| “The word of God is quick, and powerful … and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). |
| “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23-24). |
| When we read the Word of God, it has a cleansing effect on our hearts. It searches our hearts, and discovers what is right, and what is wrong. The word translated “discerner” could be translated “critic,” and this is what the Bible does for us. Men have thought that they had the right to criticize God’s Word, but it is God’s Word that is the critic of our thoughts. It is important to read God’s Word daily, for it exposes our wrong thoughts, and allows us to confess them and to get rid of them. In this way the Bible has a purifying effect on us. |
| But then we read in our second verse that David asked the Lord to search his heart, and to discover whether there was “any wicked way” in him. This is a good thing to do, for even if we read God’s Word regularly, there may be wrong things in us that we do not discover. But the Lord is able to bring them to our attention. David wanted real fellowship with the Lord and did not want anything to come between him and the Lord. We should want this same relationship with Him. |
| We need one little warning about this. It is good to ask the Lord to bring something to our attention, if He sees something wrong in us. But then we should let the Lord bring it before us, if He sees something. It is not a healthy thing always to be taken up with our failures, and to be constantly thinking about ourselves. Rather we should be enjoying all that Christ is, and not be thinking, How am I doing? If the Lord sees something in us that He wants us to deal with, we can rest assured that He will point it out to us. We do not have to keep thinking about our mistakes. |
