The Lord Would Not Have Listened
Psalm 66:18 Lexham English Bible
18 If I had considered evil in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
The word considered here in the Hebrew means see; understand; spy, reveal, look at, examine, inspect; show, to see — to perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight[1]. Those who consider evil in their hearts are those who not only examine it, but they chase after it. In life God has given us freewill. As followers of Jesus, we are brand new creations. The Spirit of God comes to live within us. He desires to lead us and change us from the inside out. But we must partner with Him, we must surrender to His leading.
That which the enemy tempts us with will always seem appealing to the eye. When the serpent presented the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil to Eve, it was appealing to her eye. Though she was told by Adam that if she ate of it that she would die, she still partook. But the question is why? I think a major part of her giving into deception was not only being presented the fruit and being lied to, but it was looking at it and not taking her eyes off it.
The same can be said of David when he overlooked his balcony. He should have been off to war with his men. But instead, David found himself overlooking his kingdom, wrong place and wrong time. As he overlooked everything below something caught his attention. It was the beauty of Bathsheba. She was completely nude sunbathing and her beauty captivated David. David was not unaware that this was the wife of Uriah. We learn later that Uriah was included in David’s mighty men of valor. But what caused David to give into adultery. What caused him to go so far to cover it up by having her husband murdered? It was because David became captivated by sin.
The devil and the demonic will put plans and schemes together to destroy that which God has purposed and planned for our lives. The devil only has access to our minds and our hearts if we allow him. This is done through lie, deception, and temptation. When things are presented to us and we partake, a door is open to our soul that if not dealt with quickly will result in destruction.
The grace of God is sufficient for all that we will face, and God will always give us a way out. But we must still make the decision to honor the Lord and live for Him. If we begin to give ourselves to sin and the things of the demonic, it will hinder our prayer lives and if we are not careful in time our prayer life will become nonexistent.
There have been those who have begun with Christ and have walked away. The question is why? It isn’t something that happens over night, but it happens progressively. There are times when we may give into temptation and that which is appealing to the eye, but we must quickly turn to the Lord and repent. The greatest defense we will have against the enemy is simply abiding in Christ daily.
The second part of this verse is startling; the Lord would not have listened. It is a joy to know when we draw near to God that He not only draws near to us, but He hears us. But when we begin to open the door to unchecked sin into our lives it begins to grieve the Spirit of God and will disrupt the intimacy we have with the Lord. For intimacy to be reestablished we must confess our sin and turn from whatever is against God and His word.
God desires that we would be people of prayer. That our lives would be a house of prayer. This becomes a reality when we will simply abide in Him. As we read and meditate on His word daily, our minds are renewed, and our lives are transformed. As we spend time in His presence, we position ourselves to not only hear Him, but to walk in His ways.
Prayer
Father search my heart. Remove anything that is unpleasing to you. Help me to live in obedience to your word and the leading of The Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit help me to know your voice. Change me into the man or woman you have called me to be. May my life, my conduct, my words, and my thoughts be pleasing unto you. Burn away the dross and the chaff. Lead and guide me this day to glorify you in all things.
[1] Rick Brannan, ed., Lexham Research Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible, Lexham Research Lexicons (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020).
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