Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 100, 1 Samuel 27

Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”

1 Samuel 27:1 ESV

Be careful what you allow yourself to say to your heart, those things that are too dreadful or foolish to speak out loud, things you’d never utter to your husband or sister or parent or pastor because you know they’re not true and not right.

Some of us are prone to saying discouraging words in our own hearts. We need to remember what the Lord said in Deuteronomy,

“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out.”

Deuteronomy 7:17-19a ESV

Some of us are prone to saying boastful words in our own hearts. Again, we need to remember what the Lord said in Deuteronomy,

• Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ (Deuteronomy 8:17 ESV)
• Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, “It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,” whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. (Deuteronomy 9:4 ESV)
• Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.” This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. (Deuteronomy 29:18b-19 ESV)

Remember the warnings of Psalm 10. The wicked man says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity,”  renouncing God and saying in his heart, “You will not call to account”? while the helpless man says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Rather, let us say to our hearts these words of David’s son, Solomon, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding,” and “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”(Proverbs 3:5, 29:25 ESV)

Heavenly Father, help me to be careful what words I say aloud, but also what words I say to my own heart, those things that no human being will ever hear. You know them, and I know them. You know my thoughts before I speak them. Help me to guard my heart for it is the wellspring of life.  Help me to think about what is good and excellent and true and praiseworthy. Help me to take sinful thoughts captive and make my thoughts obey you. I recognize that I am unable to do this on my own. I need Your strength. Please help me do it for Your glory and for my good. In the name of Jesus Christ who saved me and redeemed me and rules over me, I pray. Amen