Previously we noted that who we are can affect the way we serve. Consequently, it’s important that in nurturing our inner being that we look to God to change us from the inside out. God not only is our standard but He also is our means of changing. His glory should be our intent. Notice how the psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 gets beyond merely asking God to unveil the “true me” to submitting to His leading to bring about the necessary changes in our lives.
Ask God to Search Your Heart
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. (Ps. 139:23-24)
When the Psalmist asked God to search his heart, he wasn’t requesting a casual look but rather a deep, penetrating investigation. The Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon suggests that the “primary idea is perhaps that of searching in the earth by digging” which means uncovering that which is below the surface.
- What will God see if He searches your heart? Are there things you have been trying to hide that need to be rooted out and dealt with?
Ask God to Test Your Thoughts
When the psalmist asked God to test His thoughts, he wasn’t requesting God to merely mark off a check list of what was or wasn’t there. Rather, as Strong’s Concordance suggests, the idea is testing our thoughts like metals which means putting them through fire, of sorts, to identify any that are not strong enough to endure.
- What will God find if He tests your thoughts? Are there strongholds of doubts, insecurities, stress, and anxieties that need to be purged from your mind?
Result of God’s Searching and Testing
Through the searching and testing process, God becomes thoroughly acquainted with who we are on the inside — “search … and know my heart” “test … and know my anxious thoughts”. The prayer of the psalmist wasn’t, however, that God simply knew his inner being but that He acted based on what He saw. The psalmist wanted God to take him from where he was to where he should be, to root out offensive ways in him and then transform him from the inside out.
- Are you willing to submit to God in these ways?