“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 19:14

Oftentimes we are mindful of outward sin. We repent of things that are obvious in the flesh, such as cursing, sexual immorality, or abusing drugs or alcohol. This awareness of sin is important, but sometimes once we address those external issues, we think we’re done. We don’t realize that God is just as concerned about cleaning up the internal issues that separate us from Him.

David’s prayer in today’s verse wasn’t just to be clean outwardly; he also wanted his words and his thoughts— the meditations of his heart—to be clean before God. Father certainly cares about our outward sins, but He has always been most concerned about what is happening in our hearts. That is because our hearts reveal who we truly are. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.” We may be able to hide our faults from those around us, but nothing is hidden from HaShem. The psalmist declared, “Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart” (Ps. 44:21).

Beloved, I want to encourage you today: Don’t just focus on the outward sin. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what is happening in your heart. Ask Him if the words of your mouth are pleasing to Him. Ask Him if the things you’re thinking about are acceptable in His sight. Let’s pray for a cleansing of our souls at the deepest level.

If we’ll be open and transparent with Him and allow the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of God, to convict us of the words we speak and the things we meditate on that are not in line with HaShem’s will, we will be cleansed inside and out as the power of the Holy Spirit washes and regenerates us. As a result of that cleansing, we’ll feel closer to Father God and more connected to Jesus.

Father, I want the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be acceptable in Your sight. Make me aware of what is truly happening in my heart. I want to be in alignment with You and experience Your peace in my soul.

Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Rivers of Revelation (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2020), Used by permission.