Mouth AND Heart

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14 NKJV)

Notice that the psalmist says "the words of my mouth AND the meditation of my heart," not "OR." How often do we say the things we know will be pleasing to God, all the while feeling quite the opposite? If you've ever substituted clean words for profanity, you have done it. Yes, most of us know what "shut the front door" REALLY means. The words of the mouth may be pleasing...but not the meditation of the heart.

We are never going to beat this kind of hypocrisy. If we all said what we really thought all the time, no one would ever get along with anyone else! And God is not surprised that our words and thoughts often don't match...and he forgives us over and over and over.

But what does it take to at least grow in this area? It takes drawing closer to God and loving him and loving his commandments. Anyone who knows me, knows I am way more about grace than law. But God's laws are a kind of grace in themselves. They help us to become the people God wants us to be. And when we love his law, our hearts change in such a way that more and more often, the heart matches the words.

We will never be perfect, and we shouldn't beat ourselves up when we fail, but we should take joy in the process of becoming ever more like him as we draw closer through worship, prayer and study.

On this day may the words of my mouth AND the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen.

Joys: beautiful day at South Mountains yesterday;open-window weather; the sound of distant thunder