6 Minute Read + Scripture readings
Today’s Bible Reading:
Today’s Bible Verse(s):
“An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked person: Dread of God has no effect on him. For with his flattering opinion of himself, he does not discover and hate his iniquity.”
Psalm 36:1-2 (CSB)
Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):
A man is described in the verses I have chosen for today. He is a man who doesn’t care that God is holy, infinitely powerful, and will punish lawbreakers. It doesn’t even phase him. Why? Because he’s consumed with thoughts of his own goodness. He thinks he’s just fine in spite of the fact that he is a sinner.
Even though the man in Psalm 36:1-2 is rightly called a “wicked person,” I am seeing this sort of person a lot these days, even when I look in the mirror.
How often have I failed to realize that our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29)? How often has my failure to acknowledge God’s holiness (Isaiah 57:15), His hatred of sin and sinners (Psalm 5:5-6), and His love for justice (Isaiah 61:8) allowed for my yielding to temptation? How often have I thought too highly of myself and failed to acknowledge that I have not been perfected yet and so I still struggle with sin? How often have I not searched for sin in my life and eradicated it because I hated it?
I’m not a prophet but I know enough about God to realize that nothing can happen without Him actively willing it to happen or passively allowing it to happen. As we observe the more than 197,000 deaths worldwide and the more than 52,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, and as we observe the horrible effects the virus is having on our economy, it seems as if this is the sort of thing that God has done over and over before.
This is what God warned Solomon about when the Jerusalem Temple was completed. God said that the Israelites would eventually engage in unrepentant sin and He would set the forces of nature against them as discipline. To stop the divine punishment, they had better acknowledge their sin and get rid of it.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14 (CSB): “If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
Friend, let God’s work in our world motivate you to do some internal searching. Determine to discover sin, hate it, repent of it, and receive God’s cleansing forgiveness.
After all, you don’t want to be labeled “the wicked person,” do you?
Psalm 36:1-2 (CSB): “An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked person: Dread of God has no effect on him. For with his flattering opinion of himself, he does not discover and hate his iniquity.”
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Lord Jesus, I get spiritually content all too often. I lose my hatred for sin, I fail to remember what You had to do on the cross to forgive me, and I willfully engage in disobedience. Please forgive me. Help me, Lord, to reignite my hatred for what is displeasing to You. I want to enjoy You and live a life pleasing to You. Amen.
Matt’s Musings 
Thank you brother Matt for your daily reminders even though I don’t get to read them all….how easy to point out public sins in a non-believer (why do we expect anything else?) while harboring private sins in my heart that no one sees but me and the Lord!! What a hypocrite I can be 😦
Have a blessed day and stay safe!
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Yes, it’s much easier to point out sin in others than in ourselves. It’s much easier to see the speck in someone else’s eye than the beam in my own. Thanks for your reflective, transparent comments.
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