The Words of My Mouth

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:12-14 ESV). I saw the following quote recently: “Be careful who you trust. The Devil was once an angel.” I am finding this little proverb more and more applicable in this year of political rhetoric. It almost seems that there is no one that can be trusted to simply tell the truth. However, as I examine history and the basic character of our nature, it shouldn’t surprise me at all that people would lie when it serves their purpose. The psalmist must have had this same thought as he asks the Lord to let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable. The premise for this prayer is found in the sovereignty of God. Because God is sovereign, his judgments are always true and righteous, even if they don’t seem that way to us. Think about the absurdity of any other perspective. We derive our sense of justice from his perfect standard, so elevating our own judgment above God’s would be like a stream trying to flow uphill to rise above its source. How many of us have been rebellious against our parents’ judgment or decision, only to discover they were right all along? As Mark Twain quipped, when he was twelve he couldn’t believe how ignorant his father was, and by the time he turned twenty he couldn’t believe how much his father had learned! If even in the human realm our snap judgments, often based on limited information and false assumptions, can be so easily reversed, how much more so when we question God? Here’s the best news of all: God reverses our judgment of ourselves. We know ourselves to be unworthy of his mercy, and he declares us to be justified through faith in Christ. That’s one judgment of our heavenly Father we ought never to challenge. It will truly set you free. I’ve spent a great deal of time working on the “words of my mouth” over the years. If I have discovered any process that insures those words are appropriate, encouraging, and positive it is the simple enjoinder of “think before you speak.” That’s easier said than done; but, if we will focus on the “meditation of our hearts” a bit more as we are in any conversation, it does become much easier to practice. The next time you find yourself in such a moment, remember that you have nothing to win. God has already won all there is to compete about. Be kind and gracious in your words.