“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-
God said to the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 18:13, “You must
be blameless before the Lord your God.” David was able to ask God to search his heart
because he had purposed long before to obey this command when he said, “I will be
careful to live a blameless life...” Psalm 101:2.
David was said to have a perfect
heart toward God “all the days of his life.” Yet he failed the Lord often. His life
was marked with adultery and murder. However, he had a perfect heart that was responsive
to the whisperings and warnings and was quick to answer the call of the Lord. This
kind of heart says at all times, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Show me the
path and I will walk in it.”
In these final days, sin has become complicated, subtle,
sensuous, and more sophisticated and has taken on stronger, deeper roots disguising
itself in various forms such as art, culture, and education. Our younger generation
is being confronted with depths of sin that we never did or can even imagine. How
can we help them when much of the Church is entangled in sin that is ongoing in their
own lives, and don't even recognize it until they start paying the penalty for it.
They live under the notion that they can sin indiscriminately and the Lord is obligated
to forgive them. Wrong!
Multitudes of Christians today who hide secret sin do not
want to be convicted or searched. They want a blood covering – but not a cleansing!
Isaiah 29:15 says, “Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord,
and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us?”
Many
believe because they went to the altar and, by faith, received the blood sacrifice
for the forgiveness of their sins that now they can boldly go into the Holy of Holies
and commune with God face to face without being washed by the water of the Word.
Thus, pushing past the commitment of the holy place with sinful habits imbedded in
their hearts boasting, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”
We constantly hear
preaching that says “You don't need to be searched. All your sin is under the blood
anyway! All this digging and searching out of sin brings only condemnation and guilt.”
1 John 1: 6-
The Lord's searching is not
vindictive but redemptive. His purpose is not to catch us in sin or condemn us –
but rather to prepare us to come into His Holy presence as clean, pure vessels.
“Who
shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart...he shall
receive the blessing from the Lord.” Psalm 24: 3-
When we invite the Lord to search
our hearts continuously like David. He will dig out and expose all that is unlike
Christ. Whether it comes clothed in unforgiveness, or simply things in our hearts
that are wrongly motivated. And, when we deal with them with the same sense of urgency
admitting that we cannot live our lives without His strength. We will grow more sensitive
to our weaknesses and answer His call to holiness.
1 Peter 1: 14-
Michael Cochran
Broken Altar