Preoccupied with pursuit

 

What are you and I thinking about, and running after?

The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;
    they fail to act wisely or do good.
 Even on their beds they plot evil;
    they commit themselves to a sinful course
    and do not reject what is wrong. (Psalm 36:3-4)

Are our thoughts and the things we work for and run toward, the right things? The things that Christ would be pleased with? 

In the two verses we focus on today, David shows us just how wrapped up in deceit the sinner really is. We studied yesterday that sin deceives us so that we forget about God, and then flatters us into thinking that our sins are not really so bad. It gets so bad that we think we aren't even sinners, and can't even see that the things we do are sinful. 

David says that we sinners can't even talk "straight," for the words in our mouths are wicked and false. Even we believers have times that we fall into the old ways of lies and false words. And when that happens, we are in a spiral downward - we may have had some semblance of common sense and good behavior before, but we abandon it! 

Now, rather than delighting in our holy God, and thanking Him for the salvation He gives us, we spend our time thinking about our next sin. We may be planning just how to do it. What is the path that will get us there . . . even when we are drifting off to sleep, we are planning. We are preoccupied with sin - and not in a good way. Instead of just drifting into sin, or falling in spite of our efforts to do right, we are deliberately planning it.

Do not those who plot evil go astray?
    But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. (Proverbs 14:22)

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it. (Micah 2:1)

If someone says they are a Christian, but their thoughts are preoccupied with how to get their boyfriend or girlfriend into bed, or how to sneak a few minutes for pornography, or how to get the next drink, then David is describing that person!  Believers are supposed to delight ourselves in God. Followers of Christ are supposed to despise evil; instead, they may be planning how to do it. The secret thoughts that only God knows about, the preoccupations, and the plans reveal the truth.

would not God have discovered it,
    since he knows the secrets of the heart? (Psalm 44:21)

Verse four tells us that the sinner's preoccupation bears fruit. The sinner pursues the sin he/she planned. David says they commit themselves to a sinful, wrong course.

a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil, (Proverbs 6:18)

The sinner will pursue sin like the hunter pursues the deer. Sin deceives the sinner and flatters him or her into thinking that this is the most wonderful prize - run after it! Pursue it! Capture it and make it your own!

Praise the Lord that David changes his focus in the next few verses!

It's as if the thought of this deception, this flattery and sin and wickedness is just too horrific to keep thinking about. David abruptly shifts to the delightfulness of our Father. He begins to tell us that our preoccupation, our pursuit should be to make God our own. He is the source of every blessing, and so we should be seeking Him, not the wickedness that we thought about before we knew Him.

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies.
 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
    your justice like the great deep.
    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
 They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights.
 For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.

We'll study more about this next time, for it is a joyful thing to focus on - God's abundant blessings to those who seek Him.