Search Me, O God, And Know My Heart!

We know that the Lord knows all things and that actually should be a great comfort to us.  Sometimes that may also make us want to feel like cringing and hiding.  We may even wonder what the Lord thinks of us especially when He knows our hearts and our deepest thoughts.  He even knows those secret things that we have hidden in our hearts and minds that no other human being knows about.  The good news about that is He does indeed know our hearts and He chooses to love us anyway.  The Lord makes a way for us to be reconciled to Himself through Jesus Christ.  The Lord accepts us when we come to Him by putting our faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on the Cross.  Jesus shed His blood to pay our sin debt.  When we come to Him in faith He accepts us as a child of God.   We are made new and born again.  He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. 

The Lord loves us and He knows us better than any other person even will.  He loves us with a deep unconditional love.  It is so very difficult for us to comprehend the depth of the love the Lord has for each one of us especially when we know that He knows our hearts.  Let's face it our hearts can be rather cold, sinful, prideful, and just plain not good many times even when we are believers in Christ.  The Lord is still working on us through His Holy Spirit.  He is moving us along to be more and more like Jesus Christ each and everyday even when we don't realize it.  We call that work of the Spirit sanctification.  Sanctification starts when we become believers in Christ and it lasts all of our lives until the Day when we go and be with the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven to be with Him forever. 

We can take comfort that the Lord is Sovereign and that He knows even the smallest detail of our lives.  I like what the Psalmist says in Psalm 139 which says,

"1 O LORD, you have ¹searched me and known me!

References for Psalms 139:1

• Cross References

• 3940 139:1 - Jer. 12:3 ; See Ps. 7:9 ; 17:3 ; 44:21

2 You ²know when I sit down and when I rise up; you ³discern my thoughts from afar.

References for Psalms 139:2

• Cross References

• 3941 139:2 - 2 Kgs. 19:27 ; Lam. 3:63
• 3942 139:2 - [ Job 14:16 ; 31:4 ; Matt. 9:4 ; John 2:24, 25 ]

3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, ⁴you know it altogether.

References for Psalms 139:4

• Cross References

• 3943 139:4 - Heb. 4:13

5 You ⁵hem me in, behind and before, and ⁶lay your hand upon me.

References for Psalms 139:5

• Cross References

• 3944 139:5 - Job 19:8
• 3945 139:5 - Job 9:33

6 ⁷Such knowledge is ⁸too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

References for Psalms 139:6

• Cross References

• 3946 139:6 - Rom. 11:33
• 3947 139:6 - Job 42:3

7 ⁹Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where ¹⁰shall I flee from your presence?

References for Psalms 139:7

• Cross References

• 3948 139:7 - [ Jer. 23:24 ]
• 3949 139:7 - Jonah 1:3

8 ¹¹If I ascend to heaven, you are there! ¹²If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

References for Psalms 139:8

• Cross References

• 3950 139:8 - [ Amos 9:2 ]
• 3951 139:8 - [ Job 26:6 ]

9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall ¹³lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

References for Psalms 139:10

• Cross References

• 3952 139:10 - ver. 24; Ps. 23:3

11 If I say, ¹⁴"Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"

References for Psalms 139:11

• Cross References

• 3953 139:11 - [ Job 22:14 ]

12 ¹⁵even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

References for Psalms 139:12

• Cross References

• 3954 139:12 - Job 34:22 ; [ Dan. 2:22 ]

13 For you ¹⁶formed my inward parts; you ¹⁷knitted me together in my mother's womb.

References for Psalms 139:13

• Cross References

• 3955 139:13 - Deut. 32:6
• 3956 139:13 - [ Job 10:11 ]

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.¹⁸Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

References for Psalms 139:14

• Cross References
• Footnotes

• 3957 139:14 - See Ps. 72:18

• Ŏ 139:14 - Or for I am fearfully set apart

15 ¹⁹My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in ²⁰the depths of the earth.

References for Psalms 139:15

• Cross References

• 3958 139:15 - [ Job 10:8-10 ; Eccles. 11:5 ]
• 3959 139:15 - Ps. 63:9

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your ²¹book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

References for Psalms 139:16

• Cross References

• 3960 139:16 - Ps. 56:8

17 How precious to me are your ²²thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

References for Psalms 139:17

• Cross References

• 3961 139:17 - Ps. 92:5

18 ²³If I would count them, they are more than ²⁴the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

References for Psalms 139:18

• Cross References

• 3962 139:18 - Ps. 40:5
• 3963 139:18 - Gen. 22:17

19 Oh that you would ²⁵slay the wicked, O God! O ²⁶men of blood, ²⁷depart from me!

References for Psalms 139:19

• Cross References

• 3964 139:19 - Isa. 11:4 ; [ Ps. 9:17 ]
• 3965 139:19 - Ps. 5:6
• 3966 139:19 - See Ps. 6:8

20 They ²⁸speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies ²⁹take your name in vain!                                                                      

References for Psalms 139:20

• Cross References
• Footnotes

• 3967 139:20 - [ Jude 15 ]
• 3968 139:20 - Ex. 20:7

• ŏ 139:20 - Hebrew lacks your name

21 ³⁰Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not ³¹loathe those who ³²rise up against you?

References for Psalms 139:21

• Cross References

• 3969 139:21 - See Ps. 26:5
• 3970 139:21 - Ps. 119:158
• 3971 139:21 - Ps. 59:1

22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! ³³Try me and know my thoughts!                                                                      

References for Psalms 139:23

• Cross References
• Footnotes

• 3972 139:23 - Ps. 26:2

• Ő 139:23 - Or cares

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and ³⁴lead me in ³⁵the way everlasting!

The Psalmist proclaims that the Lord knows Him and all of his ways.  The Lord knows us better than any person ever could.  In fact the Lord knows us even better than we even know ourselves and that is a good thing.  The Lord even knows even the words that come out of our mouths even before we say them.   That should make us take notice of what we say and do as followers of Christ.

We are assured by the Psalm writer that there is no where we can go on earth or any where in the Universe and be out of the presence of our God.  The Lord is present every where.  He will be with us no matter where we find ourselves in live.  Even the darkest night can not hide us from our loving God. 

The Lord formed us in our mother's womb.  He is the One who created us to be a living being within our mother's womb.  We are alive in there and we are a human being.  That makes us very special indeed and our lives are important even from inside that womb.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of the Living God.  The womb can be a dangerous place to be in our world today especially in America.  God cares for us and loves us and He sees all that we can be even from that point of life.  Imagine how many lives are cut short inside the womb that should be a safe place.

Imagine how many children could have grown up to be doctors, lawyers, presidents, inventors, pastors, police officers, artist, and the list could go on and on.  I wonder about those things sometimes and it does make me think about all those who didn't have the opportunity to live their lives because of a choice that someone else made for them to extinguish their chance to make a difference in our world today. 

The Lord considers every human life as special.  The Lord thinks you are special by the way and I hope you never forget that.  The Lord thinks good thoughts of you and He want you to know Him in a greater and deeper way.  The Lord demonstrated His great love for us by sending us His beloved Son, Jesus Christ,  to die on an old rugged Cross for our sins.  What an awesome God our Lord is!

The Psalmist who is David from the Old Testament and He would become the king of Israel finishes this Psalm with a short prayer that we ought to pray for ourselves.  Psalm 139:23-24 says,

"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."

David is calling out to the Lord and asking Him to search His heart and see if there is anything not right in there and to lead him in a way that focuses on eternal things.  That should be our prayer to the Lord for ourselves as well.  We must come to the Lord humbly and receive His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 

Let us open our hearts to the Lord and trust in Him in all things.  Let us live for Him and be people of His Holy Word. 

Lord,

We thank You for Your love and knowing us so very deeply.

We ask for Your direction for our lives.

We praise Your name.

Help us to live for You each and everyday.

In Jesus name,

Amen.