Psalm 141:1-4
1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
To be honest, we do evil because we like it. A "naughty pleasure" is a pleasure that attracts us, like one of the "delicacies" mentioned in verse 4. As long as we secretly are attracted to evil, we will work out ways to get what we want, even if in our head we know it is wrong. When faced with a choice between what we "want to do" and what we "should do", we will inevitably choose the "want" over the "should". This is why we need to pray like the psalmist that our desires would be changed: "do not let my heart incline to any evil" (verse 4).
Lord, may my heart be drawn to You and not to evil.
1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
To be honest, we do evil because we like it. A "naughty pleasure" is a pleasure that attracts us, like one of the "delicacies" mentioned in verse 4. As long as we secretly are attracted to evil, we will work out ways to get what we want, even if in our head we know it is wrong. When faced with a choice between what we "want to do" and what we "should do", we will inevitably choose the "want" over the "should". This is why we need to pray like the psalmist that our desires would be changed: "do not let my heart incline to any evil" (verse 4).
Lord, may my heart be drawn to You and not to evil.