Thought for the Day

Verse 11 - This verse can refer to righteous earthly kings, such as Solomon, the king who wrote it, but ultimately it refers to Jesus, the King of kings. The great King loves us and purifies us by His own blood that we may have friendship with God. Those who desire and strive to keep a pure heart will certainly have an audience with King Jesus, Who said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

How do we keep our hearts pure? One must begin by acknowledging that one is a sinner, accepting Jesus as Savior, and asking for forgiveness. Even after we do this, there will still be sins, and sometimes strongholds, from which we must be delivered. We must ask God daily to cleanse our minds from things we embraced before we were born again. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). Our hearts are changed and we grow more like Jesus each time we overcome temptation. The more pure our hearts become, the more pure our speech will become.

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:22-25).

Should we fail to resist a temptation, God will forgive us. However, if we keep yielding to sin and do not strive to resist it, our hearts can become a little more hardened against the things of God each time we sin. If this continues, we can harden our hearts to the point that God will withdraw His grace and allow us to suffer the fruit of our own sins.

Verse 12 - God not only preserves knowledge, but also those who have His knowledge. The Bible contains the knowledge that we most need. One reason why many Christians are overcome by the devil's tactics is their ignorance of God's Word. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children" (Hosea 4:6). "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).