Search Me

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

I was recently talking with a group of friends and one of them was talking about Psalm 139. After the conversation, I opened my Bible to read the chapter for myself and was taken back by the simple truth of David’s prayer.

No matter how good we think we are, we all have "stuff" in our hearts and we all have thoughts that need to be removed. We all need to ask God to search us and change us, and give us the mind of Christ.

Have you ever wondered why David would ask God to search Him? David, “the man after God’s own heart”, had many personal failures and shortcomings. He had reached a point in his life where he understood that his heart had a great capacity for insidious evil. David was unable to know his own heart completely, and was unable to make things right in his own strength. So he turned to God and simply asked God to do that which only God could do. He asked God to change his heart and change his thoughts.

Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

As I look at my own life, I realize that I am a lot like David. I want to do what is right. I want to love God, but I have serious heart issues and wrong thoughts that need to be exposed. There are thoughts that I have to take captive, and heart issues that have to be changed by the power of God.

Even though I know that I am a child of God, I have come to understand that it is only by giving God more and more of my life that I will be able to truly live for Him. It is only when I am willing to face the truth inside of me that I can seek the help I so desperately need. And that help can only be found in the God of all of creation, the very Creator of my heart and mind.

So search me God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts. And lead me in Your way, the everlasting way.