05/02/2026
Some time ago, in my reading God especially brought Psalm 119:133 to my attention. "Establish my footsteps in Your word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me." A simple, but not easy, instruction on how to live in the freedom from sin that Jesus provided for us through His sacrifice on our behalf. Living in freedom from the power and chains of sin requires growth in our knowledge and understanding of God's Word. (Theologically know as progressive sanctification, as distinguished from the complete positional sanctification that is ours through Jesus' work on our behalf which will be realized in its fullness when we die).
More recently, as I continued to read, God struck me with the contrast to this in Psalm 36:1-4 in His description of the wicked. "Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. He plans wickedness upon his bed; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he does not despise evil."
I don't know about you, but when I think, I not only ponder concepts or ideas, but my mind draws pictures of those ideas as I think them. Thus my thoughts in essence are those things that are before my eyes. All that proceeds after that in those verses in Psalm 36 is the result of what is before the eyes. So when I read that first verse, I was struck with this thought, "Is what is before my eyes the true thoughts of God's word, per Psalm 119:133 which will grant me freedom from the power of sin, or is it the thoughts of the wicked, which do not hold the fear of God before their eyes." In other words, what am I meditating on, and what pictures does my brain draw as I think?
What is before your eyes?
