Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified Bible
23
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis, Venite Adoremus! Dominum
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The Life We Now Live is Often A Reflection of the Thoughts We Have Thought, Are Now Thinking.
Yes! I know that statement sounds rather obvious.
But is it one for which we ever stop, take any quality time to think about?
Or does it seem to be too obvious that we take it far too much for granted?
Consider this …..
The Winds go whichever direction they go.
Why?
Who but a weatherman or an airplane pilot or a sailor or a ships captain ever really cares about the “whatever” directions of the speeds it blows or shifts.
The Winds are just “there” and we acknowledge them and move on without a second or third or fourth thought – shrug our shoulders and fly away to glory.
Unless, of course – you are about to be in the middle of a blizzard or a tornado or a hurricane and are about to have your whole life major league rearranged.
Like whitewater rapids rushing you downstream, your thoughts move your life in the direction of their strongest currents.
The thoughts you and I think, believe, hold onto, ruminate, obsess about and use to support your decisions determine your view of everything and everyone around you, up to and including yourself.
You and I probably don’t stop and think about the power your thoughts have over our lives—which only increases the power they have to determine your decisions and shape your actions, determine the shifting sands of our life.
Simply put, what you and I think determines what you and believe.
Every thought in our brain produces a neurochemical change in your mind.
And these thoughts shape your life.
Once our thoughts determine what you believe, these beliefs then determine how you and I behave.
In many ways, you become what you think about.
Therefore, the better you and I grasp the importance of our thoughts, the better equipped you and I will be to change our lives in powerful kingdom of God ways.
Drawing on what the Word of God tells us about the power of our thoughts as well as what we can learn from modern psychology, particularly an area called cognitive behavioral therapy, we have the ability to change lives for the better.
We can live according to the principles and promises God gives us and enjoy being all that he created us to be or live according to cultures shifting winds.
Otherwise, our thoughts will continue to sweep us away in dangerous currents of clever deception, wild misinformation, and lies from our enemy, the devil.
God told us this truth more than 1,500 years ago: “For as thinks in his heart, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7).
God knows better than we can ever know, what we focus on mentally affects every single aspect of our lives because He created us that way. Isaiah 55:7-9
But, still, God calls us out of our day to day thoughts, our day to day obsessions over ourselves, our families, our friends, our finances, our health situations.
God is always ever more aware of what it is our lives are being challenged by.
Despite whatever the magnitude of whatever it is we are challenged by, we are still summoned to go forth “in the midst of these things” to be God’s witnesses.
We are summoned away from the great winds of our thoughts which blow us about in every which direction, by our Baptism we are still “Sermons in Shoes.”
Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Jesus calls upon you, to spread the gospel news,
(1) So walk it, and talk it, a sermon in shoes.
(2) Live it, and give it, a sermon in shoes.
(3) Teach it, and preach it, a sermon in shoes.
(4) Know it, and show it, a sermon in shoes.
(Ruth Harms Calkin)
Think of it, about and upon it and believe mightily upon it, “a sermon in shoes.”
Psalm 139:23-24English Standard Version
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts![a]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting![b]
If you will recall, these very familiar verses, of the context of this psalm is David expressing his thoughts of his confidence that the Lord who knows all, and who thinks of, knows him intimately, can vindicate him in the midst of his accusers.
God knows that David is without blame–at least in terms of the accusations fired against him.
In these closing thoughts from, David is baring his soul, very willing to have the sum total of his very deepest, most intimate thoughts laid bare before the Lord.
Not only is he confident that such an examination will demonstrate that he is innocent of the crimes ascribed to him, but that he may also be made aware of any sinful thoughts which remain unacknowledged, that need to be dealt with.
In other words, David not only sought complete vindication before men, but also a complete sanctification, a complete healing of his soul before his God.
Verse 23 is not so much David granting the Lord permission to search his heart–the Lord hardly needs, nor asks, nor demands, for such permission.
He knows our hearts whether we want Him to or not.
Rather, David declares himself completely willing and utterly welcoming of such an indescribable magnitude of scrutiny by his Creator.
So sure is he of his innocence, that he knows the Lord will find nothing to hold against him with regard to the matter at hand.
We do not know exactly what this matter is, but David’s words challenge us: are we so sure of the truthfulness and sincerity of our words and the magnitude of our own “wildly windy” thoughts, we too would welcome the Lord’s examination of them?
As we have repeatedly noted, the Lord already knows our hearts, our motives, our worry and anxious thoughts and the honesty (or lack thereof) of our speech.
Is the thought of this something that makes us uncomfortable, or at peace?
If by our thoughts we feel at all uncomfortable, then maybe we are harboring additional thoughts and hidden, covert, and discrete motives we shouldn’t.
David’s “disquieting thoughts” are those thoughts which cause him to be troubled, or anxious.
Again, the challenge is whether we are at peace with our thought life.
Psalm 19:11-14The Message
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins,
from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
When the light of God’s truth is shone upon our lives, do we squirm and hide, become disquieted, or do we stand before our Savior Jesus with confidence?
Do we want to bare our thoughts, do we want our sin to be illuminated by our Heavenly Father, so He might lead us away from that path to the eternal path?
Or do we want to stay quiet, stay hidden within wild winds of culture, hide our sin away from everyone, and try to protect it from the Lord’s cleansing grace?
Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Jesus calls upon you, to spread the gospel news,
(1) So walk it, and talk it, a sermon in shoes.
(2) Live it, and give it, a sermon in shoes.
(3) Teach it, and preach it, a sermon in shoes.
(4) Know it, and show it, a sermon in shoes.
(Ruth Harms Calkin)
Think of it, about and upon it and believe mightily upon it, “a sermon in shoes.”
As we make our resolutions before the Lord, we need to be seriously willing to let go of all that “barely” disquiets us–every sinful thought, desire, and motive.
Our chief desire is not only to have a blameless reputation before men, but more importantly, to have, to live, to walk, to talk, to teach and preach of a character whose #1 goal is that it glorifies God in its reflection of His goodness and purity.
This requires us exposing ourselves to His refining fire, allowing Him to search out the depths of our hearts and draw out of us the remaining sin in our lives.
It won’t be even minimally pleasant, but it’s necessary if we are to be sanctified and even minimally useful and minimally fruitful unto the Lord in His kingdom.
God does know us.
We cannot pretend we are something we are not with him.
He knows us — inside and out, through and through.
This should liberate us to share a remarkable degree of intimacy with him, but most of us will choose to run far from such a close relationship with our Father.
If our desire, however, is to become more like him, more Christ-like, the only certain way to be transformed is by “inviting” him in to look at our hearts, our motivations, our desires – take our prayerfully “fruit laden” resolutions to Him.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
O Lord my God, you are my shield and my strength. Help me to trust you with my decisions and my future. Let me lean on you with all my heart instead of relying on my own understanding. Give me clear guidance in my life Lord. As I submit myself and the magnitude of my thoughts to you, I know that you will direct my paths and I can have confidence that your direction is always the best way to go. Lord, bless me and keep me, make your face shine upon me. Turn your face towards me and give me my just portion of thy everlasting peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
O God, I know you are the one who “searches hearts and minds.” for our disquieted and disquieting thoughts. Yet because of the grace you demonstrated in Jesus, I am confident that you love me and will cleanse me. My heart is sorry for the sin I have committed, but I am really trying to serve you in honor and purity. Please fill me with your Spirit to enable me to become more like Christ. In the name of Your Son I pray.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 