Your Heart in the Storm || Psalm 139:23-24 || Manna for the Mind #26

Welcome to Day 26 of my “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series takes a passage of scripture (typically 1-3 verses) and builds its understanding through its context and connecting scripture. Doing this helps us understand what the Bible truly teaches us. 

Psalm 139:23-24

23          Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24          Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139 is such a beautiful passage. The Skit Guys made a fantastic video on it. I’ve preached a sermon entirely on Psalm 139. These words are beautiful. David asked God to search for sin and point it out. David allows God to show him everything he does that goes against God. That’s both brave and scary. David is so committed to it. He asked God to test his thoughts and his anxieties. Have you asked this of God?

Have you ever called out to God and said, “God, show me everything I do that is not of you. Test my thoughts, my worries, and my words.” I have, and hearing what God says is a little panic-inducing. Yet, how could we recognize what is and is not a sin without God pointing it out? He could do this through prayer, reading scripture, or a fellow believer who comes across your path. How God can communicate is endless. When he does and shows us where we sin, we can repent (that is, turn from our current way to a godly one) and be forgiven.

By asking the Lord to search your heart and thoughts to reveal your sin, you continue to walk along the path of everlasting life. You are becoming more godly and are heading the path of eternal life. It’s something to celebrate and be thankful for. It’s an easy path to turn off, but as long as you intentionally try to get back on it, you are still on the right track.

Listen to what the psalmist said from Psalm 26:1-3 about this testing.

Psalm 26:1-3

1             Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2             Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motivations and my heart.

3             For I am always aware of your unfailing, and I have lived according to your truth.

In asking God to declare the psalmist innocent, David wasn’t claiming to be sinless. No human was sinless besides Jesus Christ. David pleaded with God to clear his name of the false charges against him. David wanted his name removed from the problems his enemies believed he had created.

You can plead to God just like David. Ask God to examine you and trust him to forgive your sins. Do a deep dive within yourself to reveal what you have been suppressing, intentionally or unconsciously. These will be things that will be traumatizing to you, triggering for you, and scary overall, but God knows these things anyway. “Well, why do I need to bring them to God if he already knows them?” Well, why does your teacher call on you to answer the question on the board? I mean, they already know it. Why do your parents or guardians ask you what you did to get in trouble? They know why. When you name it, you own it. When you name it, you know it. You are prepared to build on it when you own and know it. Your knowledge grows, your actions become more robust, and your words become wiser. Yet, the responses are all based on when you are ready.

Psalm 143:10

10          Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

David’s prayer was about being taught to do God’s will, not his own. God wants us to do his will and follow what we think is right. How do we find out God’s will? Study the scripture and pray. Prayers for guidance are self-centered if we don’t recognize God’s power to redirect our lives. We might have the guidance answered from prayer, but how often do we wait and see if it’s God’s guidance. It could be our emotions taking us to the path. How do you know? In my life, it’s been clarity and confidence. Both typically exist in the moves God told me to work with. I might have clarity and no confidence, which could still be from God, and I need to lean on my faith more. I might have confidence and no clarity, and the same situation could happen. Both together prove to be definite for me.

When I have my confidence and clarity, these words from Psalm 5:8 speak loud.

Psalm 5:8

8             Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.

God will guide us on the right path because the enemies (evil spirits) are ready to ambush us when we step off His path. Sin is known as “crouching at the door, eager to control you.” (Genesis 4:7b). So God will make His way plain.

Plain is the Hebrew Verb Yashar (yaw-shar’), meaning smooth, straight, or right. It refers to keeping the clarity of the path straightforward. To keep our heads up and look straight ahead. Not looking to the left or to the right, but straight. This reminds me of Peter when he exited the boat to walk on the water. When Peter was keeping his eyes on Jesus, he was successful. When his eyes came off Jesus and focused on the thing that was scaring him, he drowned. What changed? He worried that the storm he was in would take him off the path Christ set for him. How often do the storms we run into do that for us? Life gets chaotic, and we surrender, collapse, or give up. Keeping our eyes on Jesus in the middle of the storm allows us to survive the storm. We may still get beaten and bruised, but we don’t take our eyes off the path straight ahead.

To close, I want to end in this Psalm verse. After our conversation about storms, this fits perfectly as our prayer. When you’re in your storm, keep this verse in your heart:

“Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.” – Psalm 16:1