Psalms 139:23: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts:
“In the joy of this new relationship I said to Jesus Christ. ‘Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours. I want to have you settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything that I have belongs to you. Let me show you around.’” Robert Munger – My Heart Christ’s Home.
This evening a friend shared with me something that I had not realized I had done a few weeks ago that quenched the Spirit of God. I was shocked. I mean she was right. The moment she revealed this to me I knew she was right. I felt so ashamed of myself. I wished over and over I could go back to that night and keep my mouth shut. After I hung up the phone I prayed: “Lord if just a friend sees my heart better than I do, then how much more do you see my heart?” God then led me to Psalms 139:23: I had a commitment tonight which I am unable to keep due to car problems so I find myself alone in my apartment with nothing to do but face God over my sin of quenching His Spirit. I know, rather than say ten Our Father’s God is asking me to take a close look at His Word, specifically Psalms 139:23. I feel I must confess my sin publically so I shall do it by posting it on my blog and inviting you to join me as I search out this verse that God gave in the midst of my repentance.
David gives this request that God search his heart in Psalms 139:23 right after telling the Lord he hates those who hate God. That is a pretty pious statement, is it not? I wonder what prompted David to ask God to search his heart out after He made such a pious statement. Did he sense he was being a little too holy? Did he sense that his hatred for those who hated God was not the real reason or only reason for the hatred he felt? How many times have we piously declared that God is the only reason we desire something. “Lord give me a candy apple red Porsche so I can pick up little children and take them to Sunday School on Sunday.” David, like me, probably did not trust his heart and had to ask God to search it out because he could not be sure of his motives.
I have always been mystified by this idea of God searching out one’s heart. Doesn’t he already know our hearts, why must He search out our hearts? Doesn’t He know our thoughts, why must David ask God to know His thoughts?
The word search in the Hebrew is chaqar which does mean to investigation examine or to search out. However, this is in a Qal imperative form. As a Qal rather than a Piel which David loves to use, I would find this to be more of an invitation rather than a command. The letters and position of the letters in this word Cheth, Qop, Resh would suggest this invitation would be an invitation to merge one’s heart with God. David is inviting God into his heart to clear out any rubbish which might be hidden so that his heart is sanctified and pure so that it may be joined with the heart of God.
Robert Munger wrote a little allegory called My Heart Christ’s Home, which you can find on the internet. In this story he pictures his heart as a house in which he has invited Jesus to live. He first shows Jesus around this house (chaqar). He takes Jesus into his study. Suddenly the man feels embarrassed over some magazines that are in the study and ashamed of some pictures on the walls. This is what is being expressed in Psalms 139:23. This particular verbal form of the word chaqar would not so much express the idea of asking God to search out his heart as it would be to invite Jesus to take a tour of his heart. Say you invite Jesus to take a tour of your heart and begin to show Him around. He really doesn’t have to say anything. In his presence you are suddenly aware of things that will embarrass you in front of him and make you ashamed in front of Him. That is what my friend did with me this evening, she was only making me aware of the fact that I had invited Jesus to take a tour of my heart and there was something He was embarrassed about.
Would you dare to invite Jesus to take a tour of your house? This is what David did. He even invited Jesus to try him. Here the word try could have two possible root words. Traditionally we use the root word bakan which means to try or test. However, Rabbi Samson Hirsch the nineteenth century Hebrew master and linguist traces this to the Semitic root word banak. This word expresses the idea which I believe that fits the context much better. Here David is inviting God to search out his heart so that He can find it a proper abiding place and then he asked that God to instruct him in whatever way is necessary to make sure that God is comfortable in His heart and that he never again repeats this sin. Boy do I relate to that.
Then David ask God to know his thoughts. The word to know is yadah which is an intimate knowing. David is well aware of the fact that God knows what he is thinking. What David is asking is that God will become intimate with His thoughts. He is asking that he only think thoughts that are compatible with God. He wants to think only thoughts that will make God comfortable. This morning as I awoke I found I did not have to get up for another half hour. I laid back down trying to go to sleep but resisting further sleep as I feared oversleeping. My thoughts were wandering to all my earthly concerns and fears. These thoughts were so disturbing I knew I had to get out of bed and do something to get my mind off my concerns. Suddenly I found myself praying, “God, give me only your thoughts.” I don’t remember what thoughts came to my mind, but in the next few minutes I felt so restful and peaceful I didn’t want to get up and leave my thoughts behind.
I believe that is why God led me to this verse this evening. He wanted to confirm that as I walk through the fires, He is trying to be comfortable in my house or heart, He is only doing what I have asked, and that is to search (chaqar) this home that I have invited him into and to burn away the things that make Him uncomfortable. As he does He is instructing me as to what makes him comfortable in my home or heart and if I find this process of making my heart comfortable for Him too uncomfortable for me as I painfully discovered this evening, I can ask Him to be intimate with my thoughts and He will share His thoughts with mine and make me comfortable in His heart.
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