As I was reading the word this week, I came across a passage that I have seen several times but didn’t really jump out
This time, as I read the words, the thought that God brought to my heart is that this is A PRAYER OF COURAGE
Whenever we read this passage you will hopefully see what I’m talking about
Did you know it’s easy to dress the part and play the good Christian?
Churches are filled with people every Sunday that do that
It doesn’t take much courage to do that – play the game; look good on the outside while inside you are rotting away
This passage is really a prayer of courage for all who would take up the cross of Jesus
It’s a prayer of courage because if you are going to be real in your walk with God, you are going to pray this prayer – probably more than once
And I say a prayer of courage because in this prayer you will ask God to lay it all out – to examine every part of your life – bring it to the front
And then…and then…God will want to deal with it
Just remember – when He does – YOU PRAYED FOR IT!
Read passage / Pray
Trans: First, whenever we get tired of dressing the part and playing the game, we will cry out as David did and say…
1. SEARCH ME
David tells the Lord here, SEARCH ME, O GOD – He is saying GOD, LOOK AT EVERY ASPECT OF MY LIFE
To search means to examine, to investigate, to explore, to seek out
David is opening the door for God to go into the places we try to keep secret from everyone – even Him
He says search my heart and search my mind – the heart and the mind are the center of a man’s being
Psa 26:2 David says “…examine my heart and my mind…”
Jere 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind…”
Listen, if we ask God to do this – we better realize that God WILL SEARCH ALL OF US – every aspect
And honestly, that’s what David wanted – he wanted to be pure and clean and right with God and wanted nothing to be between them
Look what David says earlier in vs 7 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”
If you ask God to SEARCH YOU, rest assured that there will be nothing hidden from Him
Jeremiah understood this as He says of God in Jer 23:24 “Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?...”
Jesus says in Luke 8:17 “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open”
Listen, it takes courage to ask God to Search you because you may not like what He finds
But if you want to go deeper with God – YOU MUST ASK HIM TO SEARCH YOU!
Trans: David then goes on and ask God, not only search me, but…
2. KNOW ME
David says, KNOW MY HEART and KNOW MY THOUGHTS – literally saying KNOW ME from the inside out
First, this word KNOW in the Hebrew is YADA and means “to know by experience in an intimate way”
Just like in Genesis 4:1 (KJV) “Adam KNEW Eve his wife; and she conceived…”
That word KNEW means INTIMACY – David is saying examine my heart and mind in an intimate way
The heart and the mind again is the very soul of a man or woman
Heart = inner man, will, soul, understanding, conscience
If I can control a person’s thoughts, I can control them
The bible says our hearts our wicked and deceitful – it’s our sin nature
Jer 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure…”
Mark 7:21 “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery…”
David is ASKING for God to know the very fabric of what’s in his heart
Prov 23:7 (KJV) “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…”
Prov 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, FOR IT IS THE WELLSPRING OF LIFE”
That’s why Jesus dealt so much with the heart of man because what’s in the heart is what is in the man or woman
Do you really know who you are inside? Do you think God knows?
HE KNOWS – but what He desires is that we ALLOW HIM TO MAKE IT KNOWN TO US what He knows
David is asking GOD to have an INTIMATE and PERSONAL look at His life
And vs 24 of our text says why David is asking “See if there is any offensive way in me”
Notice David did ask for God to look at all the GOOD STUFF -
AWT OH – somebody help me – do you think we have any offensive ways in us?
God knows all the ways in us – even the offensive ones – David wants God to bring those to light
Why? Because He doesn’t want it to hinder his walk with God or others around him
Conclusion
End right here with part one and pick up part two in a couple of weeks because next Sunday is Father’s Day
David’s Psalms are full of him always asking God to sift him; try him, search him
Why? Because He desired more than anything to have an purified life that would exalt the Lord and wanted nothing to keep Him from His walk with God
QUESTON: Are we willing to pray the PRAYER OF COURAGE this morning?
Pray
