“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord ponders the heart.”
Human beings have a difficult time telling themselves the truth about themselves. It is very difficult for us to admit that we were wrong about something, or that what we did was wrong. We have a tendency to justify ourselves, even though if someone else did the same thing, we would think it was awful. This is why Jesus told us not to be judgmental towards other people. That’s not to say that we cannot try to help someone correct bad behavior, but that we cannot make a moral judgment about them. When I’m preaching, I always remember that I have three fingers and a thumb pointing back at myself. I want to consider some points in reference to this text. We should be real careful to weigh our own behavior and realize when we are doing wrong. People have been heard to say that they knew what they did was wrong, but they try to excuse the behavior because of circumstances. There are not many people who will say that they believe in selective morality until the finger of guilt is pointing at them. For example, the Ten Commandments are not circumstantial. It would not be excusable to say that one committed adultery because he or she was not happy at home. Oh, we hear it all of the time, but it is not an excuse. That’s why the proverb says, “but the Lord pondereth the heart.” If God calls something a sin every time it is mentioned in the Bible we might surmise that we cannot come up with any excuse to allow ourselves to do it. When we do wrong when we know that what we did was wrong, we are ignoring that God will not be pleased with it. We should be careful to think seriously about what the consequences of our actions will be. This is illustrated for us in Exodus 32 when the Israelites had Aaron build them a golden calf to worship. What was their excuse for this behavior? Here is the answer in Exodus 32:1: “And then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Think about it: The Ten Commandments had been given in Exodus 20. The first commandment was: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” That wasn’t a suggestion. The Israelites felt right in their own eyes because they hadn’t seen Moses for forty days. Then there is Aaron’s excuse. When Moses asked him what happened, he more or less blamed the Israelites for his bad decision: “And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.” (Exodus 32:22) He went on to say that because of them he took their gold, “cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” We need to know that God knows everything that we think or do. We cannot hide anything from Him, and we need to take His knowledge of us into account when we are tempted to do things that are wrong and try to find excuses for ourselves. We need to remember that we are accountable to God for what we do. Our text said that “God pondereth the heart.” I think that when we are about to do wrong, God knows what is in our hearts and begins to convict us about it. But the tendency that we have to excuse our own behavior is strong. We need to be aware of the moving of the Holy Spirit in these times, for He is surely convicting us in spite of our tendency to excuse ourselves. Hey, I’m not pointing a finger at you without pointing a finger at myself. I have to watch this tendency just like you do. When we stand before God in judgment, we will be without excuse, and God will not say: “You are excused because of circumstances.” Let’s we aware of the fact that God is, indeed, pondering our hearts. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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