Guard Your HeartSample

Ask God to search your heart

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!” (Psalm 139:23)

David has a close relationship with God. He has written a song about the theme that God knows him: “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). At first sight, that might disquiet us. Someone who knows all we say and think, even before we have said anything… That means we really can’t hide anything from God, not even the things we are ashamed of.

But this doesn’t seem to bother David. On the contrary, he explicitly asks God to search him and know his heart! From personal experience, David knows that trying to hide sins from God leads to misery: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away” (Psalm 32:3). It is far better to confess your sins and to receive God’s forgiveness.

David wants God to search for any evil in his heart and deal with it — even sins he wasn’t aware of.

Do you feel comfortable with God knowing you thoroughly?