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Msg #543 Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
and see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting." (Psa 139:23-24)
Today, I want to hold this before you as a correct prayer. More than that, I want to hold this before you and call you to such a heart and attitude before God.
Consider the place of this prayer. This prayer is at the end of Psalm 139, a Psalm that describes the greatness of God’s character and ways as it concerns us.
We see God’s knowledge – that He knows everything about you.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. (Ps 139:1-6)
We see God’s presence – He is always with us, He is always present.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. (Ps 139:7-12)
We see God’s Power – His all sufficient power.
- His power in creating you
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
- His power in sustaining you
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
- His power that will be displayed in His judgments that are coming
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. (Ps 139:13-22)
In light of all that God is and all that He has and is doing concerning you – it is right that you would ask Him this prayer – to have His perfect way in you.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
and see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting." (Psa 139:23-24)
There is nowhere else that you could comfortably ask this prayer. If you were to open your life up to any man or woman – asking them to critique you…work in you – it would be scary.
It is not so with God. God will not overwhelm you in response to this request. God will not show you a hundred and one things that need correcting in your character and ways. He will not blast you will all your faults and failings. I have learned, that as I pray this prayer… He will show me only one or two things that He wants to deal with. Not a hundred, not a thousand… just one or two. And as I let Him and open my heart to Him – He does. Then later He will show me another, and I suppose my whole life will go on in such a process. God lovingly working in me, operating in His power, by His Spirit and through the Word of God – which is sharper than any scalpel ever will be.
Will you, with me, ask God today to search you and lead and free you for His everlasting ways?
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
and see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting." (Psa 139:23-24)
Jim
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