GOD SEARCHES OUR HEARTS

“SEARCH me, O God, and KNOW MY HEART; TRY me, and know my anxieties” – Psalm 139:23

David the Psalmist knew that GOD SEARCHES OUR HEARTS and that absolutely nothing can be hidden from Him: “SEARCH me, O God, and KNOW MY HEART; TRY me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa.139:23). This Psalm illustrates the depth of David’s relationship with God. He certainly was a person after God’s own heart (1Sam.13:14). In this prayer David invited God to search his thoughts – what was within him. This is similar Psalm 26:2 – “TEST me, Lord, and TRY me, EXAMINE my heart and my mind.” In three different ways David invited the Lord to assess his inner being: “Test….Try…Examine”! These represent three different Hebrew terms. The third one, ‘bachan’, means "to examine, prove, scrutinize." It is clearly portrayed in Psalm 139:23 by the word “search.”

Psalm 139 begins with David’s acknowledgement that God had “examined” his heart and knew everything about him (v.1). Nothing about his life could be hidden from the God who knows even what we’ll say before we speak (v.4). There is nowhere to escape from the omnipresent God (vv.7-13). God knew David even in his mother’s womb as he knit him together wonderfully (vv.13-16). The first eighteen verses celebrate the Lord’s intimate knowledge of David. Verse 19 changes the subject abruptly as the memory of those who sought David’s life interrupted his celebration of God’s presence (vv.19-22). Suddenly, the psalm concluded with a prayer for the Lord to examine his heart, to point out anything offensive in him and lead him on the path of everlasting life (vv.23-24).

What David was concerned with and wanted God to show him was “any wicked way”, ”any offensive way” or anything in him that caused pain, so that it could be dealt with.  The phrase, “lead me in the way everlasting” refers to ‘the way of God,’ or ‘the way of righteousness.’ So the request was that God help him not to walk in an offensive way, but in the way of God. As Believers in Christ we should be requesting the same thing David was asking of God: “Are there sinful thoughts, unclean or dishonest motives, bad intentions, weaknesses or failings that cause you pain Lord? Am I hurting others?” Every one of us children of God should urge the Holy Spirit to probe deep within our hearts to see if we’re abiding in God’s Word and doing His will for our lives (Jer.17:10).

Human beings, usually through pride, try to mask some faulty aspects of their lives from the view of others. We often respond by living in denial. When someone brings something up, we get defensive and refuse to deal with the situation and to admit our error. What is strange is when we try to wear such mask before Jesus, forgetting that the Discerner of hearts already knows what is in our hearts: “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men” (Jh.2:24). When we pray, we rarely ask God to search our hearts and see if there is anything in us that needs to change. We hesitate to open up because it feels uncomfortable. When the Holy Spirit searches us and convicts us of sin, we rationalize it away. We might even have lived with a habitual sin for so long, that it just becomes a part of our calloused soul! Jesus is waiting for us to invite Him to cleanse our hearts us of all offensive ways.

There is no hiding place from the Lord!  Trying to hide from the Author of Life could be detrimental to destiny. We should regularly pray as the Psalmist did, and ask God to search our hearts. We should open ourselves up to His Word and Spirit. We all need God to test, try, or search our hearts, through: reading Scripture, hearing His Word preached, the challenging love of friends, and the still small voice of the Spirit. It takes a humble heart to invite God to reveal our weaknesses that we may cling to His strength!