   Let my words be like apples of gold in settings of silver spoken at just the right time. 

And P.S  Lord, 

 keep me from presumptuous sin I pray