Searched!

Searched!

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23‭-‬24 KJV

Before I venture into praying the words of today's extract, am I sure I fully understand what this passage talks about? I am asking the Lord God Almighty, the One referred to in various parts of the Bible as the all-consuming fire, before whom nothing is safe. There is nothing that remains the same when it encounters the fire. This is the One called the Most Holy One, in whom there is no sin and whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity. There are many other descriptions about God that time and space will not permit me to add here but this is the idea: before I open my mouth to pray a certain kind of prayer, I had better be sure that I know where it will end. 

Let's look at the prayer: the whole chapter speaks about God's amazing power. As David learnt from personal experience, no one can hide from God's penetrating gaze. His eye is on the sparrow, as well as the mighty mountains. Nothing is too small or too big for his attention; after all, He created all of them. So, when David prays the words of today's extract, it comes from a place of personal experience of this mighty power. And it means that the man who can speak these words knows what is coming. 

If you don't pray the words, it may not be a problem, but when you look at the end of today's extract and see the eternal benefits of God's dealings with a man who He had worked on, you are better off asking God to do His kind of work in you. You see, the natural man struggles with everything that God commands. It is not natural for man to want to obey God, because God's laws go against everything that the natural man craves. But when I surrender myself to the control of the Holy Spirit, I can the kind of help that makes me live right and end well. I can't do it by myself; I need the help of the Most Mighty to get to the place He has prepared and gifted me for. 

So, would you join me in praying the words of today's extract, and ask God to do what He alone can do in you? Eternity is at stake; things will not always look like they do right now. Surrender to Him; his dealings always help and lead to eternal life if I endure and delight in them. His time of favour is here.