“Letthe words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thysight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (v. 14). Many people, even Christians,don’t particularly care what they say in public or to whom they say it. Some ofus care very much. We think that if we pass the public approval on what we say,we’re ok.

Davidwasn’t satisfied with that. He said, “Let the words of my mouth and themeditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O God.” When we askthe Lord to make what we think about in our hearts and say with our mouthsacceptable in His sight, not just in other people’s sight, we don’t haveto worry about any great transgression.

Wecan pass this to our children as well. We are used to laying out rules for themto make their actions acceptable in our sight. Suppose we could teach ourchildren so that the meditation of their hearts would be acceptable in thesight of God? If our children were like that, how many rules would we have to laydown? Not many. Not many at all.

Hereis how you can teach your children to meditate on the Lord and have theirmeditation be acceptable in His sight. First, keep your meditationacceptable in God’s sight and the words of your mouth acceptable in Hissight. How do you speak to your children? Is that how you speak to everyoneelse? The Scripture says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”(Matt. 12:34). When I take care of the mediation of my heart, I have alreadytaken care of what I’m going to say. What you say is the result of what you’remeditating on. If you are not mediating rightly, what you say will not be righteither in content or in manner. Your children will pick it up and meditateright back to you that way.

James3 says that out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing, and that shouldnot be. Ask God to make the meditation of your heart acceptable in His sight. Thatis the solution for holy, godly contact. That is where to start. I start with yourheart, your motivation. Then you can go on to your children’s hearts, yourchildren’s motivations.

Goback to dealing with secret sins. Go back to presumptuous sins. Go back to thewords of your mouth and the meditations of your heart. When you get thosethings acceptable in God’s sight, you won’t have to worry about falling overany cliffs.

Itis easy to fixate on big sins and let anything less than them pass for ok. Youare doing something little that is not right, and someone says, “What’s wrongwith that?” That’s what wrong with it—you saying, “What’s wrong withit.” What’s wrong is wanting to say that anything less than a big sin is ok.

Welive as if sin was the same as crime. If it’s not violating the law, then it’s alright.If it’s not literally violating the Ten Commandments, it’s ok. But Jesussaid, “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committedadultery” (Matt. 5:28). God is after the meditation of your heart. The personwho solves the problem there doesn’t have to worry about the act of adultery.The person who solves the problem of hatred never has to worry about murder.The person who solves the problem of coveting never has to worry aboutstealing. Go after the basic things. Go after the heart sins underneath.

Whatif you are already guilty of the basic things? God forgives those like Heforgives great transgressions. But you have to admit it first. You have to callit sin. You may have a good reputation with your friends and family, but youare miserable in your heart. If so, start asking God to search your heart.

RecentlyI reread a letter I received in the 1970s from the wife of a navy captain ofthe Naval Academy Class of ’53. Her husband had just told her that that as soonas the seniors of the class of 1950 graduated at the end of his plebe year, theplebes (the freshmen) went through all the seniors’ rooms to see if they hadleft anything behind.

Thisman was not a Christian. He was searching through the dorms, and he came to myroom. He pulled open the locker door, and on the inside panel was pasted Psalm139:9: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts ofthe sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” Thatstruck him. He became a Christian shortly thereafter, and twenty-six yearslater, I found out that that verse of Scripture pasted up in my locker door hadhelped bring him to the Lord.

Psalm139 is the greatest cure there is for secret sins. It is the story of a mantrying to run away from God and not succeeding. Verse 23 says, “Search me, OGod, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be anywicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” If you don’t know whatthe problem is, ask God to search you. Then in prevention of future sin, ask Himto cause the meditation of your heart to be acceptable in His sight.

Lookback at Psalm 19. David’s great desire and delight came from the Word of God.The Word of God is light; the Word of God is a joy. If you do not know how tomeditate in an acceptable way, dwell in the Scriptures, and you will come to findthem like gold, like much fine gold. Your heart will change directlyproportional to how much time you spend in the Word of God.

(To be continued November 5...)

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships