"A Study in Contrasts"

Scripture Passage

Psalm 12-17; Psalm 19-21

Scripture Focus

They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
     Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
                                       (Psalm 12:4 NLT)

You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.
     You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.
     I am determined not to sin in what I say.
                                       (Psalm 17:3 NLT)

Observation

It’s a study in contrasts—180 degrees’ separation between those who recognize their obligations to God and others, and those who blatantly ignore them.

Psalm 12 opens with David’s lament regarding the paucity of Godly people. Ultimately (verse 4), David describes those so godless that they give no regard to what’s right in any situation, determine they can live however they want, and believe that they have no obligation to anyone but themselves:

They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
     Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
                                    (Psalm 12:4 NLT)

That is, by the way, the mantra of a significant portion of today’s culture. “What I do with my time, my resources, my body, my life is nobody’s business but my own—I’ll do what I want, and you stay out of it!” “Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

By contrast, in Psalm 17 David opens his life to the Lord’s inspection—You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.

(I like that David adds “in the night,” as often those are the moments when our hearts are most open and vulnerable to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and challenge.) And then David adds…

I am determined not to sin in what I say.

What a contrast! David recognizes that, in word and deed, he is both accountable to God and bears responsibility towards others.

Of course, what we choose to say is powerful and significant. The New Testament author James affirms, “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check” (James 3:2 NIV). Which leads me to the prayer in another of today’s psalms…

May the words of my mouth
     and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
     O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
                           (Psalm 19:14 NLT)