“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Just prior to these verses David speaks out against those who disrespect and misuse the name of God. He cries out to the Lord, asking God to “slay the wicked” and remove them from his sight. David draws a line in the sand, putting God fearing men on one side and those who blasphemy against God on the other, and says “away from me.” David wants nothing to do with those who hate God and wants them removed so that they don’t pollute the rest of the nation. This all seems well and good, as Christians, we too should hate evil and everything and everyone fueled by it. We too, should want to be separated from all evil. And we too should see those who mock God as wicked, and want God to deal with them swiftly.

But after David gets all these thoughts out of his system, we have today’s verses of Psalm 139:23-24. Here we see a very humble twist in David’s previous statements where he knows that he himself also needs to be evaluated by God. David says, “Search me, God.” Which is a pretty scary thing to ask for. He wants God to see it all. He asks the Lord to know his heart and his true intensions. To test him and see his weakness. David opens himself up completely to the visibility of our God, not that God needs our approval to do so, but David grants it nonetheless. David then concludes these verses (and the chapter) by [basically] saying “and if you find anything, Lord, lead me back to you.” Today, may we all follow David in these requests; (1) Remove those who hate and mock the Lord. (2) May we be open to our God, and expose all that we are to Him, and (3) may God examine us and heal us from whatever He may find.