PSALM 19:14 – Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Today’s scripture paints a portrait of the whole of Christianity. David points to his tongue as the instrument which rings forth the outward profession of allegiance to the Lord. He would also look inside of himself, to his heart, where the issues of sincerity, authenticity, and affection are found that validate our profession. But there is something more in this one verse, something extremely important.
Like many of the Psalms, we are “listening” to the author of them as he prays. If we want to learn how to pray, study the Psalms, model the Psalms, live in the Psalms. Martin Luther once said, “The Psalms are the window to the soul.” They are like skilled surgeons. They do marvelous work in the human heart.
What makes the verse so encouraging, instructive, and challenging is the brevity of its words of prayer and the nature of true prayer; it includes our whole being – the heart, the mind, and the tongue.
The first area of David’s prayer is the quality of his speech before the Lord. Nothing will enhance or destroy our witness for Christ more quickly than the wholesome, holy quality or unwholesome, unholy quality of our speech. David basically prays, “Lord, guard my mouth. Please let every word I say be acceptable in Your sight.” And the reason why he earnestly prays for “tongue control” is because he didn’t have tongue control. Neither do we. James warns of this ever-present danger – For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:7-8). This prayer of David should find its way into our daily lives. Why? We desperately need the Lord to put a “muzzle” on our tongue by the restraining power of His Spirit.
David would also address the inward quality of his life to the Lord in prayer. Our speech is the outward condition of our walk with the Lord and the state of our thinking is the inward. The petition of David is for the Lord to help him think or meditate on thoughts and truths that are acceptable and pleasing to the Lord. Like the tongue, we need help outside of ourselves. We live in a world of sin that pollutes our minds taking our thoughts from the Lord and eternity to the world and temporary things. Always remember, there are two forces which want to control our thinking – the world and God’s Word. The one winning the daily battle in the mind determines if our profession of faith is affirmed by the inward reality of the faith.
So, the Christian life. It is an inside outside life. May the Lord help us to remember this by praying for this, like David, that our speech and our thinking would be pleasing in His eyes.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me be a whole Christian with my heart and tongue validating Your Gospel .”
QUOTE: “A true Christian is one whose heart and tongue match in following the Lord Jesus.”