Psalm 139:1-12 and Psalm 139:23-24

This entire Psalm is of great beauty and expresses much about God and His ways with men. Every verse is worthy of our contemplation; however, I want to focus on verses 23 & 24.

Search me, 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

David, a man greatly loved by God and a man who truly loved God, reveals His heart in this Psalm. This gives us some insight into His greatness. He put himself in a very vulnerable position when he prays the words of verses 23 & 24. In this, he gives us a threefold process of having a pure heart.

• Search me
  • David had just made some very strong statements against those who are evil
    • He invites a search of his own life
    • Know my heart
      • The Bible talks a lot about a man’s heart. Not the organ, but the very core of our life that makes us who we are
        • God saw the heart of man was only evil (Genesis 6:5)
        • The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
• Test my thoughts
  • My anxieties
    • They represent an area of lack of trust
  • Our thoughts are a precursor to our actions
    • The thoughts, if they are wrong, need to be tested before they become a sinful action
• Check my ways
  • See if there is an offensive way
  • Lead me in the way everlasting

See the progression of David’s thinking in these words. The spiritual check-up begins with what is at the very core of our life. Search it out.

It then progresses to our thoughts – test them before they become actions.

Finally, it concludes by checking our ways and our actions. Check me out in all of these areas and lead me in the path of everlasting life.