Psalm 19:14–Watching the Words of Your Heart

I remember as a kid, during summer vacation, going down to the country, as we say in Indiana. That meant Kentucky. It meant staying with my Papaw and Granny Key in Grayson County.

They didn’t have indoor plumbing or air-conditioning, but we never minded. We had a ball. One of the unique experiences for a kid was seeing how they drew water from a well. They lowered a bucket down into the well, which drew its water from an underground spring. That water was cold, pure, and better tasting than city water.

Of course, the quality of the water depended upon the purity of the spring. If the spring were polluted, the water would be bad, unfit, and unsafe for human consumption.

Similarly, our attitudes, actions, and words are drawn from a single source — the heart. If the heart is filled with negativity, ungodliness, and ugliness, our words will reflect that bitterness.

This is why in Ps. 19:14 you have the connection between one’s words and the heart. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

Last night, I had the opportunity to speak on this verse during the summer series at Cornerstone Church in Centerville, Ohio. Their theme is “David: A Man After God’s Own Heart.” My assigned topic was “Watching the Words of Your Heart.”

Like the water from the underground spring, the source of our words comes from the depths of the heart. Thus, the wise man advised, “Keep your heart with all vigilance,
For from it flow the springs of life.”

Jesus further elaborated with this sobering thought. “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matt. 15:19).

To fully appreciate this truth, it’s necessary to understand that the Bible speaks of four chambers of the spiritual heart.

#1 The heart involves the intellect.

Jesus asked, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts?” (Mk. 2:8). The heart thinks. Reasons. Considers. Comprehends. And concludes.

#2 The heart involves the emotions.

David spoke of experiencing a “broken heart (Ps. 34:8). He also wrote that the “heart rejoices” (Ps. 33:21). Feelings and affections are spoken of in scripture as an issue of the heart.

#3 The heart involves the will.

This refers to one’s volition. It involves choices, decisions, resolution, and purpose. In Acts 11:23, Barnabas encouraged the Antioch Christians to serve the Lord with “purpose of heart.”

#4 The heart involves the conscience.

After hearing Peter’s sermon on Pentecost that Jesus was the Messiah, whom they crucified, it says the hearers were “pricked in the heart.” Some versions render it “cut to the heart.” This chamber of the heart evokes compunction, shame, guilt, and contrition.

Therefore, when you watch the words of your heart, you watch what you think about, what emotions you entertain, what choices you make, and cultivate a conscience that is tender, serving as a moral governor guiding the words that you speak.

The connection between our words and our hearts is both evident and sobering. David, the man after God’s own heart, thus aligned his mind, emotions, will, and conscience to reflect the heart of God. When we do that, then our words will glorify God.

Indeed, our words are a reflection of our inner selves. Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart… For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Lk. 6:45).

Other writers have also observed this truth.

A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. But what comes out of our mouths reveals it.”

Oswald Chambers penned, “The tongue is a true index of the heart. If a man speaks recklessly, it is because there is recklessness in his heart.”

Charles Spurgeon once said. “A man’s heart will be seen in his speech; his tongue is the gate through which the floods of the soul burst forth.”

So, I wonder…is there really an “oops” moment where we say something that we don’t mean? Or is it actually an indication of the hidden springs of the heart? Something to ponder,

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman