Acceptable In God’s Sight

“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 (ESV)

Spiritual apathy is the absence of a desire for God. There are many reasons people follow a lifestyle of Christianity or at least participate in Christian events like Sunday Morning Church. Whether that is the nice people, the comfort in hardships, or the excitement of the services and programs, this ultimately falls short of what Christ called his followers to pursue if it lacks a humble desire for holiness. Without a desire for God and the freedom he offers through the Holy Spirit, the Christian life is just a social and religious activity.

Psalm 19 elevates our perspective of who God is and deepens the foundation of his truthful word. It soars from the glory heavens to the surety of God’s commandments. Ultimately, we are given an invitation. In light of God’s greatness and holiness, how can we be found acceptable in his sight?

If we don’t see God as great, holy, and true, we will probably not feel the need to examine our hearts. If we only see God through the lens of the external religious and social activities we experience, we are likely to find ourselves sufficiently good to get on with our lives. In that case, a verse like Psalm 19:14 hardly makes sense. We don’t believe that we need to ask for help to be good, we don’t believe we need a rock for strength and protection, and we we don’t believe we need a redeemer.

This posture of pride gets us nowhere in the kingdom of God. While self-sufficiency seems like holiness on the outside, it is really just a life starved of the power of God. The end game for pride is a calloused and hard heart.

On the contrary, the heart of humility that has sought the Lord says, “God, I need you to help me think, speak, and act like you.” It recognizes that God sees all that we do, that his standard of holiness is higher than we can attain alone, and that we need his help to be holy in the way he desires.

Psalm 19 could have ended with the prayer to be acceptable, but it doesn’t end there. The final words remind us that it is God’s strength and provision that allow us to be acceptable in his sight. We are not left to our own devices. Instead, God calls us to lean on him.

Suddenly the previous verses declaring God’s perfection seem less like a standard that belittles the reader and more like an assuring promise that encourages the reader. We reflect on the greatness of his creation in the heavens, and we know that God is big enough to handle our lives. We can see that because God is perfect, holy, pure, and flawless, we can securely depend on him for the grace to be like him.

All that is left is the desire to be more like God. This prayer leads our hearts to submit to the leadership and lordship of God in our lives. It breaks the pattern of spiritual apathy because it invites us into a posture of humble longing.

Will you enter into this place of hunger for the ways of God? Let this prayer open the door for a renewed desire for Christ.