Search Me, Try Me, Lead Me

Verse of the Day: Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

The one thing that I have found to be true in my life, as a Christian, is that I do not see my own sin as easily as I see the sins of others; and if we are all honest, we would have to admit that many of us, at some point, have done the same. There is a reason why God tells us to take the plank out of our own eye before trying to get the splinter out of our brother’s eye, in respect to judging others (Matt 7:1-5). King David experienced this in his own life when Nathan came to him and confronted him with a parable in respect to the spiritual blindness he suffered regarding his adulterous affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:1-7). We often demonstrate righteous indignation toward someone else’s sin, and forget that we too are sinners, and often rebuke someone else while harboring our own sin(s). For this reason it is of utmost importance that we regularly ask the Lord to search us, and show us what is in us. In this verse, the word “search” means to bore into or dig into the ground, as when searching for water or metal; in other words, to search closely, and with accuracy. Who better to search our hearts than He who knows us better than anyone else? King David was asking God to not just search his heart, and know it, but to also test it. It is never enough to have God search our hearts if we are not willing to have Him turn up the heat, and exposed what it there for us to plainly see. David takes it a step further and asks God to show him what is going on in his thought life as well. The mind is a battle field, and it is there that we begin to cultivate the sinful thoughts that manifest themselves into outward sinful actions. This is why God instructs us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). In verse 24 he is asking God to show him if there is any false ways in him with respect to idolatry. It is so easy for us to create idols in our lives, and begin to worship them without even realizing it. When we are consumed with anything that takes priority over the Lord, that becomes our idol; whether it be a relationship, a job, a hobby, material things, etc. King David’s desire was, just as ours should be, that nothing would cause him (us) to be alienated from God. Ultimately, his desire was that God would expose any wickedness that was hiding in his heart so that the Lord could correct it and lead him in the right and good way. For us today, the only possibility we have to stay on the right and good way is to have a true relationship with the Way, Jesus Christ; and allow the Holy Spirit to guides us with the Word of God. None of us can afford to think that we have arrived, and that we have reached a point in our walk with the Lord where we no longer need Him to search our hearts and show us what is really there. Even the Apostle Paul lived out his Christianity as one who had not yet attained, but pressed toward what was ahead (Phil 3:12-14). When we stop asking God to examine us and show us what is in us, we put ourselves in the dangerous position of thinking that “we have arrived”, exposing ourselves to a fall (1 Cor 10:12); as well as possibly becoming critical of others when they stumble, forgetting that we too are sinners saved by grace (and a work in progress) who need God’s direction each and every day.

The Word of God tells us that we are all sinners (Rom 3:23). Before you ask Jesus to save you, you must realize that you need a Savior because you are a sinner (Rom 3:10). Regardless of your past and what you have done, He will forgive you; if you will call upon Him today, repenting and confessing your sins; accepting His free gift of eternal life (Rom 6:23; 10:13).