Recently, our pastor was reading Psalm 51 out loud to a group of men. He was reading it without comment and using it as an introduction to a prayer meeting. When he got to verse 6, something jumped out at me, so to speak, that I had not seen before. David said to the Lord, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts…" If the Lord desires truth in the inward parts of man what is He looking for?
In the parable of the sower, that Saviour talks about the good ground being "they, WHICH IN AN HONEST AND GOOD HEART, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Lk. 8:15). I believe the Lord is looking for some folks (saved or lost) who have an honest and a good heart to receive His holy word and act upon it. The problem with most people today is that they don't have an honest or a good heart. Therefore they won't accept the seed of the word of God. How's your heart? How do you react when the word of God comes into conflict with your actions or your thoughts? That has something to do with God's desires because it has to do with "truth in the inward parts."
If an unsaved person does have "an honest and good heart," that person will "keep [the word that was given to them], and [that word] will bring forth fruit" in their hearts. That is, they will acknowledge their own sinfulness, their own helplessness to save themselves, and they will put their faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ for their salvation. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit of God will come and indwell that believer. Jesus Christ, in John 14:16-17 calls the 3rd member of the Godhead, "the Spirit of truth." Therefore every child of God has "truth in the inward parts" in the form of the Holy Spirit.
It doesn't end there. David said, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Ps. 119:11). If we couple that verse with the words of Jesus Christ in John 17:17-"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth"-we see that the word of God is truth, and it can be hidden in our hearts. Do you have any of the written word of God in your inward parts? It is only there if you are spending time with that Book Are you reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and meditating on it?
Isn't it interesting to note that most of us are familiar with Psalm 37:4-"Delight thyself also in the LORD; AND HE SHALL GIVE THEE THE DESIRES OF THINE HEART"-but we don't consider the desires of God's heart. David revealed at least one of the desires of the heart of God-"Behold, THOU DESIREST truth in the inward parts…" What if we decided to grant the Lord's wishes and "give [Him] the desires of [His] heart?" Wouldn't that be something of great benefit to both Him and us?
Karl Lohman
3 comments:
Amen! Great Post.
Cristina
This is very good boys. I know I haven't commented lately but I've been checking in and reading your posts. You've been putting up good posts as usual that have helped me. Thank you for your obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Great post!
Post a Comment