Search me

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

- Psalm 139v23-24

I don't like air travel. I never have, but at one point it was somewhat bearable. I have no fear of flying. I just don't like all of the hassle. I hate security checks. I have nothing to hide, but I hate the 'guilty till proven innocent' concept of airport security. Take off your belt, take off your coat, take off you shoes, and stand here in this machine while we scan through your clothes to look at a blurry image of your naked body.

Despite all of that I don't have to fear inspection at the security checks. I am not carrying anything that is illegal. If I have something by mistake they are just going to throw it in the bin. I am clean, and therefore the security check is nothing more than a hassle.

David closes this amazing psalm with a plea that God would search him, know his heart, and try him. He wanted to make sure that there no 'wicked way' in him. I only see security checks as a hassle because those agents, being human, could make a mistake. I should, like David, never fear God's inspection.

How do I seek God's inspection like David did? I prepare myself just like I do for an airport check. I get rid of anything that would stand in the way of a clearance. I lay aside 'every weight and the sin that so easily besets me.'

How often can I stand before God with my hands spread wide and say 'search me. O God'? Can I honestly ask God to search our every corner of my heart and mind? Are there things that I don't want God to find out?

If so it is a foolish hope. God is not only omniscient is a general and theological sense, but is a very personal sense. He knows it all, we might as well deal with it. Once we allow ourselves to face God's inspection we can go on our way, as David puts it, in the way everlasting.