Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Top ten new year’s resolutions
1. Exercise more
2. Lose weight
3. Get organized
4. Learn a new skill or hobby
5. Live life to the fullest
6. Save more money / spend less money
7. Quit smoking
8. Spend more time with family and friends
9. Travel more
10. Read more
I think I have all of them this year except quit smoking.
A New Year’s Resolution for the Tired
When was the last time you made a new year’s resolution? I can classify you based on that number. Have you made a new year’s resolution in the last five years? Probably young and optimistic. One or two of you may have already made a resolution for this year. Has it been 5 to 10 years since you remember making a new year’s resolution? Middle aged and mechanistic. You’ve experienced life. You still have some life ahead of you but you’ve become a little jaded about big goals. You’ve settled for minor adjustments. The last group; “New Year’s Resolution? I think I might have done that one time.” Or your thought may be, “New Year’s Resolutions; the thought makes me tired.” Or maybe your thought is “Bah Humbug.” You would be classified as, and this is the clinical term for it, you are classified as a “jaded old coot.” Don’t get mad at me, blame the textbook.
So, today’s message is an attempt to get your engine cranked this year for just one more new year’s resolution. And it is a Spiritual one. Here’s the resolution; I resolve to open my heart, mind, and hands to God’s searching gaze. The Scripture is the one we just read.
Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
I resolve to open my heart, mind, and hands to God’s searching gaze. In regard to your spirit; Pray to God for a full medical work up. Maybe it will help your understanding to hear another passage of Scripture.
Psalm 26:2 2 Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my [c]mind and my heart.
It is a resolution to submit to examination.
You see, I think that’s where many Christians go wrong when it comes to life-changing decisions. They approach it just like the world does. The world starts their resolutions with the question, “What do I want to change/improve about myself in the new year?”
Let me tell you something. If you are a Christian today, and that is your approach to goals for the new year, that is a recipe for being miserable. Your search for resolutions must begin by communing with the Holy Spirit within you to determine God’s direction.
So, what is the resolution that I am proposing? Am I proposing that you resolve to change bad or immoral habits? No. Am I proposing that you resolve to work on your negative attitudes, or hurtful thought patterns? No. Am I proposing that you resolve to read the Bible and pray more? No. Are all of those things good things to do? Yes. But I am not proposing that you to correct those parts of your life. Why? Because you never finish.
I am proposing one simple resolution that I believe can revolutionize your life. I resolve to open my heart, mind, and hands to God’s searching gaze. Make this a daily prayer.
Prayer
Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Three steps; Search me, try me, lead me
I. Search me
A. Oh God
We begin by saying, “Oh God, search me.” This passage does not begin by calling for “self-examination.” That’s where normal new year’s resolutions begin; naval gazing. And naval-gazing usually leads you in one of two directions. The first direction is self-content. This was the problem some had in the church in Corinth. They looked at themselves and said, “Hey, compared to you all, I’m pretty good.”
2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
And the other direction naval-gazing leads is to self-loathing and shot gun goals. If we begin a new year list of “things to improve about myself in 2023” we will be making the list until January 1st 2024. And we end up discouraged and we give up on change.
But this passage begins by saying, “Oh God, You search me, know me, lead me.” I want to know Your assessment, Your priorities, where You would have me go this year.
B. Search me and know my heart
You Lord search me. Know my heart.
What does the psalmist mean by his heart? He is not referring to the physical heart organ in our bodies. He is using the idea of the heart of a man just as we still use it today. The heart is the combination of the mind, emotions, will, and conscience of a person. The heart of a man combines his innermost thoughts, motivations, and desires.
Why is it important that God search those things, not us?
1. Searching your own heart is futility.
Because if I’m doing my own assessment of myself, I am using a flawed instrument to test a flawed instrument.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Job 14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble….4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
2. God searching your heart is efficiency.
I want to start the new year off on a run. I want things to change. I want to be different. But if I begin with my thoughts, I find myself “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” Why? Because I have limited information. But do you know who has all the information? God. That is efficiency to go to the source of all knowledge about myself, and everyone else, and the world, and the context of my life, and my family, and my future. This passage in Psalms that we are studying begins with that affirmation. “God knows everything.” We’re asking Him to search our hearts. We might say “God, could you search my heart, I’d like to know what my priorities should be for this year. I’d like you to give me an assessment of where my thoughts are askew. I’d like you to lead me into the most important changes that I need to make in my life right now. Search me, Oh God, and get back to me when the search is finished.” Do you know what God’s reply is? “My Child, I am glad you finally asked. I’ll get right on that?” No. As soon as you ask, God says, “Oh, don’t walk away yet. That search has already been done. I have the file right here.”
Psalm 139:1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know [a]when I sit down and [b]when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You [c]scrutinize my [d]path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 [e]Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
Verse 23-24 the Psalmist asks God to search his heart and thoughts when he has already acknowledged in verse 1-4 that the search has already been done. So, do you know what you are asking for when you say to God, “Search my heart and thoughts, motives and ways?” You are asking God to reveal to you what He has already done.
So, the first part of the suggested resolution is that you sincerely ask God to search your mind, will, emotions and conscience. Let’s do that right now.
Heavenly Father, as we enter this new year, we ask You to search us even as the psalmist asked to be searched. We are well aware that we are impure. That our motives and thoughts are not aligned with yours. We know that we are not even able to correctly judge our own hearts. So, we ask that you search our hearts, and bring to our minds your thoughts, your goals, your priorities for today, for this year.
What is the second part of the prayer? Try me. Search me and try me.
II. Try me
A. Know my anxious thoughts
The King James version just says, “know my thoughts.” Other translations say “anxious thoughts.” It is used in other places in the Old Testament.
Psalm 94: 19 When my anxious thoughts [n]multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.
But I was curious about the origin of the word “anxious” here. So, I looked it up in my Hebrew lexicon. The word derives from a word that means “divided, or cut.” It’s used to refer to cutting branches or divided thoughts; thoughts that jump back and forth between two opposing opinions.
So, I think the psalmist is acknowledging that his own thoughts, his own way of thinking is not always consistent or aligned with God’s thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So, are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The psalmist understands that not everything that pops into his head comes from God. This is a very important acknowledgement when we begin going to God for direction in our lives. It is very easy to mistake my own thoughts for God’s direction. I don’t think that is stressed enough in Christian circles. We begin seeking God’s direction for our lives, our jobs, our marriages, our church, our family, and maybe we get some “good idea.” And because we have been asking God for direction, we immediately think that the “good idea” came from God. Be careful. The second part of this prayer the psalmist asks God to “try his divided thoughts.”
What is he asking for? He is asking God to cut away those things, ideas, directions, plans, that are not God’s things, ideas, directions, and plans. He says, “try me and know my divided thoughts.”
B. Try me
Try, prove, examine, test- Here is where I issue a cautionary note. It is one thing to ask God to search your heart and reveal to you any thoughts, motives or actions that run contrary to His ways. It is another thing to ask Him to “try” you. Here are some other verses that use the word.
Psalm 26:2 Examine me, Lord, and put me to the test; Refine my [c]mind and my heart.
Psalm 17:3 3 You have put my heart to the test; You have visited me by night; You have sifted me and You find [b]nothing;
The implication from your asking God to “try” you is not just running a diagnostic on your life and giving you the results. Sort of like your doctor putting you through an MRI or other test, then saying, “You have cancer, do you want me to remove it.” In that case, we spend time weighing the odds. We think about pain, recovery time, quality of life, odds of full recovery. And then we decide if we want the surgery.
But the way the word “try” is used here is like when metal smiths work with gold. In order to determine if the gold is corrupted with other substances, it has to be put through the fire. Job used the word that way.
Job 23:10 But He knows the [a]way I take; When He has put me to the test, I will come out as gold.
Well, what will God do to put my life to the test? You tell me. What did God do in Job’s life to put him to the test?
So, as you consider this resolution, to sincerely ask God to search your mind, will, emotions and conscience, realize that asking Him to “try” means your asking for Him to reveal to you those divided thoughts, divided priorities, those wicked ways, and you are asking for His purification to begin.
So, the resolution is to pray this prayer each day. Let’s pray right now. Heavenly Father, I ask again that you search my heart to see what is there. Apply your standards of righteousness to my innermost being. Examine my thoughts and my motives. Show me Lord where my priorities are divided. Show me where I am trying to straddle between this world’s values and your values. And try me, Lord to bring me to Your purity.
Search me, try me, lead me.
III. Lead me
Now, up to this point, we have had an open-ended prayer to God for direction. And if the previous phrases were all that the psalmist wrote, you might think that now, after we pray this prayer, that we are simply to wait for some kind of “Word from God,” some special revelation about the direction of our lives. Or maybe that God will give us a dream or a vision that lays out exactly His desire for your upcoming year. God’s going to reveal to me what my new year’s resolutions should be.
I don’t believe God works that way for most of us. This year you should learn Spanish, or lose 20 pounds, or remodel your kitchen, or volunteer with Meals on Wheels. I think we wish He would. And there are occasions in Scripture where God did give some very specific directions to individuals. God told Moses to return to Egypt, deliver a specific message to Pharaoh, perform signs, go up on the mountain to receive the 10 commandments, etc. That was Moses. But Moses led over a million people out of Egypt. He got specific directions for his life. What did the other 1 million get? God’s direction to them was, “Do what Moses tells you to do.”
When they finally arrived in the promised land, God didn’t give them specifics about most things. Should I be a carpenter, or a potter? Should I build a one bedroom or a two bedroom house? Should I plant corn, or wheat? Should I buy goats or sheep? No. When it came to the Lord’s leading what did He give them? His law. Do this, and the rest will take care of itself.
And that really is the meat of the Psalmist prayer that I propose you resolve to pray. Search me, try me, and lead me. Lead me to what? Well, there are really only two areas of instruction, or direction that you are looking for; Am I doing the do’s, am I avoiding the don’ts? Look at what he says.
A. See if there be any hurtful way in me
Psalm 139: 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
This word hurtful is translated grievous, evil, wicked , hurtful or painful.
Is there anything I’m doing, or thinking, or feeling that is hurtful or wicked?
1 Chronicles 4: 9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would [c]keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!”
It comes from the idea of being painful. The psalmist is asking God to search for anything that he is doing, or thinking that is painful. Painful to whom? Well, it’s unqualified. So, I think you can take it in several ways. The psalmist is most definitely saying to God, “Is there anything in me that causes you, my Lord, pain or grief?” He could also be talking about the pain of his own conscience. He could be saying that he wants God to search out anything in himself that he is doing that inflicts harm on himself. “Lord, I know that I am my own worst spiritual enemy. Search my heart for the things in which I hurt myself.” He could also be referring to his ways that hurt other people. And not the superficial kind of hurt where others are offended for selfish reasons. But when he does things that hurt others physically, mentally, or most importantly, spiritually. Search my heart Lord for any real pain, grief, or damage that I’ve inflicted on others.
See if there is any painful way in me. And since it is not specified here on whom the psalmist inflicted the pain, he could be asking God to search for any pain that he has caused to God, others, or himself.
So, what is he asking? He’s asking God to reveal to him any “don’t” that he’s done. He wants to rid his heart of sin and harm.
B. Lead me
“guide me” The word indicates close supervision into the correct path. It is used in Job of “guiding” an orphan. Like taking a child by the hand to keep them safe from harm. It is used when describing God leading the children of Israel with a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. It is close supervision. So close that it leaves no question in the mind of those being led as to where they are supposed to go.
When God led the children of Israel with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, nobody asked the question, “I wonder where God wants us to go today?” It was pretty simple. If the cloud stayed above them, they stayed. If the cloud moved east, they went east. If it went west, they went west. I actually think this was brilliant on God’s part; of course. Because in the heat of the wilderness, where would everyone want to be? Under the cloud of God’s presence; in the shade. And if the cloud starts moving away, suddenly you are left under the blazing heat of the sun. Hey, I think I’ll pick up my stuff and get back under the cloud. And at night, when the temperatures became frigid. Where did you want to be? Under the pillar of fire.
You might ask me here, “Well, why doesn’t God do that for me?” Again, this is the exception in history, not the rule. Out of the entire history of the nation of Israel, over 3000 years, how many of those years did God lead them so specifically by a cloud and a pillar of fire? 40. 40 out of 3000 years. But God does lead you very specifically. He has given you His Word. You are not left to guess what is painful or an offense to God. He describes it His Word.
So, the psalmist is asking that God give Him very specific direction. Guide me like a parent guides their child. Give me obvious direction like that you gave the children of Israel in the wilderness. He is asking for God’s guidance in what he has already done, or attitude or disposition that leads to hurt. He’s asking God to lead him. And he is asking to be led in doing the do’s.
C. The everlasting way
Lead me in the everlasting way. The everlasting way; successive, perpetual, permanent, forever way. The way that doesn’t change.
Search me, try me, lead me to the eternal values. Again, that is the Word of God. There are so many ways that are temporal, decaying, changing with the wind.
What is the everlasting way?
The worship of God is everlasting.
Psalm 41:13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
Love and righteousness are everlasting.
Psalm 103:17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
Life is everlasting
Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Really the only thing that you are given to think about in terms of priorities for your life’s direction is; Which choice that I make at this moment will have the greatest eternal consequence? Then choose that path.
This prayer is a prayer asking God to speak to you, and your commitment to follow that lead.
When it comes to making resolutions, this is a very liberating prayer. Actually, following Christ as Lord and Savior, is the greatest liberation you can know. Think about this, everyone else making resolutions this year has to put all kinds of energy into diet plans, menus, lists, nicotine gum, books, confessions, apologies.
Your resolution; get up tomorrow and begin your day by praying, Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Read your Bible, pray, if you get to a point in your day where you don’t know what you should do, pray again. It’s like being a slave, which we are, by the way. A slave doesn’t get up in the morning and say, “What should I do today?” He just goes to the Master and says, “lead me in the forever way.”
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