The Heart of the Matter

"Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
         Let them not rule over me;
         Then I will be blameless,
         And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
    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 19:13-14

It is so awesome to know that God forgives us of our sin; what a blessing it is to receive His mercy when we feel overwhelmed by the burden of our guilt and sin. Yet, this does not give us license to sin, knowing that we can come to God and seek His forgiveness - that would be the presumptuous sin the author of Psalm 19 is talking about. We can't use God on a credit card basis 'sin now - pray later', this kind of 'presumptuous sin' does not honor God, in fact it shows disregard for His sacrifice and implies the idea that whatever we are tempted to do is of more importance than our faithfulness and obedience to God.

It is a matter of the heart. We might fool those around us, we can make excuses and try to convince ourselves that we are justified or that our motives were good, but we cannot fool God. He created us and knows us. He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts, and whether we willfully chose to sin with the intent of seeking his forgiveness later. 

I love that the Psalmist prays 'Let the words of my mouth AND the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord" (emphasis mine). Not only should we desire to please God with what we say and do, but also in the hidden person we are; in the heart, where no one else sees. Our words, actions, thoughts and prayers should all honor God. Though sometimes it seems like such a struggle to walk in His ways, it is ALWAYS worth the effort and sacrifice.