Search me, God, and know my heart

Psalm 139 From the daily reading in the   One Year Bible

Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I get up;
You understand my thought from far away.
³ You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You know it all.
⁵ You have encircled me behind and in front,
And placed Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
¹² Even darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.

¹³ For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;
¹⁶ Your eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in Your book were written
All the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹ If only You would put the wicked to death, God;
Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
²⁰ For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
²² I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
²⁴ And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

In yesterday’s meditation, in Acts 13:22 we saw that it says: He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ In today’s text from Psalm 139, a Psalm of David, we see what it means to have a heart after the heart of God. In the final verses he says: Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. It is not that God needs our permission to search and know our hearts. He is omniscient. He knows everything. We cannot hide anything from Him. David says: Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all.  What David exhibits is a willingness for God to search and know Him, again not so God will know, but so that God can reveal his anxious thoughts or if there is any hurtful way in him. When we are willing for God to reveal the error of our ways to us, we are also more willing for Him to lead us in His everlasting way. 

David shares some of the benefits of have a heart after God saying: You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. David says it is beyond comprehension that God is so for us and with us. He is everywhere we go and watches everything we do. In Isaiah 55:8-11 God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it produce and sprout, And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.”  We cannot flee from the presence of God, but why would we want to even if we could. God is faithful not only to guide and protect us, but also to bring about every good plan that He has for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 He says: I know the plans that I have for you, plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

David says: If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. It is not actually that God views darkness and light the same. In Isaiah 5:20 He says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Instead, it is that darkness cannot abide in the presence of God’s light. His light dispels the darkness. 1 John 1:5-6 says: This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Darkness can and will overwhelm us if we choose to substitute darkness for light and walk in darkness. In John 8:12 Jesus says: “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  If we choose to walk in the light, then in Matthew 5:14-16 He also says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” 

David says: You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand.  Genesis 1:26-27 says: Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. We are not only awesomely and wonderfully made, regardless of whether we are male or female, whether we are black, brown, red, yellow or white, we are created in the image and likeness of God. If we are created in His image, then like David we should be people after God’s heart. 

Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Amen.