Search Me...

Search Me

"Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23-24 NASB 

Search me, O God, and know my heart today,

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;

Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;

Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;

Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;

Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;

Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;

I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;

Send a revival, start the work in me;

Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;

For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

- Hymn "Search Me O God" J Edwin Orr

We can read the Scriptures and maybe see something that pertains to ourselves, or other people. Sometimes we read and don't see anything that is relevant to ourselves. 

This prayer of King David in Psalm 139 likely inspired that hymn by J Edwin Orr. 

We have read Romans 12 many times and have read about needing a transformed life rather than a conformed life.

Needless to say that where this post is headed leads to submission to God in our prayer life and an opening of our eyes to His revealed truth about each of us. What needs to be seen, not what we want to believe is there.

When we face Jesus face-to-face some day, we will be facing The Truth. There will be no excuses muddling up things. Reality will be exactly what everything really was in our lives.  

Our opinions won't matter unless they are in perfect agreement with the Spirit's assessment of any given situation or experience. 

Nobody will be able to say "But Jesus, you don't understand! You don't know what that was like!  It's not what it looked like!"

People will try using those excuses and others. But Jesus will indeed get straight to the truth because He is the Truth. 

Don't you remember this?

Jeremiah 17:10 NASB "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds."

Or: 

"and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:27 NASB 

We need to have our hearts searched out now, to make changes now, so that we are in obedience now. 

We don't get a chance at a defense in that day we give an account of our lives.  How would you when Jesus already knows the real truth about every thought and intent of your heart right now?

You and I are not here to live for ourselves.  We see the Disciples weren't living for themselves. We are tempted by the world in all respects to deviate from God’s plans for our lives. 

We are bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20 NASB "For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Obedience to God shouldn't have restrictions imposed by us.

We shouldn't be telling the Spirit "Oh No! I can't do that! I can't go there! I am not able to!"

Rewind to the book of Genesis. Moses tried that with the Lord Jesus Christ. Didn't work with him, won't work for you. 

In another really good dose of reality...I cannot trust me to be truthful with me. Neither can you about you.  Peter was put in his place when seconds after confessing Jesus to be the Christ, he decided to rebuke Jesus for the plan of God the Father for Jesus.  Imagine that. Peter rebukes Jesus. So it's not so far fetched when we do it with God!!

We need the Spirit to search us and to guide us in life.  To lay ahold of what He says, to let go of what He says. To pursue what He says, to flee what He says. 

We have a sin nature that clouds our judgment and our hearts.  Only the light of Jesus Christ can dispel the darkness and reveal everything. 

You can either have your heart revealed to you now, or deal with what is there under far more embarrassing circumstances later in the presence of Jesus. 

For me this hymn, this passage from Psalm 139 are my prayer.