Thank you. Lord Jesus, we just sang of your glorious, wonderful name, how you are wonderful, how you are our counselor, how you are the mighty God. And Lord. It would be wrong for us not to call upon your name now, because what we're about to do is traffic and holy things, we are about to open up your holy word. And we are seeking, Lord, to be fed from it, for we know that these are words of life. And so Lord, we ask that you would send your spirit. I ask that, if not for my sake, for the sake of your dear people, you would take the things of your word and use them powerfully so that we, as your people, would become more conformed to your image, so that we would grow in grace, so that we would know you and love you all the more. Let us leave this place today knowing that we have met with you and that you again, once again, have been so gracious to us. We pray in your holy, matchless name. Amen. Well, the chief desire of every Christian is to please God. Every true Christian, every true believer wants more than anything else to live in the practical day-to-day realm on this earth in obedience to his or her Creator, Redeemer, and King. The Apostle Paul said, the fruit of the light, that is the light of Christ in men, the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. That's the Christian life in a nutshell. David expressed this desire in the plainest and simplest way in Psalm 19. I would ask you to turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 19. The last verse, Psalm 1914. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. If you take any true believer and begin to peel away the layers of their motivations like an onion, When you get to the very core, when you get to the center, this is what you should find. These words here encapsulate and summarize and distill the deepest desire of every true Christian. They're the closing words of this Psalm of David. According to the heading we see in the psalm, it was for the choir director. So no doubt this psalm was to be used as a song of corporate worship. But how did David arrive at these words at the end of Psalm 19? What drew him to this supplication? Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Have you ever traced back your thoughts to see how you came to be thinking or perhaps talking about a particular subject? My wife hates when I mention her in a message, but my wife is famous for this. My wife will sometimes come out with something right out of left field, and it'll prompt me to look at her and say, where did that come from? And she'll trace back her thoughts. She'll go, well, let me see. Well, I was thinking about this, and that led me to think about this, and that brought me to think about this, which is why I asked you that question, or why I said this or that, right? If you trace backwards in Psalm 19 from the last verse right to the beginning, it almost seems like it could be as simple as the fact that David just began thinking about God, just thinking about the person and the work of God. My guess is David did a lot of this. Spurgeon once commented that David, in his younger years as he kept his father's flocks, had devoted himself to the study of the only two volumes in his library, Nature and Scripture, God's two great books. And David, with a profound grasp on the author of both, seems to lay them out in this psalm, the psalm that we know as the 19th Psalm. It's very easy to see when you look at it how it divides neatly into three parts. Verses 1 through 6 are all about the glory of God seen in nature. Verses 7 through 11 are about the character of God seen in His nature. And then in verses 12 to 14, David expresses the desire that God's glory and character might be seen in his nature. Let's look, verses one through six. The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their utterances to the end of the world. In them, he has placed a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the other end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. These verses speak of God's created works. The external evidences that testify to the work of creation. And as Spurgeon notes, David's early years were spent outside, right? In fields and in pastures and on mountainsides. He was the youngest of eight brothers and David's job was shepherding the family's sheep. Now, David probably clocked hours of thinking time doing this. He would have seen hundreds if not thousands of incredible sunrises and sunsets. No doubt there would have been times where David would have laid on a grassy hill staring up at the multitude of the stars that filled the night sky. And even at a very young age, these sights spoke to David. And they said to him simply, God. The heavens, the great expanse, the sun rising and setting, the earth turning, the perfect order and the perfect consistency of it all spoke out to David. God did this. God is the glorious creator. And that's where we find the Psalm starting at. God's creation, though it is seen with the eyes, it has a voice. It speaks. It speaks loud, it speaks clear. and it speaks without making a sound. David, even in his limited knowledge of the universe, was taught by God to see his own smallness. As he stared at the great expanse, as he stared upward, he would look, he would gaze at the work of what he would call God's hands. Now, kids, does God have hands? Does God have hands? God is spirit. God does not have hands. When God created, he did so by what? By speaking, right? God said, let there be, and there was. God's voice is still being echoed today in the creation around us. Over 3,000 years since David wrote this psalm, We now know, according to what we know of the universe, it's even greater, it's even more expansive, it's even larger than David could have ever possibly dreamed. We've heard recently that scientists and astronomers have claimed that the Hubble Telescope has revealed to us, get this, 100 billion galaxies in our universe. Now, I don't know if that's true. I mean, can you fathom a hundred billion galaxies? I can't even fathom a hundred billion marbles, let alone a hundred billion galaxies. If it's true, wouldn't you think a hundred billion galaxies would be speaking even louder to us today? I mean, how incredibly small we are. We're just a pinprick in the existence of the universe, right? How incredibly great is God who made these galaxies, who counted and named every star in these galaxies? Some of you may not be aware, but way back in 1968, our American astronauts on the Apollo 8, as they looked upon Earth from deep space, as they were orbiting the moon, and as they looked upon that blue sphere hanging in space called Earth, our astronauts read the opening verses of Genesis for all the world to hear. Now, I can't picture that happening today. Can you? It just seems that nowadays, the more we discover, the more knowledge we gain, the bigger we want to make ourselves and the smaller we want to make God. But you see, as David thinks on the great expanse created in the universe by its glorious creator, the thought of creation seems to lead David to a natural progression to the character of this creator. His train of thought, if you will, seems to lead him to consider just who this creator is. The very nature, the very character of God, which can be seen and known, how? Only in his word. Only through special revelation. So, whereas verses one through six spoke of God's works, the external evidences that speak of creation, where God says, here I am, seek me. the question of necessity arises, well, who are you, Lord? Who are you? And this seems to lead David to a new train of thought. I can almost picture him thinking about how God's creation talks to man, how God's creation speaks, and then thinking to himself, yeah, creation testifies as to God's existence, but it doesn't really explain God's character. I mean, creation shows God's creativity, but not his character. Ah, says David, but his word does. God's word, the scriptures, speak of who God is. And so he goes on to his next train of thought, which fills in the blanks left by creation. In verses seven to nine, he writes these words. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether." You see, the one who spoke the creation into being, he has so much more to say. So much more to tell us. The creation can't explain God's law. The creation can't explain God's testimonies or his precepts or his commandment or his judgments. The creation can't explain the fear of God. These are all distinct yet overlapping ways that God reveals himself to men in ways that creation can't. So let me ask you, as you hear these things, how do you react to these things? I mean, as you hear of God's law, as you hear of God's testimonies, God's statutes, God's commands, how do you react to these things, the thought of these things? There's a reason I ask this. I ask because a lot of people, they can react very positively to God as creator. In other words, a lot of people, they can have a very positive attitude, almost a patriotic attitude, kind of an anti-evolutionary sentiment toward God as creator, right? Like, as if to say, oh no, no, no, I believe in a God. I believe that there is a creator. I didn't come from monkeys, no way. So a lot of people, they can readily accept God as creator, and yet, when it comes to this creator laying down laws and commandments, and judgments upon man. When it comes to the creator requiring obedience and subjection, conformity to his will, well, this can change a mood rather quickly. So when you hear of God's law, his revealed direction for you as a created being, when you hear of God's law and your accountability to keep that law, When you hear of God's testimony, that is the witness of God's person and purposes, how he deals justly with all men, or how God is to be feared. When you hear of his precepts, that is his statutes, the boundaries that he sets for men. When you hear of his commandment, his authoritative word of instruction for you as a created being. When you hear of his judgments, his legal decisions, his verdicts, upon the sons of men. Do you react to these things the same way David does? You see, David stares intently at the ultimate authority of God. He stares at the absolute divine sovereignty of God and he rejoices in it. He finds great pleasure in all of these things. Rather than feeling threatened or crowded or infringed upon, David is comforted. It's really not much different from the sense of comfort and safety that a child will find under the authority of a good parent. You know, children know instinctively, they may buck at authority, but children know instinctively that there is safety in the parent who draws lines, who sets boundaries, who teaches lessons, who instructs the heart. The thought of God, not only as creator, but as the lawgiver and judge of all the earth, requiring a subjection and obedience from all men, this is David's source of happiness. This is David's source of comfort, right? Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. As David meditates upon God's divine authority, he sees nothing but good in all of it. Do you see it? You see it there in the passage? You see, I think what it comes down to is this. Everything God does in revealing himself to us, in revealing himself to mankind, everything he does in revealing himself, it's either going to cause a person to want to avoid him or to run to him. To want to avoid the thought of him, avoid thinking about him, or talking about him, or hearing about him, or running to him. Which do you think was the case for David? I mean, here David is thinking about how God creates this incredible, mysterious, vast universe. And then he reveals himself through his word. And God's word for David is a word of restoration. It's a word that makes the simple wise. It's a word that rejoices the heart. It enlightens the eyes, he says. Fearing this God is said to be clean. Something that endures forever. David loves his creator and David loves his word. So how about you? Would you concur with David? Are you in agreement with David? Is God's word your source of comfort and happiness? Do you derive your happiness? from hearing and knowing God's word. In other words, do you run toward God? Or would you prefer perhaps to avoid God, avoid hearing about him, avoid talking about him, avoid thinking about him? You see, it's obvious where David's at as he's writing these words. David, he's a child of God. David finds assurance as a child of God. He finds security in his God. He's loved by his God. And so in verse 10, if you look at verse 10, his train of thought seems to move toward his own personal feelings about the value of the truth of God's word. See, not only he says, is it better in comparison to gold, gold was probably the most valuable thing on the face of the earth at the time. Not only is God's word better in comparison to gold, but he goes on further to say a lot of gold. He says, much fine gold. In other words, a large supply of pure, solid gold has absolutely no value when compared to the pure, solid spiritual truth of God's holy word. Nothing, he says, can be sweeter than the pleasures found in knowing and obeying God and living according to the light of His revealed will. Now again, can you concur with David? Are you in agreement with David? Do you think the same way he does? What is more valuable to you? Earthly treasure or spiritual treasure? What do you find more valuable? I want you to imagine that I'm standing here this morning and I pull out of my pocket a winning multi-million dollar lottery ticket. Okay, I think somebody in Long Island just had a government job and I think she received her last government paycheck and so she took five bucks of that paycheck and bought a lottery ticket and I think she just won $29 million or some crazy figure like that. I think that the highest payout to date in lotteries, $1.6 billion. Let's say I'm holding a winning $1.6 billion lottery ticket in my hand, and I'm offering to give it to you. I don't want it. I am going to give you this lottery ticket, but first, you must agree that you will completely divorce yourself from God for the rest of your life. You have to give up God, any knowledge of God, any hope of God, any thought of God for the rest of your life. Would you do it? A lot of money. Never have another money problem again for as long as you live. Would you do it? See, no real child of God could. They simply couldn't. Because the truth of God's word, which says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? The truth of this word, it has given light and wisdom and understanding as to the incomparable value of knowing this God. God is far surpassing to any temporal benefit we can gain in this world. I mean, what is money? What is gold? David says gold only has a temporal value. It's only good for this life. He gives the analogy of the sweetness of honey, but honey is only sweet for the moment, for the moment that you're eating it, right? But God's word provides eternal benefit for those who would heed its warning and reap its reward. As David is pondering the sheer clarity of God's word, how it shines light upon the heart of man, he says in verse 11, he says, moreover, by them your servant is warned, in keeping them there is great reward. God's judgments, his revealed will and his word, it stands like a lighthouse on a dark, rocky shore. It's a safe guide. It illuminates the hidden dangers that threaten every man's soul. And in it, we find all of the comfort we could ever need. Spurgeon said about the Word of God, he said, by it, we are warned of our duty, our danger, and our remedy. When you think of the Bible, you should think warning and reward. Warning and reward. Whenever you think of this book, think warning. and reward. Picture a man with a severe infection, and he goes to his doctor, and the doctor examines him and says, this is bad. This is going to prove to be fatal. You are not gonna survive this. He said, the best hope I can give you is to send you home with some instructions. I'm gonna give you instructions on how to deal with this infection, how to keep it cleansed, how to promote healing, how to apply the necessary medication. Now at this point, you would say this man has been duly warned, right? And you would say if this man keeps with the doctor's instructions, he will reap the reward, life. But then you would agree, to not heed the doctor's instructions would prove to be fatal. When you think of the Bible, think warning and reward, whoever you are, whoever you are here this morning. You see, David applies this to himself. David doesn't say, by them, the heathen is warned. He says, by them, your servant is warned. And it would seem that the very idea of warning and reward takes David's train of thought immediately to the need for prayer. It takes him immediately to the need for supplication to God. Verse 12 begins the supplication that's going to conclude with our verse, verse 14. His thoughts are led directly to man's problem of sin. See, the reason man doesn't know his God, the reason man needs special revelation, the reason man needs God's word is his problem of sin. The whole Psalm kind of reads as if David stepped back and just stared at the glory of God in creation, and then stared at the purity of God in his word, and that was enough to bring him to his knees. It immediately brings David to consider the chasm that exists between a pure, infinite, holy, majestic, creator, savior, and a fallen, sinful, finite heart that is sinful man. Verse 12, he says, who can discern his errors? acquit me of hidden faults, acquit me of hidden faults. When you really consider who God is and how God is, you're only left to conclude that you're even more guilty than you know. The word errors there, who can discern his errors? This word points to man's natural waywardness. His missing the mark, his wanderings away from God. You see, we err in many ways that we're aware of, right? But how many ways are we not aware of? You know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4.4, he said, I'm conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. It is the Lord who examines me. A good conscience, in other words, is valuable, and a good conscience is necessary. but a good conscience is not infallible. Have you ever heard Chuck speak about Jiminy Cricket philosophy? My brother has spoken of Jiminy Cricket philosophy. Always let your conscience be your guide, right? Well, that's only true to a point. There is a limit to Jiminy Cricket philosophy because where we might see the molehills of our sin, God always sees the mountains. God has so much against us. He really does. So David's prayer is that God would acquit him of errors, acquit him of sins that he has not even discerned in his life. He says, grant forgiveness for the sins that I commit, sins that I'm not even aware of. But he's also concerned about presumptuous sins, or what you might call willful sins, deliberate sins, sins of deliberate resistance to light. Turn with me, if you would, to Numbers 15. Numbers chapter 15. In Numbers 15, in verse 29, we read these words. You shall have one law. God is laying out the laws by which Israel is going to be governed in their new land here. And in verse 29, he said, you shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally. for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. So unintentional sins were fully accountable to God. And unintentional sins needed atonement. And yet they were different from presumptuous sins. Look at verse 30. But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be completely cut off, his guilt shall be on him." It's no wonder David pleads to be kept back from presumptuous sins ruling over him. See, David understood those Cain moments. You know what I mean by Cain moments? Remember Cain, right? I'm talking about those times when you know sin is crouching at your door and its desire is to rule over you. And we've all been there, haven't we? We all know what it's like to have those Cain moments when sin is crouching at the door. Hebrews 10 warns us, if we go on sinning willfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth, There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but instead a terrifying expectation of judgment. Let me give you an example of a deliberate or presumptuous sin. Here's one example. It would be to say to yourself on the front end, as sin is crouching at your door, God will forgive me. I know that what I'm about to do is wrong. I know that what I'm about to do is sin. It's an abomination to God, but God will forgive me. My friend, you don't want to go there. You don't want to be in that place. Cain didn't even go there. See, this would not be in accord with a true desire to be blameless. It would not be in accord with a desire to be acquitted of great transgression, as was David's desire, verse 13b. David wanted to be pleasing to God in every single respect. And that, of course, takes us to our verse, verse 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. This not only closes out David's train of thought throughout the psalm, but it also reveals a desire that can only be felt by a true redeemed child of God. The Christian, the Christian is not just concerned with what they do. The Christian is concerned with the very motives and intentions of what they do. Right? The Christian isn't just concerned with what proceeds from their mouths on Sunday, but what comes out of their mouths all the time, every day, 24-7. See, David, he seems to immediately put his finger on two areas of his life that he knows need to be further sanctified because he wants to please God. And this certainly strikes a familiar chord with anyone who's embraced the ugly truth of their sin. Our words don't always please God. James 3.2 tells us that if anyone doesn't stumble in what he says, then he's a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. How often have your spoken words left you crying out like Paul? Wretched man. Wretched woman. I'm not practicing what I would like to do. I catch myself doing the very thing I hate. The words we say and how we say them, they're not always pleasing to God, are they? Yet it needs to be said that words are very important to God. Words mean something to God. Psalm 12 6 tells us the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace on the earth refined seven times What this psalm is telling us is that is that you're never going to find dross in God's words You're never going to find any useless elements mixed in with God's words. God's words are always pure. They're always perfect They're always refined measured blameless And God's words are always proper. They're always proper words. Now we can't say this about ourselves, can we? We can't. Brother, you mentioned Isaiah earlier. That passage of scripture amazes me. I mean, here you've got Isaiah in chapter six. probably one of the holiest men on the face of the earth at that time, right? And yet, he's confronted with the presence of God. Sitting on his throne in all of his glory and majesty, Isaiah is somehow confronted with the presence of God. And he's immediately stricken with this dread-consuming fear, why? Because of what's come out of his mouth, right? The holy prophet of God, he's convicted because of what's come out of his mouth, right? Woe is me for I am ruined, right? Because I'm a man of unclean lips. And I live among a people of unclean lips. He's so distraught over what's come out of his mouth that God literally has to cauterize his mouth with a hot coal from heaven's altar so that he can know that he's assured, he's cleansed, he's forgiven. Why was Isaiah so convicted over the spoken word? Maybe it's because he knew what would eventually come to be written in Matthew 12, 36. Every careless word that people speak, they'll give an accounting for in the day of judgment. Maybe the prophet knew what would eventually come to be written by James about the tongue, the tongue of man. James said, with it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men. So from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. And then James says, my brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Our words, what we speak, the things that we say, It's all important to God. He's the author of language. He gave us the written word. He gave us the spoken word. Words mean something to God. Proverbs 12, 18, rash words are like the thrusts of a sword. Proverbs 10, 19, too many words are the beginning of transgression. Too many words lead to transgression. Proverbs 6, lying words are an abomination to God. Ephesians 4.29 gives a reminder to Christians, it gives a reminder to believers, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. That word unwholesome, the Greek word sapros, unwholesome, basically it means worthless, rotten, corrupt, bad. In Matthew 13.48 that word is used to depict bad fish. to give you an idea of what that word is. So, if the words of your mouth would be acceptable in God's sight, Paul says, then, let no unwholesome, let no worthless, corrupt, rotten, bad fish word come from your mouth. But, practically speaking, what is a bad, rotten, worthless, corrupt word? Practically speaking, Who should define for us what a bad, corrupt, rotten word actually is? I mean, when you think about it, I think we basically have three choices before us. As far as defining what a bad word is, we can allow our culture to define it, we can allow our conscience to define it, or we can allow scripture. to define it. I think those are the three basic choices we have. So let's look at these. Should we allow our culture, our society, to define what an unwholesome word is? What unwholesome speech is? Well, not really. I mean, culture, when you think about it, is like a lava lamp. It's constantly changing shape, right? It doesn't stay the same. It's always changing, and not necessarily for the better. There are some words and phrases that were definitely considered unwholesome 50 years ago that today have become widely accepted as just legitimate forms of human expression. I remember when I was younger, back in the 1970s, there was a popular TV show and it was widely publicized as being groundbreaking. because of its use of a previously forbidden word in one of its episodes. And as this episode was approaching, they were hyping it, that this word was going to be spoken on national TV. And people tuned in to watch this show just to hear this word spoken on TV. The funny thing is, it's a word that's commonly heard on TV today, every single day, without a raised eyebrow. Same thing with radio. If you're old enough to remember, the 80s and the 90s gave us the advent of the shock jock, what they called the shock jock, people who were pushing the envelope on what could be spoken on the air. And see, what happens is, as a result, our society succumbs to that frog in the pot syndrome. where the heat is slowly turned up and the shock of words are eventually dulled down until they actually become the norm. They become a part of our language. Let me give you an example. I want to address an example of a word that I have increasingly heard coming, not just from the world, but from the mouths of Christians. Particularly younger Christians. I want to be sensitive here. I want to choose my words carefully. It's what I would like to call the misuse of the word suck or sucks. I trust you know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about? This word or phrase is used as a general form of complaint, right? It's used to convey when something or someone is displeasing or when something or someone doesn't perform well, right? Now, at best, at the very best, it's an improper use of the word. But at worst, it's what Paul might have called abusive speech in Colossians 3.8. Now, to be sure, the world has been using this phrase for several decades, but you need to be aware of something. You need to be aware of the fact that this phrase is somewhat new to Christendom. In fact, I might even challenge you. Find an older, perhaps 50 or older, an older, seasoned, holy saint. a man or a woman, perhaps in their 50s or older, that you would look up to as being a holy man, a holy woman, and see if they use this word in their phrasing. The reason I say this is to point out to you the fact that the language of our culture can easily seep right into the vocabulary of the church. It happens. Why else would Paul have to be telling Christians in Ephesians 4, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. Why else would James say, my brethren, these things ought not to be this way. But of course, this is why society, this is why culture cannot be the ultimate definer of what we would call unwholesome speech. So what about conscience then? What about the individual's conscience? Should our conscience be allowed to dictate to us or define for us what is unwholesome speech? Well, we know that conscience is a good thing, right? Conscience is a gift from God. And scripture even warns about going against your conscience, right? But as we've already seen, the conscience has its limits. We've got to be ready to accept the fact that we still have deceitful hearts and we still have, as Christians, remaining sin that can affect even our conscience. This is why scripture has to be the definer of what is unwholesome speech, unwholesome words. Turn with me, if you would, to Ephesians 4. Let's look at that passage briefly. Ephesians 4.29, Paul wrote this to who? The saints who are in Ephesus. Ephesians 4.29, he says, "...let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only Such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." You want your words to be pleasing to God? Only speak words that convey grace. Only speak words that will encourage according to whatever the need is at the moment. This is challenging, isn't it? I find this very challenging. What this means is our speech should cause people to stand up and take notice. Our speech should leave people saying, you know, they're not out of touch with the world, but they don't speak like the world. Think about it for a moment. How many of the unwholesome words that come from our mouths are connected to complaining? How many of the unwholesome words that come from our mouths at times are connected to discontentment, to self-pity, to criticism, arguing with God's providence? Go to the Scriptures. Look at the words of Jesus. Try to find a complaining, distinct attitude coming from the mouth of Christ, right? And yet, who had more reason to complain? Who would have had more reason to say, you know what, this stinks. Right? This is the Holy Son of God coming to this earth, living among His creation, being hated and scorned and executed so that He could redeem some out of the cesspool of sin that we live in here. Right? You know, you just begin to get a real sense of what His forbearance and patience was like when you hear Him say, unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? And yet never an unwholesome word came from the lips of Christ. Never. And this is because the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. Christ's words are pure words because they come from a pure heart. And a pure heart is precisely what David wants. David wants a heart that pleases God. I think it's worth noting that David never says, let the things I do be pleasing in your sight. He doesn't say, let the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, and the things that I do be pleasing and acceptable in your sight. And that's because David knew that God is always looking at the heart. You know, God sees not as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance. God always sees the heart. David says, let the meditations of my heart, that's figurative language for my thoughts, my mind, my will, my inner man. Let the meditations of my heart be acceptable, be pleasing in your sight. Create in me a clean heart, oh God. David knew. He knew that a person could do all the right things, go through all the right motions, make the right sacrifices, burn the right incense, even speak the right words, and yet their heart could still be miles away from God. All right, Isaiah 29, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me. He would say in Psalm 139, you understand my thought from afar. Even before there's a word on my tongue, behold, oh Lord, you know it all. You know the intentions, you know the motives, you know every thought. Are you aware that God sees right through you? He does. He sees right through you, right to your very heart, even as you sit here this morning. Every intention, every motive, every thought, Everything is open and laid bare before the God with whom we have to do. What's in your heart? What is in your heart? I don't mean to make that sound like a commercial. What's in your wallet? God might be concerned with what's in your wallet, but God is more concerned with what's in your heart, and he sees your heart right now. David knew that God desired truth in the innermost being. He wanted a heart. He pleaded for a thought life that would be pleasing to God. And brethren, isn't this where the greatest battle of all takes place right here? Isn't this where the battle of the century takes place for each and every one of us? It all starts here. This is the seedbed of every word Every thought, every attitude that comes out of us, this is where it starts. This is the part of us that so easily gets distracted and divided when it comes to the purity and simplicity of devotion to Christ. Right here. Now, David was a man after God's own heart, and yet David recognized his need for his heart to be united, not to be divided, not to be cut up, not to be duplicit. He would come to say, unite my heart, pull it together to fear your name. Don't you sometimes feel sin's distracting pull upon your heart? Don't you feel the effect of living in this world and trafficking in this world? Don't you feel the effect of it upon your heart at times? You know, we're called, as believers, we're called to do the will of God from the heart. The heart wants to pull us in other directions at times, doesn't it? Sometimes trying to reign in my own heart, particularly my thoughts, my thought life, How many vain, idle, worthless thoughts do we have throughout the course of a day? Sometimes just trying to rein in my thoughts, it's like trying to tame a wild horse. That's what it feels like at times. Do you know what I'm talking about? I hope I'm not the only one here that knows this experience. I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about. How do we tame this wild horse called the human heart? Well, if you're a Christian, you already have the answer. If you're a Christian, you know that the God who already gave you a new heart is fully committed to sanctifying that heart, to improving upon that heart through His Spirit and His Word. I think what happens with me anyway is sometimes I can become too passive in my sanctification. Have you ever had seasons where you felt like you were too passive in your sanctification? When you become a little bit lazy in applying yourself to His Word through His Spirit? Spiritual laziness usually leads to spiritual atrophy. Sometimes we hit seasons in our lives where we feel like we could holster our weapons for a while. We could put the sword away, right? But we're told in Philippians 2, a passage you're all familiar with, that we have to do what with our salvation? We have to work it out. Paul says, yes, it's God who is at work in the believer, but the believer is to work out their salvation in fear and trembling, right? And Paul, never one to leave his people hanging, two chapters later, he gives us the remedy. Two chapters later, he instructs us on how we're to condition our hearts, how we're to take our hearts to the gym and work them out. Look with me at that chapter, Philippians 4. Philippians 4 and verse 8. Paul never tells us what to do and then without telling us how to do it. If you're at all concerned about the meditations of your heart being pleasing to God, here's the remedy, Philippians 4.8. Paul says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, that which is excellent, that which is worthy of praise, he says, dwell, think, meditate, set your heart on these things. When the meditations of your heart begin to pull you in a wrong direction, when, as the old hymn says, when evil thoughts molest, ask yourself, is this true? What I'm thinking right now, is it true? If not, what is true? Ask yourself, is this honorable? Are the meditations of my heart, are they honorable? Do these thoughts honor God? Is this right? Should I be thinking these thoughts? Are these right thoughts? Is it right for me to be thinking this way? Is this pure? Are these worthy thoughts? Are these thoughts expressed in heaven? Brethren, if our greatest desire is to please God from the heart, we have to remember to take seriously the battle that's before us, don't we? Paul said, fight the good fight. The Christian life is not easy. And I resent those who stand up and claim that the Christian life is floating to heaven on flowery beds of ease. The Christian life is not easy. The Christian life is warfare. The Christian life is a fight. It's a battle. And listen, it's either fight or flight. There's no middle ground, but here's my question, where else are you going to go? To whom would you flee? It's only Christ who has words of eternal life. And it's only in Christ do we have everything we need for life and godliness and for the fight, for the battle. And Christian, God knows your heart. God knows your heart. How amazing that such a fearful thought, God knows my heart, can at the same time be such a comforting thought, God knows my heart. God knows when your words and your thoughts are causing you to mourn. And God even says you're blessed when it's a godly sorrow. When you mourn over your words and your thoughts with a godly sorrow, God says you're a blessed man, you're a blessed woman. And Christian, lest you forget, in the midst of your mourning over your words, over the meditations of your heart, in the midst of your mourning, you have an advocate with the Father. You have one who can say, yes, I know what they've said. Yes, I know what they've done. Yes, I know what they've been thinking. But look at these wounds. They're paid for. They're fully paid for. You see, these are my people. They're with me. That is your advocate. Oh, may God help us to look to Christ, but as we look to Christ to fight, to be in the battle that we may present to him holy, sanctified, acceptable, pleasing hearts of wisdom. But maybe there's someone here this morning and you're not a Christian. You're not a believer. Let me ask you this question. Don't you want a heart that's pleasing to God? Don't you want a heart that pleases God? See, if you do, David gives you the key in the last few words of this verse. In Psalm 1914, the very last few words, he says, let my words and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. And then he says, oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. You see, the heart can only be pleasing to God when he becomes your rock, when he becomes your redeemer. My friend, if you're not a Christian here this morning, the first order of business for you is to seek from God a new heart. Seek from God a new heart because only God can give a new heart, a heart that can fully trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary, the finished work of the cross. Christ, He's the solid rock David speaks of. Christ is the solid rock that you need to rest your soul upon. You gotta rest yourself upon. The weight of your entire existence must rest on this rock. He is the one who redeems. Christ is the one who saves. And he does this by putting himself in the place of those whose words and hearts can't please God. Don't trust in yourself. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, stop trusting in yourself. You need something stronger. You need something more resolute than yourself in order to change, in order to be pleasing to God. And you see, God offers that. He offers you everything you could ever possibly need in the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ. Faith alone and Christ alone. That is all you need. Turn from sin and look to Jesus by faith. Trust in His righteousness. Trust in everything He's done to secure heaven for you. You see, it's only in Christ that you can change, and it's only in Him that you will change, and it's only in Him that you can be acceptable to God. You know, God said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, right? And if you're looking to Christ, if you're united to Christ by faith, God will look at you, and he'll say the same thing. In my son, this is the one in whom I am well pleased. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Find the peace that passes understanding, because only he can give it. Well, you've been really patient with me. My time is up. Let me just leave you with one quick closing counsel, if you would. Think much on God. Think much on God. Apply your minds, apply your hearts to thinking on the person and work of God. This is what David did. Allow your train of thought to travel as much as you possibly can through the words and the works and the person of God. Think much about his creativity. Think often of his power. Think of his character, his law, his loving kindness, his justice. Think of his word. Think of his wisdom. Think of his providence in your life. Think of his warnings. Think of his reward. Think of his sacrifice. Think of his son. And like David, may your train of thought take you to the same place where it took him, to the place of repentance and faith and prayer and praise. Let's pray. Lord, what can we ask you other than to let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing to you? Come by way of your spirit, Lord, cleanse us of every idle thought, Cleanse us, Lord, of every idle word that we've ever spoken. Give us a fresh cleansing in the blood of Christ. And Lord, may it be that we would learn more and more how it is that we can please you in this life. Lord, give us grace. Thank you, Lord, that your word can go out and run its free course. We pray that you would cause your word. to go out this morning and accomplish all for which you have designed it to accomplish today. May it be used, Lord, to both save and sanctify. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.