written June 20, 2007
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139.23-24, niv
When a crime is committed, we search the scene. When disease devastates, we search for a cure. When disaster strikes, we search for probable cause. Most often, we call for a search after trouble arises.
But in Psalm 139, we find David calling for a search pre-problem. David's prayer in Psalm 51 was a definite response to spiritual failure. However, Psalm 139.23-24 records not a desperate plea for post-failure forgiveness but an earnest request for pre-problem purification.
David begins this closing preventative prayer of Psalm 139 with two simple words: search me.
"Search me, O God." Webster defines search as "to look into or over carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something: to look through or explore by inspecting possible places of concealment or investigating suspicious circumstances."
The Hebrew word for search in this passage is elsewhere translated explore, inquire, and probe. David's opening words of Search me, O God challenge us to volunteer as subjects of God's thorough and diligent examination.
"Know my heart." This same know in the Hebrew is used to describe God's intense friendship with Moses ("No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." Deuteronomy 34.10) and Adam's intimacy with Eve ("And Adam knew Eve his wife." Genesis 4.1, kjv). Know reflects the most intimate relationship possible between God and mankind.
Here, David invites God to personally and completely be familiar with his heart—his entire being. No rooms are locked in this search. Nothing is marked "restricted access." Know my heart grants God full clearance to penetrate every shadowy corner of our very selves.
"Test me." With these words David asks God to inspect him for breaches of inner-integrity. He longs for his faith to be utterly sincere because from personal experience, David knew that his future could be sabotaged by unseen compromises. Test me is a request for God to examine to the fabric of our lives for potentially fatal flaws.
"Know my anxious thoughts." Two English words (anxious + thoughts) are used to translate the Hebrew in this phrase. Together they paint a picture of a restless mind influenced by the whispers of fear. Our thought-life is often the venue of an ongoing, unseen wrestling match with worry. Know my anxious thoughts invites God to be our heart's coach and our mind's mentor.
"See if there is any offensive way in me." Here we find a wonderful twist. David is not only concerned about issues that could hurt him, He is concerned about anything that could hurt or offend God! The New Living Bible translates this phrase, "Point out anything in me that offends you."
These words move us past man's expectations, religious codes of conduct, known laws, and Biblical commandments into the inner room of a love that longs to fulfill not just God's requirements but God's personal desires. See if there is any offensive way in me reflects a longing to live in such a way that we never grieved the heart of God.
"Lead me in the way everlasting." Proverbs 14.12 states, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." David's predecessor, Saul, exemplified a leader who took the "way" of man and David desperately did not want to go down Saul's path. Lead me in the way everlasting asks God to guide us into His (not man's) ways.
What safety there is in standing before our merciful God and echoing David's simple prayer! How assuring it is to be fully known, and fully loved! Every morning, search me grants us the opportunity to sit in on God's briefing regarding the state of our hearts.
As God warns or convicts, his love leads us in repentance. We rise from prayer with a clear conscience and a sound confidence that God will continue to guide us into all Truth and ultimately into his eternal arms.
When a crime is committed, we search the scene. When disease devastates, we search for a cure. When disaster strikes, we search for probable cause. Most often, we call for a search after trouble arises.
But in Psalm 139, we find David calling for a search pre-problem. David's prayer in Psalm 51 was a definite response to spiritual failure. However, Psalm 139.23-24 records not a desperate plea for post-failure forgiveness but an earnest request for pre-problem purification.
David begins this closing preventative prayer of Psalm 139 with two simple words: search me.
"Search me, O God." Webster defines search as "to look into or over carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something: to look through or explore by inspecting possible places of concealment or investigating suspicious circumstances."
The Hebrew word for search in this passage is elsewhere translated explore, inquire, and probe. David's opening words of Search me, O God challenge us to volunteer as subjects of God's thorough and diligent examination.
"Know my heart." This same know in the Hebrew is used to describe God's intense friendship with Moses ("No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." Deuteronomy 34.10) and Adam's intimacy with Eve ("And Adam knew Eve his wife." Genesis 4.1, kjv). Know reflects the most intimate relationship possible between God and mankind.
Here, David invites God to personally and completely be familiar with his heart—his entire being. No rooms are locked in this search. Nothing is marked "restricted access." Know my heart grants God full clearance to penetrate every shadowy corner of our very selves.
"Test me." With these words David asks God to inspect him for breaches of inner-integrity. He longs for his faith to be utterly sincere because from personal experience, David knew that his future could be sabotaged by unseen compromises. Test me is a request for God to examine to the fabric of our lives for potentially fatal flaws.
"Know my anxious thoughts." Two English words (anxious + thoughts) are used to translate the Hebrew in this phrase. Together they paint a picture of a restless mind influenced by the whispers of fear. Our thought-life is often the venue of an ongoing, unseen wrestling match with worry. Know my anxious thoughts invites God to be our heart's coach and our mind's mentor.
"See if there is any offensive way in me." Here we find a wonderful twist. David is not only concerned about issues that could hurt him, He is concerned about anything that could hurt or offend God! The New Living Bible translates this phrase, "Point out anything in me that offends you."
These words move us past man's expectations, religious codes of conduct, known laws, and Biblical commandments into the inner room of a love that longs to fulfill not just God's requirements but God's personal desires. See if there is any offensive way in me reflects a longing to live in such a way that we never grieved the heart of God.
"Lead me in the way everlasting." Proverbs 14.12 states, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." David's predecessor, Saul, exemplified a leader who took the "way" of man and David desperately did not want to go down Saul's path. Lead me in the way everlasting asks God to guide us into His (not man's) ways.
What safety there is in standing before our merciful God and echoing David's simple prayer! How assuring it is to be fully known, and fully loved! Every morning, search me grants us the opportunity to sit in on God's briefing regarding the state of our hearts.
As God warns or convicts, his love leads us in repentance. We rise from prayer with a clear conscience and a sound confidence that God will continue to guide us into all Truth and ultimately into his eternal arms.
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