Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts--Psalm 139:23

 

Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts--Psalms 139:23

 

As I sit here thinking about these words spoken by David long ago, my thoughts go back to the day Isaiah told King Hezekiah to set his house in order because he was going to die (1 Kings 20:1-3). Upon hearing this, Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to God. It is an amazing prayer, one in which Hezekiah reminds God of how he has walked before him in truth and done that which was right with a sincere heart. Now, think about this for a moment. We need to make sure that our house is in order because we have no guarantee that we will be alive when the sun comes up tomorrow. I wonder, can I, can you, go to God in prayer right now and pray as did Hezekiah? The answer to this lies in the condition of our heart.

 

The thoughts of our hearts are not concealed from God. He searches our hearts and knows all the secrets, purposes, intents and motives that dwell in them. David once instructed his son Solomon to "know God, serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts" (1 Chronicles 28:9).

 

We must ever be alert as to that which we allow to take up residence in our . heart. Hear Solomon as he tells us. "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23). The importance of guarding our hearts will be seen when we realize that our conduct in this life is determined by that which we harbor in our heart (Matt. 15:18-19; Gal. 5:19-25; Rom. 6:16-19). "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov . 23:7). What we think leads to what we do or, as the case may be, do not do and what we think depends on what we have put into our heart. "Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellence and worthy of praise dwell on these" (Phil. 4:8). I pray that all of us can with the same kind of conviction Hezekiah must have felt when he prayed long ago, say to our God, "Search me, know my thoughts and my heart"

 

I end this message with this saying of old: ""What is in the well, comes up in the bucket"

 

Charles Hicks