“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” [Psalm 139: 23-24 NLT]
This song of David is a reminder of God’s care and knowledge of us. David reminds us that God created our inmost being, knit us together in our mother’s womb, and that all the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before we ever experienced even one of them.
It reminds us that God’s thoughts are always with us whether we are sitting down or rising up, but the phrase that always stands out to me are David’s closing words – a prayer for God to search him and know his heart, to test him and know his anxious thoughts.
David understood that our thoughts influence our heart. Disquieting times (like we are in now) often create disquieting thoughts. Disquieting thoughts create heart problems. My thinking has a direct influence on my heart relationship with my Father God. David asked God to search his heart. He was asking him to take a good hard look at his relationship.
Then he asked God to test and know his anxious thoughts. God knew David’s thoughts, what David is asking is for God to help David know his thought patterns and recognize anything that might influence his heart relationship. (Show me O God, the things I need to change in how I think and how I relate to You.)
Sometimes the things we take into our thought life can be unsettling, making our hearts anxious or worried. It is then we need to ask God to show us the things we need to change so that our relationship with Him is kept vibrant and fruitful.