God Searches Every Heart

My grandson, Silas, loves to pick a handful of dandelions and give them to his mother or grandmother. He thinks they are so pretty and wants his mother to have some pretty flowers. To Silas, dandelions are different from weeds. He doesn’t pull them up by the roots so they don’t come back again.

David prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me.” (Psalm 139:23-24) Have you ever asked God to show you your sin? The psalmist says, “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.” (vs. 1-2)

In Psalm 139, David marvels that God knows his every move and thought. David recognizes that God has intimate knowledge about him and because David has such a close relationship with God, he knows that he is loved by God. Because he is loved by God, he knows that he can ask God to search his heart, and if he is found to be sinful, he can ask God to guide him down the right path. (vs. 23-24).  I Chronicles reminds us that our all-seeing and all-knowing God “searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought.” David is acknowledging that even before a sin takes root, God can alert us to the danger.  When a sneaky sinful attitude tries to take root, God is the first to know and the first to point it out. Verse 7 says, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” We need to always follow God to higher ground!

Prayer – God, you know me better than I know myself. Guide me to your plan so I can pull those weeds!  Amen.

Psalm 139:23 – Search me, God, and know my heart.

Author: Tommy Herndon