"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:23-24
To be honest, these verses have always been a little intimidating to me. Asking God to search me and to try me seemed like a big step. I know all of the wickedness that my heart and thoughts contain, so why would I ask God to search them out?
When I stumbled across this verse a few weeks ago, I thought, "I am not ready to memorize this one yet." Instead, I jotted down the reference and told myself I would memorize it later.
This week I re-read these two verses... still intimidating. But instead of running and hiding from them, I asked the Lord to give me some insight, and you know what? He did! I love it when the Holy Spirit gives me the clarification that I need.
I put myself into the shoes of the author of this Pslam. David was not a perfect man, and he knew that he had his flaws when he asked God to search him and to try him. He knew God would find nothing but imperfections when he looked deeply into his heart, but David's desire to have God "lead him in the way everlasting" was far greater than his desire to keep a hold of his sins.
In order for Christ to lead and guide us, we need to have a life that is COMPLETELY surrendered to him. God needs to search our hearts and minds and bring our faults to the surface so that He can deal with them. We can never overcome the sin in our lives unless we let God give us the victory.
We should not try to deal with the sin in our lives and then come to God and say, "OK, I'm ready. Go ahead and try me." It is not within our power to ever make ourselves worthy of God, but when He searches our hearts and thoughts, He knows exactly what we need to overcome the sin that entangles our lives.
These verses should not be approached with fear, as I had... thinking that I needed to get everything perfect before I could ask God to search me. Instead, they need to be approached with a desire to let God have complete control of your life and allow Him to lead you in the way everlasting.
Labels: Bible, Weekly Verse
