The Meditation of My Heart
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Read all of Psalm 19.
Friday morning, I awoke in Tucson. In the 1970s themed hotel where we were staying, I had played Linda Ronstadt's album Hasten Down the Wind on the record player and sang along to,
“By the rivers of Babylon
Where we sat down
And there we wept
When we remembered Zion
For the wicked carry us away
Captivity require from us a song
How can we sing King Alpha's song in a strange land?
So let the words of our mouth
And the meditations of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight
Over I”
Or at least that is the way I remembered the lyrics…
Saturday morning, I awake in Las Cruces. Looking out into the walled courtyard of the adobe casita where we are staying. I read through Psalm 19 of God’s glorious sun, like a strong man, a bridegroom marching across the heavens, proclaiming His handiwork. I read of the prefect law and testimony and precepts and commandments of the Lord. And I read this closing prayer,
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
I think of Linda Ronstadt being of Mexican descent and here I sit in a land that was once Mexico.* We are two blocks away from the old town square of Mesilla, a Mexican border town of the 1800s. The land here is flat, swept clean. The homes are low to the ground modest adobe. Chiles hang from the rafters. The rooster next door awakens me from my sleep each morning.
I think about the displaced children of fallen Jerusalem, marched into captivity in the land of Babylon. They had forsaken their God for the little foreign gods around them. God had sent prophets to warn them of their coming destruction and to plead to them to return to Him. They would not listen. And so, they found themselves strangers in a strange land being commanded to sing for their captors.
Thousands of years later I know their story of captivity and I sing aloud the prayer of their ancestor David;
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight…”
Why has the Spirit of God connected these two reminders to me within the smallest time frame of 24 hours? I think of the displaced people of Israel thousands of years ago, weeping by the river for their lost home, the lost presence of their God. I think of all the dark-haired, dark-eyed people of this land I am walking through. This dusty land has had more people cross over its rivers seeking something more and better here than I can begin to imagine. They still come, seeking something more. Always looking for something big and permanent that will give them protection and stability. It doesn't seem to work.
The shepherd and king David knew that. He spent his life fighting for land and a kingdom that would not last. Yet here it is in this profound song he wrote that people still sing;
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
How do we get there? How can my words and the mediation of my heart be acceptable to my Lord? Should I start at the beginning, where David did – looking up into the heavens? Yes. It is where each day begins.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19:1-4
If the heavens – day to day, night to night proclaim the glory of God – why can’t I? Is that my purpose? – Like the stars and the moon and the mighty sun, is my purpose to proclaim the glory of God? To sing and say His praises? Should my words reflect His works?
And then there is His perfect Word. It too points to the glory of God. It revives the soul, makes the simple wise, brings joy to the heart, opens the eyes. It teaches us to fear the Lord, who endures forever in truth and righteousness. Within the sweetness of His word is found great reward. All of this is there in David’s song.
He continues; By looking at the glory of our God and His Word, we see how far we fall short. We are blind to our own errors, unaware of our hidden faults. We are overconfident and arrogant. Our sins have dominion over us and we stumble headlong into great transgression. Our sins are against others – and therefore against God. Oh, my goodness, I am guilty!
And that is why they (those ancient Israelites) weep by the rivers of the enemy. They forgot the glory of their Lord; they forgot the perfection of His Word.
This, twice in two days, is a reminder to me. Keep my eyes on the glory of my Lord and seek the wisdom of His Word. That is the only way the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart can be acceptable in His sight.
The rest of this story. God called His people to Him through Abraham and his descendants. They were set aside as His Holy people. He led them into a promised land. The people looked around the land and found the enticements of other people, other things, other little gods who they could manipulate to their own advantage, to be more appealing than their own God of Glory and God of the Word. So, they abandoned Him. He pleaded with them to return to Him. They were not interested. They were busy pursuing their own delights.
So God allowed them to be overtaken by what they thought they desired. It was not until they were held captive by their enemy that they realized what they had given up. In seeking their own desires, they had forsaken the glory of their God and the wisdom of His Word.
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy! Psalm 137:1-6
This is my reminder; if the heavens proclaim the glory of God, so should I. If the Lord’s Word is perfect, I need to wash my heart and my words in it. May I be found acceptable in His sight. This is David’s prayer. This is mine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEPr_ZF9HLs
Notes from my study:
*A native of Tucson, Ronstadt recalls her family singing the traditional canciones passed down by her grandfather Federico, a guitarist and vocalist who was born in Sonora, Mexico, in 1868 to a German father and a Mexican mother.
** In 586 BCE, the Babylonian empire conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the first Temple that had been built by King Solomon, and uprooted large numbers of people, deporting them hundreds of miles to the east. This tragedy is mourned in the Psalm (137), which includes such famous lines as “By the rivers of Babylon” and “If I forget you, O Jerusalem.”
Psalm 137 is recited on the eve of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of both Temples. It opens the liturgy and sets the tone for the day. The liturgy of Tisha B’Av includes a wide array of kinot, poems of sorrow and mourning, giving voice to themes of exile and longing. But this ancient psalm, older than the kinot, captures the pain of exile from the Land of Israel perhaps most eloquently of all.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/by-the-rivers-of-babylon-we-remember-zion/
“It appears from Jeremiah 12:6; 25:14; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12; Obadiah 1:11-14; that the Idumeans [Edomites] joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar against their brethren the Jews; and that they were main instruments in razing the walls of Jerusalem even to the ground.” (Clarke)
ii. The small book of Obadiah is a prophetic pronouncement against the Edomites for their part in the conquest of Judea. Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress (Obadiah 1:12).
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-137/
*** Tisha B'Av lit. "the ninth of Av") is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem.
By the Rivers of Babylon Songwriters: Brent Dowe, Frank Farian, George Reyam, Trevor McNaughton Rivers Of Babylon lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management