July 3
“A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.” (Psalm 101:4)
The verse above shows David’s determination to not allow his heart to entertain perverse things and to know no evil. Earlier in the same Psalm David shows similar resolve:
“I will give heed to the blameless way. When wilt Thou come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip on me.” (Psalm 101:2-3)
Note the things that David determines to do in these three short verses: (1) give heed to the blameless way, (2) walk within his house in the integrity of his heart, (3) set no worthless thing before his eyes, (4) hate the work of those who fall away, (5) not let the work of those who fall away fasten its grip on him, (6) not allow perverse things to enter his heart, and (7) know no evil.
These are an abbreviated prescription for victory over sin. If we were to do just these seven things with diligence and regularity, we would have much more victory over sin in our lives. These are particularly useful today with the abundant pervasiveness of evil on the internet, with immorality regularly portrayed in movies, TV programs, and music, and with the availability of all of this in the privacy of one’s own home, even one’s own room or closet if they so chose. The temptations to stumble are becoming more and more numerous and difficult to avoid.
Determining to give heed to the blameless way, to pay attention to that which is good and right and pure and just and wholesome, seems to be a thing of the past, an antiquated practice that is no longer in step with the times. We have to shake off the stigma of being called prudish or uncultured, or be concerned that we will lose friends or credibility if we do not keep up with the latest movies or popular shows. Do you want to be holy and pleasing to Christ or be popular and “informed” in the latest fads? Do you want to be victorious over sin or one of the crowd?
Resolving to not put sin before us, to not watch programs that would make us or someone we know stumble or put our minds onto fleshly things, to not scan the internet for lewd images or pornography, to hate the work of those who are hostile to God and who glamorize the things that He hates (e.g. immorality and violence), to determine to not let these things enter our hearts and minds, to not let them get their hooks into us or fasten their grip on us, to resolve to know no evil, these resolutions will keep us from much sin and stumbling. To do so is the equivalent of eliminating much of today’s entertainment from our lives. But that is okay, and it is good, and it is necessary if we are to please the Lord and live lives above reproach in today’s culture of immorality and violence.