11/08/2020

Psalm 38 and 141
Lead us not into temptation

The book of Psalms addresses all the feelings one could experience, challenges we might face and also offers guidance for serving the Lord. Let’s spend some time and discuss these over the next few days or weeks, depending on how the Lord leads us.

“Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness…” (Ps 141 v 4)

How often do you pray for guidance when leaving for work in the morning, asking the Lord to guard your heart and every thought, resulting in words of wisdom? It only takes a split second to fall into someone’s trap, enticing you to respond to a statement or question, having to deal with the regret of an emotional response afterwards.

Always be prepared to respond gently and with kindness so that whenever you speak, your words will be anointed. Do not be tempted to simply utter meaningless phrases for the sake of voicing your opinion and always be prepared to give a word of encouragement when required.

“For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.” (Ps 38 v 18)

Sin causes us to drift further and further away from the Lord and the longer we wait to repent, the harder it is to approach God as the guilt starts to overwhelm you. It might start with a lie or undesired behaviour and before you know it, your whole lifestyle changes to accommodate the lies or the unwanted behaviour.

You become enslaved again, to the very thing God saved you from when He gave His life to pay for your sins! If there is one thing you can be hasty with, it is this – Confessing your sins before the Lord, repenting and turning away from it and He will make haste to forgive you.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“