S4; Psalms 66: 18-20

 Scripture Read.  Psalm 66: 18-20.  If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me.

Thought Applied.  The first part of this verse (18) implies that outwardly I admonish or do not approve of the sin, and I will speak and act as if the sin committed was wrong.  But "in my heart" shows that inwardly I am protecting how I truly feel.  This creates a barrier, as God does not want us to protect and hold sin dear internally.  He will not listen to our prayers if we are asking Him to agree with us in the sin.  Later in the verse, (20), the author is praising God who did not reject his prayer or withheld his love - which in context implies that he had NOT cherished sin in his heart.

Application Made.  In Matthew 23: 27-28, Jesus says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."  God wants our inside to match our outside, and even the act of trying to hide sin from God creates a barrier to prayer.

Knowing the sin I keep in my heart; that I cherish, lock up, keep in a strong box, and am unwilling to rectify with my external POVs keeps God at bay.  I often suffer the reverse.  I believe God understands me, but the world - especially other Christians - will either reject me or at least keep their distance for my POV.

Response Prayer.  Lord, there is a lot of sin in my heart.  I wall up so much of myself for fear of castigation by others.  Between my dark humor and my callous  views, couple with my lack of emotional sensitivity, I find people alien and can't relate.  You get me, but I'm afraid others won't.  What I don't know is if my thoughts, feelings, or views are sinful, or just considered incorrect and difficult for others to relate to.  Is it "sin" by our culture?  Our church values?  Or truly sin by yours?

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