Guarding Our Heart

Psalm 141
A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
3Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
4Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
5Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
6When their judges are thrown over the cliff, then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7As when one plows and breaks up the earth, so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!
9Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers!
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.

There are a few verses in this prayer that are head-scratchers. But the verses that sing out with words of warning are loud and clear. If you allow a moment to take in what David is asking for here, it seems to ring with one clear request: protect me from my own evil inclinations.

First, David asks the Lord to hear his prayer. That is spoken out of experience, for with David we all must admit that sometimes we wonder if God has even heard our prayers. I believe that doubt comes from a heart of sin, but let’s be honest, sometimes the heavens seem to be made of brass (or bronze as is depicted in Deuteronomy 28:23 – And the heavens over your head shall be bronze.) Instead, David wants his prayers to be as fragrant incense before God, heard and acknowledged.

The most incriminating of requests comes in verse 3, Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! If only I could take back the thousands of words I’ve spoken that were selfish, foolish, arrogant, or useless. But alas, spoken words cannot be sucked back in and we are left with them floating through the air, like hot ashes. That verse needs to be my prayer every morning!

David is honest and speaks for us all when he asks God to guard his heart from his own evil inclinations. Our hearts are fickle and easily distracted by that which is not of God. May He protect our hearts with His Holy Spirit’s power. Who among us is quick to receive the words of rebuke that may be needed? But wisdom demands that we are attentive to those who know us well and have the right to speak difficult truths into our lives. David asks for help to be open to that work in his life, and we do well to mirror that prayer as well.

I will admit without apology that I have not idea what verse 7 is about. I’m open to ideas.

Finally, I ask with David, that God would be my fortress and defense, for there is none greater that He.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more