May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NIV
Pleasing to the Lord
Canada is viewed globally in a very positive light. Amid multiple international crises and fears of a new Cold War, countries around the world are on an embassy-building spree, opening up new missions and expanding their diplomatic presence at a clip rarely seen before. In the past decade alone, more than a thousand new embassies have been opened up globally. Our country has played a part in this: In 2023, Ottawa opened new embassies in Armenia and Fiji, a consulate in Milan, and a new permanent mission to the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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There are people in our lives we like to please. It begins by wanting to please our parents, and later our spouse, our children, people with whom we work. If this is how we act with others, it ought to be so much more so when it comes to how we view our service to the Lord Jesus. The Psalmist understood this and prayed a prayer we all ought to pray regularly. We read this prayer in Psalm 19:14: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Pastors often use this prayer before they preach and this is appropriate, of course. But it ought to be a prayer every follower of Jesus prays regularly. Every word that we speak ought to be pleasing to the Lord. Is it? And the psalmist takes it one step farther – we must pray that every meditation of our heart as well. Does every word you speak and every thought you think please the Lord?
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley