The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 66:18-19,
"If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer."
The psalmist of Psalm 66 asks us to listen to what God has done, verse 5 and 16, "Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!... Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me." The first call is to listen what God has done for all mankind, particularly Israel. His second call is to listen how God answered the psalmist's prayer when he was in trouble.
An important question we might ask is, since the psalmist knows the Lord listened to him, precisely because he did not "cherish in my heart", how do we know the Lord listens to our prayers? We all struggle with sin, don't we?
Let me get one thing straight. I have heard it said, more than once, that God cannot even listen to a sinner because God is holy and righteous. This kind of an outlook betrays a lack of understanding of the Scriptures. God sees and hears everything we say and do! All of us, unsaved and saved alike! Not only that, he knows every thought every person has, every intention, every motivation of everyone's heart. And, obviously, it is the prayer, the cry, of an unsaved sinner that God listens to when he brings us into his family.
There is a clear difference between struggling with sin and cherishing it in our hearts. Homosexuality is a sin and today we have a presidential candidate for 2020 who claims as one of his bona fides he is an evangelical Christian. He is also proud of his lifestyle that he has embraced with his "husband". That, in my mind, constitutes cherishing sin in his heart. I suspect he should anticipate very little in response from God of anything he may call out to him for, save helping him leave his sin of homosexuality.
On the other hand, I am sure there are those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, and maybe even out of a lifestyle of homosexuality, who struggle with the sin of homosexuality. Clearly, this believer, who, through the work of the Holy Spirit will eventually gain victory over it, is not "cherishing" sin in his heart. Like the rest of us, he calls out to God to help him overcome the sin in his heart. This is one of the realities that identify us as believers. God is working in our lives.
We have all come into God's family as sinners in one form or another. These are those things we have had to set aside and reject as we turn to Jesus Christ. As we struggle with habits and attitudes we developed prior to coming to Jesus Christ, God does listen to our prayers, and mercifully helps us to gain victory over those sins. He listens to us as we struggle with those things the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we harbored in our lives before coming to Jesus Christ.
"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. These are the ones God listens to as he did the psalmist.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer."
The psalmist of Psalm 66 asks us to listen to what God has done, verse 5 and 16, "Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!... Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me." The first call is to listen what God has done for all mankind, particularly Israel. His second call is to listen how God answered the psalmist's prayer when he was in trouble.
An important question we might ask is, since the psalmist knows the Lord listened to him, precisely because he did not "cherish in my heart", how do we know the Lord listens to our prayers? We all struggle with sin, don't we?
Let me get one thing straight. I have heard it said, more than once, that God cannot even listen to a sinner because God is holy and righteous. This kind of an outlook betrays a lack of understanding of the Scriptures. God sees and hears everything we say and do! All of us, unsaved and saved alike! Not only that, he knows every thought every person has, every intention, every motivation of everyone's heart. And, obviously, it is the prayer, the cry, of an unsaved sinner that God listens to when he brings us into his family.
There is a clear difference between struggling with sin and cherishing it in our hearts. Homosexuality is a sin and today we have a presidential candidate for 2020 who claims as one of his bona fides he is an evangelical Christian. He is also proud of his lifestyle that he has embraced with his "husband". That, in my mind, constitutes cherishing sin in his heart. I suspect he should anticipate very little in response from God of anything he may call out to him for, save helping him leave his sin of homosexuality.
On the other hand, I am sure there are those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, and maybe even out of a lifestyle of homosexuality, who struggle with the sin of homosexuality. Clearly, this believer, who, through the work of the Holy Spirit will eventually gain victory over it, is not "cherishing" sin in his heart. Like the rest of us, he calls out to God to help him overcome the sin in his heart. This is one of the realities that identify us as believers. God is working in our lives.
We have all come into God's family as sinners in one form or another. These are those things we have had to set aside and reject as we turn to Jesus Christ. As we struggle with habits and attitudes we developed prior to coming to Jesus Christ, God does listen to our prayers, and mercifully helps us to gain victory over those sins. He listens to us as we struggle with those things the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we harbored in our lives before coming to Jesus Christ.
"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. These are the ones God listens to as he did the psalmist.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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