search me, o God
Read Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24 1 0 Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path … and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, 0 Lord, you know it altogether.. .. 23 Search me, 0 God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24
God is not seduced by the smooth talk of the wicked. He knows what others are not willing to admit. He is watching everything, and it is all recorded.
What is our response to this knowledge? David prayed: “Search me, 0 God, and know my heart! Try me and know my anxious thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
Why did David ask God to search him when he had already affirmed that God knew him entirely? David was saying: “God, I know that You know everything there is to know about me; now show me what You see!”
David was willing to see himself in God’s mirror. He would see a clearer image without alibis, without shifting blame, without a carefully crafted spin on the details—just him alone in the presence of an all-knowing God.
God lets us see at least a bit of what He sees. We’ll never see ourselves exactly as He sees us, but we’ll see enough of reality to be brought to repentance. Perhaps we’ll also see ourselves the way others see us—sins and attitudes we did not know existed. Our self-perception will at least to some extent, be revealed. Other people can help us if we have the humility to accept their critique; but in the end, only God can help us see the whole horrid mess.
Pascal said, “Not only do we know God through Jesus Christ; we can only know ourselves through Jesus Christ.” The knowledge of ourselves is only possible through our knowledge of God. He is the standard by which we can come to know who we really are. He’s the only one with a straight mirror.
—Erwin Lutzer
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