The Lord Deals with Your Heart

Psalm 18:25-26 KJV
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

This passage is pretty straight forward. I believe that it speaks of your attitude and how God responds to your attitude. It shows that if your goal is to be merciful, upright, and pure that the Lord treats you in kind. Not to get too confusing, but I use the word "goal" because I believe that the only way to have those aspects in your life is to have a total reliance on Christ to infuse those qualities in your life.

The last line is a little difficult without looking at the Hebrew or another translation. Both instances of "froward" do not come from the same Hebrew word. The first instance refers to being crooked or deceitful. The second instance refers to struggle, to wrestle or to be unsavoury. With this being the case it makes perfect sense: if you are trying to be deceitful, the Lord is not what is pleasing to you - you will be butting heads with Him.

Now the tough part. Be honest with yourself. Which end are you on? Don't automatically dismiss the "froward" reference because you know the Lord. I say that because we tend to do that when we read His word.

Has there been times when it feels that you've been wrestling with God? Or times that you didn't want anything to do with Him? I believe this scripture reference is a "check yourself" or "red flag" more than a condemnation. If you're struggling with God, check to see what you may be hiding from Him. Then take the time to strive for mercy, righteousness and purity: put on Christ (Rom 13:14).