16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
Continuing the theme from yesterday. This is the best witness or testimony that a believer in Christ can have. "Come and hear!" "Let me tell you what God has done for MY soul." There is a danger here, though, I believe. I have heard people use verse 18 as "proof" that if you have "un-confessed sin" in your life, God won't hear your prayers. I disagree with that idea. I believe that my sin has all been forgiven. All of it. Past, present, future. All confession does is show that I agree with God about my sin. The verse says, "If I cherished iniquity in my heart..." What does "cherish" mean? It means "to hold dear; to feel or show affection for." If I love sin, then God will not hear my prayers. But then, if I love sin, I'm probably not a believer, am I? (Keep in mind, these are just opinions...)
One other note about verse 18. What is described (or implied, I guess) is repentance. When I get to a place where I do not cherish sin in my heart, I have truly repented. At that point, forgiveness has come, and God will listen to prayers.
(Inspiration from A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
"Although the Spirit is at work in us to transform us, our sinful nature opposes Him every step of the way. We find we still struggle with indwelling sin. A continuous conflict wages between two opposing forces in our hearts. We struggle with pride, selfishness, impatience, a critical spirit, a sharp tongue, a lack of love, and countless expressions of our sinful natures.
"We'll have this struggle as long as we live in these bodies. It's painful because we're at war within ourselves, and continually we have to say no to sinful desires. It's sometimes humiliating as sinful traits reveal themselves to our consciousness. Sometimes we soar into the heavenlies with Christ in our morning devotions, only to come crashing down with a thud before nine o'clock through some conflict with another person."
Don't I know this!! From personal experience, I can attest to the truth of this reading. And oh, how I long to be released from this "curse!" And, someday, we will be released! On that day, when we come face to face with our Savior, we will no longer have to deal with this struggle. I cannot even begin to imagine what that will be like. What will it feel like to never be tempted to sin again? It will be glorious!
I thank you that I have a testimony that I can share with the world. "Come and see what the Lord has done for my soul!" I can say that. I praise you for what you have done in and for my soul! I thank you that I don't cherish sin in my heart. Yes, I struggle with it, because of the sin nature that still resides within my flesh. But I don't cherish it. I don't love it. Quite the opposite, in fact. I HATE it! Thank you for hearing my prayers, Lord.
I pray for Christi's continued healing from the surgery. I pray that the pain will be gone.
I pray for good worship today. May your name be honored and glorified as we meet together today.
PRAY FOR THESE LEADERS THIS WEEK:
Donald Berwick, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Congressman Gary Ackerman, United States House of Representatives, 5th District of New York.
Robert W. Sweet, Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Major General Richard Mills, United States Marine Corps, Afghanistan.
Grace and peace, friends.