When it comes to going to the doctor, I’ve got friends on two ends of the spectrum. On one end are people who don’t like to go see the doctor. They like to say, “Every time I go to the doctor, they find something wrong.” By not going, they assume the problem isn’t there and won’t go until it’s too late to be helped. On the other end, I’ve got friends who want full body scans often. They’ll say, “If there’s something going on anywhere in me, I want to know about it.” They realize that something can pop up quickly, and they want to catch it early knowing it gives them a greater chance at success in beating it.
Psalm 139 is one of those chapters many of us quote or have memorized. It starts out saying, “O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me” (AMP). God has searched each one of us and knows what’s going on in us well before we do. He is acquainted with ALL our ways. He not only knows the number of hairs on our head, but He also knows our thoughts and intents. He knows us better than we know ourselves. The psalmist understood that and began this psalm recognizing who God is, which makes it interesting that he closed the psalm by saying, “Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
The closing search is what I referred to earlier. It’s so that he would know what’s going on inside himself. He invited God to thoroughly go through the hidden places of his heart, to the dark corners of his mind and to find the skeletons in his closets so that he could be led more surely in God’s ways. It’s something each of us need to invite God to do. God already knows what He’s going to find, and He loves us anyway. It’s truly up to us to invite Him in to expose our hidden sins and intents so that we can follow Him more closely. There’s no need to fear a thorough search. He’ll forgive what gets exposed, you’ll find freedom and walk more confidently in the everlasting way.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 