In the New Living Translation, Psalm 19:13 reads “Keep our servant from deliberate sins. Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of sin.”
This reminds me of a previous devotional I wrote that spoke about the unseen hooks we allow to penetrate us because of our willful sin. I ended that post by quoting 1 John 1:8-9 to emphasize God’s mercy as we ask for forgiveness over and over again. What I did not write about was how we break the power of the relentless pursuit of the sin which we constantly fall to once those hooks have penetrated our spiritual self. The answer is so simple that I cannot believe I have overlooked it. We need to pray. Specifically, we need to pray this prayer from Psalm 19:13 from the very essence of our being. “Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Don’t let them control me.” When we realize the invisible hooks have captured us, let’s pray this prayer and let the LORD of all creation, the Holy One of Israel step in and take over.