Psalm 139:23-24: “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.”

In Psalm 139 David comes to the Lord and first recognizes that God is everywhere and that God knows all about David’s life. He recognizes that there is absolutely nowhere to hide from God. We’ll dive deeper into these thoughts on Sunday morning as we turn again to Psalm 139. But for today, we start at the end of the Psalm. Maybe these thoughts are what led David to write the Psalm. Sometimes we do begin at the end and work our way back towards the beginning.

In our two verses for today David invites God to take a deep dive into his heart. It is a brave invitation to make. Here are the main actions: “Search me, God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me.” To be honest, there are some thoughts that I’d rather like to keep hidden from God. And once in a while I even pretend that God doesn’t know about this or that thought. Maybe you go there too. And once in a great while something unexpected pops up – out of the blue. But these thoughts don’t come from nowhere. The subconscious has a way of working itself to the surface.

In these two simple verses David is inviting God into all of this. Not just into our anxious thoughts and offensive ways but into all of it. God is being invited into the selfishness, the pride, the anger, the self-esteem, the jealousy, the addictions and compulsions… Inviting a deep dive by God is an admission that one wants a deeper relationship with God. Is that your desire? Will you pray these verses to God?

Prayer: Lord God, give me the courage to go to this depth of transparency and honesty with you. Open wide those things that I think I have hidden in the innermost closets. Walk with me through this hard journey and strip away all that is not of you. Thank you. Amen.