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READ: Psalm 19: 11 -14
“May
my spoken and unspoken thoughts be pleasing
even to you O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer
(Living Bible) “… Accept them when I place
them
on the morning altar …” (The Message) Psalm
Most people are familiar with this renowned painting by
Jean-Francois entitled the Angelus. It
depicts a man and a woman standing in a field.
They are farmers. He holds his
cap reverently as he stands with bowed head; and she clasps her hands as a
prayerful look is reflected on her face.
They pause in prayer near the end of the workday.
This painting seems to encapsulate the
message of the verse printed above wherein the psalmist suggests we take all of
our day’s thoughts and words and place them on the altar as an offering for our
lord. Not just some of them but all of them. Such an act might
prove quite disconcerting to each of us as some of our thoughts if not our
words might not be viewed as fitting offerings. When we consider how many people with whom we may have had
contact each day, we might ask ourselves how many of our words were
encouraging, uplifting and reflected our Christian love? Might we be a bit reluctant to place at
least some of them on the altar?
Despite our possible reluctance to do
so, does any believer really have any doubt that they are already known to
Him? Does not the scripture passage
state: “Lo, I am with you always …”? Surely our spoken and unspoken thoughts do
not escape His notice! We may content
ourselves by claiming we did not use profanity in the course of the day. However, maybe this is a delusion. The unkind words we speak to or about
our fellow man must seem to be profane to our Lord. Would any of us, like the psalmist, be willing to place our verbal
and nonverbal offerings on the altar at the close of our day?