Today is October 4th and so today I will focus on Psalm 101:4…
A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.
Psalm 101:4
A perverse heart shall depart from me… now for something to depart from you it had to first be with you.
And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mark 7:20-23)
Perverse in this verse is `iqqesh and it means twisted, distorted, crooked, perverse, perverted.
A perverse heart takes God’s truth and twists it and distorts it and makes it crooked.
But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Acts 13:9-10
This has been the problem since the beginning…
Satan was the first to pervert it and he has been helping man do it since the fall. If we look at the bottom line there is always only one reason to pervert the truth of God… selfish gain. It was the reason Satan did it… it’s the reason man does it. It’s the reason men do it from the pulpit, it’s the reason politicians do it from the podium… to get their own way, to be their own god, to get people to follow them and do their will… not God’s.
‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. (Ezekiel 33:30-31)
Our God calls out to us to be saved from this perverse generation… He desperately wants us to walk in His truth.
For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:39-41)
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:29-31)
God has called out to us through His law, through His prophets, and through His Son to give us the truth, so that this perverse heart of ours might depart from us. He had made the way for a new heart to be given us… a heart that desires to walk the straight and clear path to our God.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
In the NASB the phrase “know that I am the LORD” is used seventy-seven times. The phrase “know Me” is used sixteen times. The phrase “the name of the LORD” is used one hundred and four times.
Do you think God wants you to know Him?
God wants you to know HIM. He wants you to know Him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. He wants your spirit to be one with His Spirit. He want you to know Him and all that He is. All His majesty. All His glory. All His grace. All His love. All His ways.
He does not want you to know evil.
The word know in this verse is yada and it means to know, to learn to know, to know by experience, to be acquainted with, to be skillful in, to be or become known, to make known…
The perverse heart gets to know evil. The perverse heart makes evil known. The perverse heart knows evil by experience and it is well acquainted with it.
God wants you to be well acquainted with Him. He wants you to make Him known. He wants you to know Him by experience. He wants you to learn to know Him more. He wants you to grow in knowledge of Him every minute of every day…
He wants you to prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (Philippians 2:14-16)
We live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation… but it does not have to live in us.
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:17-20)