I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will give heed to the blameless way when will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; no one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure. My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me. He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me. Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, So as to cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.
I love David's commitment to the Lord in this Psalm. Walking with integrity "within my house"... in private, when no one else is around to see... that is true character... that is who I am. The reality is that only God sees those things, but He does promise that our sin will find us out. Setting no worthless thing before my eyes... this is far beyond our normal standard of "guarding our eyes"... this is taking it to the extent of not even thinking about worthless things. Do I want to fill my mind with things that don't matter for eternity? My mind is a gift from Him! What goes in comes out. Am I thinking about worthless things? Am I listening to worthless things? Am I looking at worthless things? How about the concept of knowing no evil? Am I filling my mind with things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, etc.? How about the concept of having the blameless be the ones ministering to us? Who do I hang out with? Are they blameless before Him? Are they ministering to me or are they dragging me down? Do I find myself in a deeper relationship with Him because of their impact on my life or am I struggling to survive when I am with them? Are they faithful and obedient to His ways? Do they help me make excuses or do they challenge me to get up off the ground and pursue Him with my whole heart? Am I going as far as to cleanse myself of all wicked influences in my life? I'm not saying that we ought to not minister to anyone, but as far as the people I am getting council from... are they all blameless before Him? It is hard enough to live a life of faithful commitment to Him without the negative influences. We must turn fully to Him and let His people minister to us as we minister back to them.
God, give me wisdom in choosing who I go to for support and encouragement. Build strong, God-fearing people as a fortress around me so that when I fall, they pick me up. Give me strength to reject all forms of evil. Help me not to waste my life with the worthless things that this world is filled with. Strip away anyone or anything in my life that is not of You. Fill my heart with desires for You and You alone. Guard my eyes, my ears, my mind, my heart. Make me into a strong man who is able to be a source of stability and strength for those that are struggling. Grant me humility to love as You love. Give me compassion for the hurting. Give me wisdom for encouraging. Make me into who You want me to be no matter what it takes.
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