SEARCH, KNOW, AND LEAD

Psam139:23-24 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.

The prayer is an invitation to God for Him to search us. This prayer invites God to investigate, rummage around, and hunt. It says to God there are no hidden places, no places that are off limits. It says to God you have free access to all of me, all that I am, think, or imagine. In allowing God the free access to search us, we also invite him to know our heart. This is a deep intimate knowing; this knowing knows the secret, hidden, un-confessed, and even unconscious issues of our being. This knowing reaches the deep, intimate recesses of our hearts. There are no hidden, concealed, veiled, buried, unknown, or covered areas in our heart. There are no areas that are out of sight or unseen; there are no areas that are hazy or shadowed, we are totally exposed and naked before God.

The invitation to test is an invitation to cross examine, check, assess, and analyze. This invitation opens us up to scrutiny. In that process of scrutiny God see our thoughts, our anxieties and fears, He sees motivation and intent. As He scrutinizes and analyze us He also becomes intimately acquainted with our anxious thoughts, He knows what we are truly about. He has access to and will reveal to us a clear picture of what we are all about. With this revelation we can no longer operate in self-deception. We can no longer hide from ourselves. We can no longer project on to others our stuff.

As God searches, test, and knows us He is the only one who can truly judge if there is any offensive, grievous, or hurtful ways in us. As God does his recognizance of us, He alone has the whole story. If we are open to His TRUTH, He will reveal to us all the ways that we have been an offense, grievous, and hurtful to others.

After God has investigated, examined, and known us thoroughly, even if we come up short, which we will, He is still able to heal us and the ones we have hurt. He is still able to deliver us and those who suffer the consequences of our grave, serious, heinous, dreadful and offensive ways. He heals and delivers by leading and guiding us on the road to everlasting life. This leading takes us to places of deliverance from ourselves. He guides us to places of surrender to Him. He also steers us to forgiveness of those we are offended by and to seek forgiveness of those we have offended. He also directs us on the path of reconciliation with Him, those we are estranged from, and ourselves. He takes us through the valley of circumstances that grooms and removes all our impurities and imperfection.

So let’s pray “Search me! Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life”(MSS). AMEN