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You know how sometimes you’ll hear something that you’ve heard before, but for some reason it sounds different this time? Maybe it’s the context or how it’s said. A friend of mine brought up something the other day that I knew, but the way he said it and the context of it drove home his point in a unique way. He talked about our common frailty and predisposition to falter and sin. He said, “If guys like David fall, I don’t stand a chance.” (or something to that effect).

I don’t like to make excuses for failure and/or outright rebellion, but we are living in a fallen world. We are saints (if we simply say “yes” or “thank you, I’ll receive that” to God’s offer of forgiveness), yet we will not live without sin. While the news about great and holy king David shouldn’t curse us to hopeless and surrendered defeat, it should keep us sober and humble. At least that’s my best guess.

I was pondering a worship song we were singing at church on Sunday. I thought about the line “…my heart is prone to wander.” Part of me does not like that line, because my life was changed by grace. My sin was confronted and met with forgiveness. My gratitude has me feeling like, “Oh! What an awesome pardon! I love You! I love You!” I relate to the “woman of the night” that washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. I relate to Peter’s reply when Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to abandon Him, too. “Where would we go? You have the very words of life!”

I think of what Jesus has done for me and there’s such a strong feeling of devotion, loyalty and love I want to give that Person. The idea of turning my back on Him is almost outlandish in that context. But I’ve come to accept the line in that song, because I know I’m not the messiah. I’m not perfect. I’m not all that. My heart is prone to wander. It’s arrogant of me to think I would not.

I love Him. There’s no way I’d leave Him, but … in reality, there but for the grace of God go I. I agree with the plea of the song: “Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it.” I can’t do this on my own. Even my love and zeal for God has its limits. Even my passion can run dry like a battery that’s been used.

I’m reminded of my love for the Amplified Bible translation, which expounds upon the definitions of the Greek or Hebrew words used in the Bible. The words “believe in” are turned into three phrases:

“cling to”
“trust in”
“rely on”

I must cling to Jesus. Trust in Him and rely on Him. The clinging will help me not to wander. I was reading Psalm 36 and, I tell ya, part of me was going, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve read this before,” but then David says something that stopped me. He starts this song by saying:

“An oracle is within my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For in his own eyes he flatters himself…”

We’ve read this kind of thing before, haven’t we? David laments about how the wicked go unpunished or how the wicked are … well, wicked and evil. My mind began to wander. Then he finishes that sentence:

“For in his own eyes he flatter himself too much to detect or hate his sin.”

Whoa! David thought it important to hate sin. It was so important that it’s communicated as if it’s an understood principle. There’s a good way to view temptation and sin: hatred. Take that emotion and anger that is wrongly aimed at other people sometimes and use it to focus in on our own shortcomings, our rebellion, our sin. I like that.

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