This is the final post in a series started here.
“Search me, O 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.” David says, and this is my title for this section, “Examine me!” “Test the integrity of my devotion, I pledge myself to you… look deep into my being, keep me true, and lead me down the path that you choose.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
What is most interesting, and unique about this last part, is that it is an invitation. Where the first section of this psalm is a declaration of God’s knowledge, this is an invitation. God knows all this stuff anyway, but it is quite another thing to actually invite God to scrutinize your soul! David says, “search me, know me, test me, check my thoughts, see if my motivations and actions are pure.”
It is no light thing to ask God to do this. The implication of this invitation, and this searching, is that David is looking how he can respond accordingly. What if he’s NOT? What if I’m not on the right path? Then God, correct me, teach me and reprove me! Then lead me down the right path. This requires a recognition that the path that I have chosen is the wrong one, and that I need an adjustment… in other words… repentance.
For many this admission is quite difficult. To admit that the tunnel we are digging and the path we are on is wrong, and ends in destruction is too much for our pride to take. And then to choose to follow God’s leadership and His “way”, instead of our own, requires submission and admission that His way is the one which leads to life and health, not ours. The psalmist admits his wrong and submits his will to God’s correction and direction.
Go through these 6 steps of Psalm 139 with God and ask Him to examine you. Acknowledge that God already knows you, and that it’s not something to be feared. Find the God that you cannot escape, and let Him draw you into worship and not embarrassment. Learn that you are designed with love and a purpose and then pause to praise God for it! May you begin to hate evil and be motivated to tell the story of Jesus’ salvation and work that changed your life and this world. And may you open your heart for Jesus to examine… and may He lead you onto the path of everlasting salvation.
Question six: Have you asked God to search your heart? Where is your life-path leading you?
