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Meditation of the Day“Those of a crooked
heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who are blameless in their way are
His delight” (Proverbs 11:20)
In our current, do-whatever-it-takes-to-please-everybody
culture, the word “abomination” must certainly register near the top of
words to avoid. Today, everybody is
right, nobody is wrong, just misdirected, most likely misunderstood. What I love about God’s holiness is that He is not afraid
to tell His creation like it is. Since the
mightiest warrior on earth is but a worm in His sight, He need not be afraid of the
consequences of declaring what is, and what isn’t right, or what kind of person
is pleasing to Him, and what kind of person is an abomination in His sight. A good dictionary definition of abomination is,
“detestable, odious, morally loathsome; an object of disgust.” This is how God feels about those whose hearts are crooked
and bent on doing evil; they are an odious, repugnant stench in His nostrils. The
word used for crooked (vQe[i) also has the idea of being distorted or
perverted. The heart, which was
originally created good by God, has been corrupted by the devastating effects of
Adam’s original sin. Moreover, the Bible tells us our hearts have been
further distorted and
perverted and warped by our own practice of, and love for, sin.
The creation upon which God once pronounced “very good” is now
something very odious to Him. This
text also shows us that Yahweh,
or the LORD, is
not some distant, impersonal God that lacks emotions. No, He is passionate and intimate, and His righteous emotions are in
perfect harmony with His righteous character.
Therefore, because He is holiness itself, He must be a God who
detests hearts that are crooked. But
His holiness at the very same time gives Him delight in those whose lifestyle is
upright and blameless. The
word ‘blameless’ (~ymiT')
is translated in some contexts to mean ‘free of blemish’, and in others to
mean ‘whole, entire, intact.’ The
kind of heart that pleases the LORD
is one that is clean and pure, and that acts in sincerity and honesty.
God delights in a heart of integrity. The
reason God delights in uprightness and blamelessness is because it epitomizes
His very essence and nature. In 2
Samuel 22:31, the Holy Spirit declares to us that the one true God is
“perfect” (~ymiT') in His ways (cf. Deuteronomy 32:4).
So we may say then that God delights in those whose hearts reflect His
own heart. But
just 10 chapters later, Solomon himself asks a rhetorical question: “Who can
say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?”
The obvious answer is no one can! Elsewhere
in the OT, we see that the heart of natural man is “desperately wicked” and
“incurably bad, beyond remedy” (Jeremiah 17:9). So
on the one hand, we are told in Scripture that God delights in those whose way,
or hearts, are upright and blameless. But
on the other hand, we are told that man’s heart is by nature desperately
wicked and corrupted and distorted. For
us sinful mortals, this is not good news, since we by nature belong to category
#1 in Proverbs 11:20. This
is where the doctrine of imputation comes in.
The doctrine, in a nutshell, declares that all those who are “in
Christ” by saving faith have had His righteousness transferred, or imputed, to
their account: the righteousness of Jesus becomes their righteousness, and their
sin becomes His (2 Corinthians 5:21). Or,
in the language of our text today, Christ’s blameless walk and ways become
ours, thus making us a delight to the living God. Should
not this glorious truth bring forth our eternal praise of the Lamb who was
slain?
We, who were once the very enemies of God have now become His friends
through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We, who were once detestable in the sight of a holy God are now a
fragrant aroma in His nostrils. Finally,
it is Christ’s love for us that compels us to life uprightly and blamelessly
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. We have been co-crucified and co-resurrected with Christ so
that we might now begin to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).
Christ has circumcised our hearts (Colossians 2:11), enabling us, by His
Spirit, to be those whom Solomon calls “blameless in their ways.”
God delights in His children who are being conformed into the image of
His beloved Son (Romans 8:29), becoming more and more holy as they commune with
Him and sit at His feet. We
who are born-again by the Spirit of God want to please our King.
And so we pray, O Holy Spirit, enable us to walk with integrity as we
represent Christ on this earth. Enable
us to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).
Enable us to walk even as Jesus did (1 John 2:6).
Enable us to be that fragrant aroma that ascends to the throne of God
that brings glory to His holy name. All praise to our triune God, through Jesus Christ, Pastor
Ryan Meditation Archives
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