Acceptable in His Sight

“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 19:14).

Someone has said that the true measure of one’s character is what they give themselves to when no one is watching. I was reminded of this once again while reading from The Prayers of the Puritans this morning. The prayer I was reading was titled Spiritual Growth. My attention was arrested by this line: “O Thou Most High, may I be consistent in conversation and conduct, the same alone as in company.”

The fact of the matter is that most of us have been housebroken to the extent that we know how to act and speak in public—that is, when others are watching. But as the Puritan stated, is there no difference between our actions and words in public and in private?

In looking deeper into the phrase “meditation of my heart,” what was the Psalmist aiming at? What was it that he desired to be acceptable in God’s sight? I believe that he was concerned with the things that would occupy his mind when he had time to ponder and meditate on the things around him.

Little did he know of our day and age—an age that is constantly bombarding us with words and images that stand in stark contrast to the things God would have us fill our minds with. It was the Apostle Paul who wrote, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8). And again, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).

Now, I know and understand that today, whether it be from the internet, television, billboards, or elsewhere, the assault seems relentless. It is indeed a constant battle to steer our thoughts back to those things which the Apostle calls us to contemplate. Someone once said, “You can’t keep the birds of the air from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

This is what we are trying to avoid—the building of nests in our minds, nests made up of things that are not acceptable to our Lord and Redeemer. Even here, we must become ruthless. The Psalmist went so far as to say, “I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart; I will set no worthless thing before my eyes” (Psalm 101:2–3). And boy, do we ever live in world that is rife with worthless things.

Since wearing blindfolds and earplugs twenty-four hours a day is not very practical, we must learn to use the tools God has given us to help steer the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts in directions that are acceptable to Him. Know this: even here, His grace is more than sufficient. “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (II Corinthians 12:9).