Psalm 19:14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Even if he had written no others, this Psalm would be enough to establish David as a Master Psalmist before the Lord. It is rich indeed, and I could write on any verse in it. The description of God’s Law, from verses 7-11, is deeply meaningful and worthy of a book. I have used verse 1 to title sky pictures in my photo shows. The whole subject of willful/presumptive sins in verse 13, not to mention hidden faults in verse 12, is worthy of long and deep meditation. However, this last verse in a way summarizes it all. David was indeed a man of words, as his Psalms show, as well as a man of action, but he knew that it all came from his heart, in one way or another. He wanted it all to be right before God, as should we. This verse has naturally been set to music, but more than that, it needs to be engraved on our hearts. James wrote a good bit about controlling our words, and Proverbs speaks to that as well, but the ultimate issue is the heart. As Jeremiah lamented, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We don’t do a very good job of cleaning up our hearts, but we can choose to submit them to God – and He’s an expert at it! When we find ourselves thinking along paths that we know are not pleasing to God, we need to make a conscious choice to submit our heart to Him. The devil will tell us we can’t do it, that it’s no use trying, but as Paul said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) In Christ, we can indeed have thoughts and words that are pleasing to our Father, and that should be our goal.

I too am a man of words, so this feels particularly close to home. I have been told that my sermons are wonderful, but my words in conversation can be hurtful. Part of that comes from my being more direct than some people desire, but I have had other people implore me not to abandon my directness. The key here is to have words and thoughts that are acceptable to God, not necessarily to people. I’m not to hurt needlessly, but Jesus was certainly direct in many of His statements. I need to seek to let the Holy Spirit be the guard on my lips and my thoughts, because He alone can keep me straight.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I will be meeting someone this evening who was recently widowed, and I have no idea of his spiritual state. May my words both comfort him and draw him into a deeper, more honest relationship with You than he has known before. May all of my interactions accurately reflect You, so that Your will may be done in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!