The Cry of the Examined Heart

CH Spurgeon called Psalm 139: One of the most notable of the sacred hymns.

He said: It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God.

Whilst most of us have never found ourselves being cross-examined in a courtroom, most us have probably been interviewed at some time or another. Being open to scrutiny isn’t always a pleasant experience. To have the details of our lives examined by someone who knows us is one thing, to allow God, the all-knowing (omniscient), ever-present (omnipresent) God to do this is to allow him to expose our innermost thoughts and feelings. In so doing you’d think we’d become vulnerable, but in fact we become free. Not because we can do nothing about who we are, but because the only solution that can give us any hope is the grace of God. A grace that means in knowing us for who we truly are, God accepts us as we are and offers us the power to live differently.

In the act of knowing, and of being known, David rejoices. He rejoices because he knows what it means to be “in God’s hands”.

The foundation for examination

#1 Searched and known

In detail (when I sit, rise)

In depth (thoughts and ways)

In darkness (What I think will be hidden will be revealed, even the darkness is like daytime to you.)

#2 Created with care

With wonder

In secret

With purpose

The cry of the examined heart

#1 The cry to be known

There is both good and bad news about being known by God.

When the Bible teaches that God is all-knowing it is not saying that he is bright, or that he is sharp. It is not even saying that he is a genius. What the Bible is getting at is that God simply knows it all, he knows everything. No question can confound him, no dilemma can confuse him, no event can surprise him. Nothing is news to God.

As we are known, we can respond in a number of ways.

First we can try to ignore it. Carry on as if what we think God doesn’t see and doesn’t know, isn’t seen or known. Like a child who thinks you can’t see him when he closes his eyes, we close our eyes and try to convince ourselves that God isn’t looking and cannot see.

The second way is to acknowledge, to confess our failure and allow God to forgive us in accordance with his great promise to do so.

#2 The cry for justice

As David expresses his desire to see the wicked slain there is a cry for justice that is common to the examined heart.

It’s not a cry that arises from a self of self-righteous importance, but from a sense of the injustice of sin on the world. A sense of the failure and falleness of humanity.

#3 The cry for God’s leading

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the light”. He called people to follow, and he offered forgiveness and reconciliation to all who come and be his disciples.

The examined heart is willing to ask God:

What next in my character?

What next in my circumstances?

What next in my service for God?

The examined heart is willing to see itself made for a purpose.