Say “Ahhhh”

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

Today, we will continue our trek through Psalm 37. I've included the entire psalm in the reading; but today, we'll center our thoughts primarily on verses 30-34.

1        Do not fret because of those who are evil

    or be envious of those who do wrong;

2        for like the grass they will soon wither,

    like green plants they will soon die away.

3        Trust in the LORD and do good;

    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4        Take delight in the LORD,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5        Commit your way to the LORD;

    trust in him and he will act.

6        He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

    and your justice as the noonday.

7        Be still before the LORD

    and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8        Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

    do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9        For those who are evil will be destroyed,

    but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

10      A little while, and the wicked will be no more;

    though you look for them, they will not be found.

11      But the meek will inherit the land

    and enjoy peace and prosperity.

12      The wicked plot against the righteous

    and gnash their teeth at them;

13      but the LORD laughs at the wicked,

    for he knows their day is coming.

14      The wicked draw the sword

    and bend the bow

to bring down the poor and needy,

    to slay those whose ways are upright.

15      But their swords will pierce their own hearts,

    and their bows will be broken.

16      Better the little that the righteous have

    than the wealth of many wicked;

17      for the power of the wicked will be broken,

    but the LORD upholds the righteous.

18      The blameless spend their days under the LORD’s care,

    and their inheritance will endure forever.

19      In times of disaster they will not wither;

    in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

20      But the wicked will perish:

    Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,

    they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

21      The wicked borrow and do not repay,

    but the righteous give generously;

22      those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,

    but those he curses will be destroyed.

23      The LORD makes firm the steps

    of the one who delights in him;

24      though he may stumble, he will not fall,

    for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

25      I was young and now I am old,

    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

    or their children begging bread.

26      They are always generous and lend freely;

    their children will be a blessing.

27      Turn from evil and do good;

    then you will dwell in the land forever.

28      For the LORD loves the just

    and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;

    the offspring of the wicked will perish.

29      The righteous will inherit the land

    and dwell in it forever.

30      The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,

    and their tongues speak what is just.

31      The law of their God is in their hearts;

    their feet do not slip.

32      The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,

    intent on putting them to death;

33      but the LORD will not leave them in the power of the wicked

    or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34      Hope in the LORD

    and keep his way.

He will exalt you to inherit the land;

    when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

35      I have seen a wicked and ruthless man

    flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,

36      but he soon passed away and was no more;

    though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37      Consider the blameless, observe the upright;

    a future awaits those who seek peace.

38      But all sinners will be destroyed;

    there will be no future for the wicked.

39      The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;

    he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40      The LORD helps them and delivers them;

    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

    because they take refuge in him. (Psalm 37, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

Now that I'm “over the hill,” I'm sure that visiting the doctor for an annual checkup will become a necessity. As I grow older, I'll need a lot of help and guidance to stay physically strong and healthy. As I read verses 30-34, a thought popped into my mind: God wants me to have a spiritual checkup once in a while, as well.

When I visit the doctor, he very often says, “Open your mouth. Stick out your tongue.” He sticks a popsicle stick in my mouth and tells me to say “Ahhhh.” He checks my eyes and my ears. He takes my blood pressure. Then he listens to my heart. Often, he examines my entire body for sores or warning signs. And, every once in a while, he even looks at my feet. David refers to a similar examination in these verses.

When God gives us a spiritual checkup, he is concerned about your mouth. David writes: “The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just” (verse 30). What do you talk about? If God were to say to you, “Open your mouth and stick out your tongue,” what would he find out? It’s amazing what a doctor can discover by examining the tongue. It’s also amazing what God can discover about us—and what we can discover about ourselves!—when we examine our speech. So, how is your speech? Is it gracious and kind and life-giving? Or, is it spiteful, judgmental, and hurtful? Are your words encouraging or are they cutting?

To help with the examination of our mouths, here's a quick survey of some biblical passages regarding speech:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

Jesus said, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” (Matthew 15:11)

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly… The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:1-2, 4).

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. (James 1:26).

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4)

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. (2 Timothy 2:16)

Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. (Proverbs 10:19)

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16-17)

Jesus said: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34-37)

By God's grace, may the word of God be on our lips today.

God also is concerned with the condition of our heart. “The law of their God is in their hearts” (verse 31). When God listens to your heart, does he hear his word? When God’s law is in your heart, he can do something through you and in you and for you. The righteous man or woman is one “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:2). As many of the above verses show, what's in your heart will determine what’s on your lips. If the truth of God is in your heart, then the word of God will be on your lips.

To help with the examination of our hearts, here's a quick survey of biblical passages regarding the heart:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. (Deuteronomy 6:4-6)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. (Isaiah 29:13)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:10,12)

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1 Peter 1:22)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. (1 Peter 3:15a)

By God's grace, may our hearts be pure and blameless today.

God also is concerned about our feet. “Their feet do not slip” (verse 31). The righteous person doesn’t backslide; his feet are walking on the right path because his heart is filled with God’s truth. He’s also not ashamed to tell that truth through his lips. He has a testimony and a witness for the Lord.

To help with the examination of our feet, here is a short survey of biblical passages regarding our walk with the Lord:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7)

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:5-6)

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4)

By God's grace and enablement, may we walk in the truth today.

POINT TO PONDER:

Taking care of the heart is the most important thing we can do. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). If our heart is right with God, our lips and our feet will be what he wants them to be.

Have you had a spiritual checkup lately? You can remain healthy by keeping the word of God in your heart. That truth will spread to the other parts of your body. Do you glorify God with your mouth, feet, and heart?

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I apologize for the length of the day's devotional. I began searching the Bible as part of my own spiritual examination, and things got a little out of hand. I couldn't help but list off a number of the verses that God used to powerfully convict and encourage my heart.