I think nearly all American Christians are familiar with II Chronicles 7:14 (If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.) Recently, I’ve been focusing on what Mario Murillo calls Stage 5 of this verse, turning from our wicked ways. He says:

“It would seem that by this stage, God would know we have abandoned our sin. The issue, however is something deeper; it deals with our ways. Our repentance has dealt with what we have done; now the purification focuses on what we are…To turn from our wicked ways doesn’t just mean to repent of our sins. Hitherto, we have repented of our acts; now we need deliverance from our ways…The inner nature must be surprised, caught off guard, in order to be exposed and conquered.”

While I’m meditating on this, our Sunday school class was challenged to memorize Psalm 1. At such times, I often find my brain returning to the KJV I was taught as a child. This was no exception. When I turned out the light and without a Bible in my hand, here’s what eventually emerged: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Almost immediately I found my heart crying out to God, first of all for some family members and then for our nation, asking forgiveness for all the ways we have walked in the counsel of the ungodly:

• By looking to liberal universities and seminaries for counsel instead of to God and His Word.
• By turning to liberal church leaders who have twisted God’s Word, and to the people whom they have deceived, rather than turning to Him.
• By looking to the MSM and politicians for counsel, as well as to books, podcasts, and articles that do not honor God or His Word.

Psalm 1 says first we are walking in the counsel of the ungodly, then we progress to standing in the way of sinners (having become part of that group), until in the end, we are sitting in the seat of the scornful, comfortable now with those who have given us the ungodly counsel, treating scornfully those who disagree.

The first example of one who sits in the seat of the scornful is Hillary Clinton, contemptuously referring to Trump supporters as “deplorables.” She dismissed a large segment of the population of the United States, who went on to defeat her at the ballot box. The MSM also have permanent reservations in the seat of the scornful, scorn aimed at anyone who has the audacity to disagree with them.

Verse two of Psalm 1 goes on to say that the delight of the person who doesn’t do these things is in the law of the Lord and he mediates on God’s law day and night. Verses three-six give even more good news to the one who doesn’t do these things and bad new to those who do.

It’s time for those referred to in II Chronicles 7:14 as my people who are called by my name to cry out with the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24, Search me, Oh God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our “ways.” Only when we see and recognize our wicked ways can we turn from them by God’s grace.

Jesus said He came to give recovery of sight to the blind. He can reveal our wicked ways, if we’re willing to see them, so we can turn from them and He can heal our land. Are we willing to pay whatever price God asks so healing can come? What is He revealing to you?