For You on this Sunday – 3 Things to Remember & When

As you get started on this Sunday, let me encourage you to remember three simple thoughts.

When should you remember these things?

When you consider yourself

When you consider others that you see

When you think about Jesus

Here we go…

Three Things to Remember

The psalmist David, the imperfect man who was known by God as a man after God’s own heart, provides a beautiful passage to reflect upon as we begin our Sunday.

In these brief three verses, David recognizes his own heart and the challenges of the flesh and sin. He asks God for forgiveness and help. Further, he reveals his desire as he engages his day. Let me provide your three things to remember from this text.

First, David understands he is a sinner.

David owns up to the simple fact that he is a sinner. He understands his own heart where there is a high likelihood of sins that he is unaware of, as well as, sins he chooses. Secret faults include those sins that we commit of which we are unaware. These sins would include sins of omission (those things we should do, but do not), sins we are blind to (things we do that we simply do not recognize as sins), and places where our motives do not honor God.

Presumptuous sins include those sins where we know that we do not honor God, yet we continue to choose not to honor Him. When we make these choices, we harden our hearts. We choose to sin even in light of what we know. It is critical here to remember that these sins do not have to be “grossly” unholy. These sins may be very simple sins where we know we do wrong; however, we choose to not confess them, repent of them, and seek to pursue an inner man and outer man change. Any sin can be presumptuous – the only things needed is a heart that does not respond to conviction.

Today, we would be most unwise not to realize that we also are sinners. None of us are any better than David in this sense. This should produce a great sense of humility rather than any other sense in our hearts as we engage those around us today. No doubt, our churches will be full of other sinners and some who have not followed Jesus yet. As we see them and as we talk with them, may our own awareness of our sinfulness help guide our thoughts and discussions.

Second, David knew he needed God.

Notice how David recognizes that he needed God in every moment. He needed God’s forgiveness of his sin. He prays and asks God to forgive and cleanse. As well, he needed God’s protection. He asks God to keep him from presumptuous sins. David understood he needed God’s protection from the sin that so easily entangles us. Plus, he needed God’s enablement as he sought to honor God in everything.

This morning as we get our day started, we need all those same things. We need to ask God to help us in our own sin, to forgive and cleanse us. We need God’s protection. No doubt all those sins reside in us today as well. Plus, we need God’s enablement just as much as David to help us live today for God’s glory.

Thankfully, God provides all of these things. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9). He provides the Holy Spirit to enable our obedience (Eph 3:20-21). In addition, God also gives us wisdom when we ask to help us apply the Bible to our daily pressures which helps us go through trials and temptations in a God-honoring way (James 1:1-18).

Third, David remembers he needs to honor God in everything.

David prays that the meditations of his heart and the words of his mouth would both be acceptable in God’s sight. Think about this, my friends. Long before any Christian author suggested to us the importance of our inner man and outer man, David understood it. Jesus taught that the fruit of our lives (thoughts, attitude, desires, and actions) always reflects the treasure in our heart (Luke 6:45). In other words, there is a direct connection between what we say, do, think, feel, and want with what rules our hearts. In our text, David knows this.

He saw the connection between the inner man, the outer man, and honoring God in living. This drove his prayer. He asks, “Let the words of my mouth (outer man and everything associated with the fruit of one’s life) and the meditation of my heart (all those things we think, what we want, our attitudes, and what we love) be acceptable in your sight, my strength and my redeemer.”

How does this apply?

Today, may these three things we remember drive our outlook toward our own heart, the way we see and consider others, what we think about God and sin, and what we do and say.

Notice how there is a strong sense of humility in each of the three things we need to remember. Humility to see our own sins and the awareness of the fact we have sin of which we are unaware. The humility of calling out to God for forgiveness, awareness, courage, strength, and protection instead of depending upon our own strength. Finally, the humility of understanding our goal today is to live as acceptable unto God, not however we wish. To be acceptable to God will impact our lives on so many different levels.

Let’s join David this morning in this prayer:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.