In Psalm 6:8 David says: “Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.” It is interesting (and instructive for us) that David’s response to the fact that God heard his prayer was a call for the workers of iniquity to depart from him. When we have seen God work, holiness should be our response. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

In fact there is often the tendency to “let down our guard” spiritually when we have come through a spiritual crisis. We often purify ourselves while we are seeking God for a special need, and we need to be careful that when He hears us, we do not have the attitude: “Oh, God did (x-y-z) for me, so since He has already answered me I don’t have to be holy any more!”

If we truly appreciate what God has done for us, we will not respond to His mercies with libertinism, but with holiness. It is “BECAUSE OF THE MERCIES OF GOD” that Romans 12:1 says that we are to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice …”. If our commitment was more than just a “sham” until we “got an answer” out of God, then His answer will spur us to an even greater commitment to holiness, out of gratitude to Him.