Keep Thy Heart: Let Our Words and Meditations Be Acceptable to the Lord
What is happening in our hearts eventually affects our words, our reactions, and the way we walk through life. In this teaching, we look at Proverbs 4:23 and Psalm 19:14 and ask the Lord to help us guard our hearts, watch our words, release what is not ours to carry, and let the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in His sight. Christ is the Teacher, and we are fellow learners—learning to bring our thoughts, burdens, hurts, and responsibilities to Him and receive His strength, His rest, and His joy.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” — Proverbs 4:23 KJV
and
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” — Psalm 19:14 KJV
What Christ is teaching me fits Psalm 19:14 beautifully. David is not pretending nothing is stirring inside him. He is bringing both the inward meditation and the outward words before God.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” — Psalm 19:14 KJV
And I think you may notice something important about the word “let.” I would phrase it carefully: it is a prayer of yielded-ness. “Lord, govern what I allow to remain in my thoughts, and govern what I permit to come out of my mouth.”
That fits with:
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” — Proverbs 4:23 KJV
Things we can take to the Lord instead of carrying, feeding, or speaking
What rises in the human heart | What we can ask the Lord to do | Scripture |
Hurt | Heal it rather than letting it become bitterness | Psalm 147:3 |
Anger | Show me what is righteous and remove what is fleshly | Ephesians 4:26–27, 31–32 |
Bitterness | Help me put it away | Hebrews 12:15 |
Unforgiveness | Teach me to forgive as I have been forgiven | Colossians 3:13 |
Gossip | Put a guard over my mouth | Proverbs 11:13; Psalm 141:3 |
Rehearsing what someone did | Help me think upon what is true and worthy | Philippians 4:8 |
Judging another person's heart or motives | Remind me that You know the heart | 1 Corinthians 4:5 |
The need to defend myself | Teach me when to speak and when to be silent | Ecclesiastes 3:7; 1 Peter 2:23 |
Fear | Help me trust You with what I cannot see | Psalm 56:3–4 |
Anxiety | Turn my concerns into prayer | Philippians 4:6–7 |
Trying to control people or outcomes | Teach me to trust You and do only what belongs to me | Proverbs 3:5–6 |
Carrying another person's responsibility | Give me wisdom about what is mine and what is theirs | Galatians 6:2, 5 |
Wanting to fix someone | Help me love them while leaving the heart-work to You | 2 Timothy 2:24–25 |
Pride | Search me and humble me | James 4:6, 10 |
Complaining | Turn my attention toward thanksgiving | Philippians 2:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 |
Impatience | Produce longsuffering in me | Galatians 5:22 |
Harsh words | Make my speech gracious and truthful | Colossians 4:6; Ephesians 4:15 |
Old wounds and yesterday's failures | Help me reach forward instead of living backward | Philippians 3:13–14 |
Weariness | Teach me to come to Christ for rest | Matthew 11:28–30 |
Too many responsibilities | Show me today's portion rather than tomorrow's burden | Matthew 6:34 |
Wrong motives—even in good works | Purify why I am doing what I do | Psalm 139:23–24 |
The desire to be seen or appear spiritual | Teach me to seek the Father's approval | Matthew 6:1–6 |
Physical weakness and limitations | Teach me dependence, wisdom, and proper care | 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 |
Discouragement | Restore the joy that comes from knowing You | Nehemiah 8:10 |
Anything that simply isn't mine | Help me cast it upon You | 1 Peter 5:7 |
There is also an important balance in Galatians 6. Verse 2 says, “Bear ye one another's burdens,” while verse 5 says, “For every man shall bear his own burden.” Biblical love helps people, but biblical love does not require us to assume every responsibility that belongs to somebody else.
That seems especially relevant to what was moving through my heart this morning: Lord, show me what is mine to carry faithfully, what is mine to address lovingly, and what belongs in Your hands rather than mine.
“Clean my slate, O Lord”
There is Scripture very close to what Christ is saying:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” — Psalm 51:10
And then:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” — Psalm 139:23–24
That's not, “Lord, show me what everybody else is doing wrong.”
It is, “Lord, search me.”
That takes us right back to Psalm 19:14.
And then, after we have brought it to Him, there really is a place of rest:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
And:
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7
Notice that casting something upon Him doesn't mean we abandon responsibilities God actually gave us. Payroll still needs doing. Taxes still need doing. Calls that genuinely belong to me still need making. But you and I don't have to carry everyone else's choices, reactions, motives, struggles, or timing while we do them.
Perhaps our prayer in Christ Jesus for today could be as simple as:
Lord, what belongs to me today?
What belongs to another person?
And what belongs only to You?
Then we are freed from the world's pressure, our flesh's own pressure and even Satan's pressure do the first faithfully, love people through the second, and release the third.
And this fits beautifully with what the Lord has said about joy:
“…for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” — Nehemiah 8:10
Not the joy of everything being finished.
Not the joy of everybody behaving correctly.
Not the joy of finally getting every house, project, relationship, dog, business issue, and family matter settled.
The joy of the LORD is our strength.
So maybe the “one thing” underneath all the many things today is not accomplishing everything. It is:
Walk with Jesus through what He has actually placed in front of you today.
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” — Matthew 6:34
Payroll can be today's obedience. Rest can be obedience. Stretching and caring for your body can be obedience. Remaining silent about something that doesn't need repeating can be obedience. Making one necessary phone call can be obedience. And leaving something alone that God has not asked you to fix can also be obedience.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart…”
First the heart.
Then the mouth.
Then the actions.
And through all of it:
“…O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
He isn't only asking you and me to clean up our own heart by effort. He is our strength while He teaches us, and our Redeemer where we need redeeming.
I hope you enjoy the Word of the Lord with me Today.
Love in Christ,
Karen, a fellow learner
Hope in Today Ministries