“Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” – Psalm 26:2
I have been a teacher for more than 30 years, and during this time, I have never had one student request a test. In fact, the opposite is true. They usually ask if there is a way in which they can avoid a quiz or exam.
In today’s verse, the psalmist is asking for God to examine him. David states that he has been trusting the Lord and living according to God’s precepts. Throughout Psalm 26, David states his claim. He says that he has trusted God (v. 1), walked in God’s truth (v.3), told of the Lord’s wondrous works (v.7), and loved worshiping in God’s presence (v.8). He believes he has been living with integrity, but now he is asking God to verify that. He has the confidence that he will not be found lacking.
If God were to examine me today, I wonder if I would welcome His examination or would I be asking for a way to avoid His divine scrutiny? What would God find if He did examine my life at this moment? Would He find someone who walked in His truth and trusted Him completely? Would He see someone who made time to worship the Lord while being “sheltered-in-place”? Would He find someone hungering and thirsting for righteousness? (Matthew 5:6). When He looked within me, would He find a servant’s heart? Would He find a humble spirit?
2 Corinthians 5:10 states, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” One day, I will stand before God, and He will be examining my life. It will be too late to do anything at that point. If I want to perform well on God’s exam, I need to be like the student who prepares for the test by doing all the necessary study and work before taking it. I need to be sure my life today is what God wants it to be, and I need to be doing what He wants me to do now. Then in that future day, when I am standing before Him for my final examination, I can have David’s confidence knowing that I have lived in “mine integrity” (Psalm 26:1), and I can be unafraid to ask God to examine and prove me!
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfill thy word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
grant my desire to magnify thy name.
Lord, take my life, and make it wholly thine;
fill my poor heart with thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender, Lord– in me abide.
(from “Search Me, O God” by J. Edwin Orr)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” – Psalm 139:23
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What will God find when He examines your life?