Search Me and Know Me

Search Me and Know Me

David was called a ‘man after God’s own heart.’  I believe one of the reasons is found in one of his most popular psalms - Psalm 139.  In this psalm David reflects on how well God knows everything about us.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to hide from God, but God found them.  He knew where they were, what they had done, yet he searched for them and talked with them.

David understood that God knew his heart even better than he did.  David asked God to show him what needed to be changed.  David had a repentant heart - a heart that wanted to be right with God even after he had failed.  Too many times, when people fail they try to run and hide from God instead of just coming to him and repenting.

Read Psalm 139 (NIV) below [pay special attention to verses 17 & 18] and see how much God knows you and loves you.

1 You have searched me, Lord,

    and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

    you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

    you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;

    your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,

    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;

    I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Grounded In Love

Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

While meditating on the love of God, I turned to this passage in Ephesians and began to read this prayer that Paul was praying over the people of Ephesus.  As I was reading this passage, one phrase stuck out to me.  In verse 17 it says, “that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”

I began to think about being grounded.  What does it mean to be grounded?  Of course, the first thing I thought of was being grounded as a teenager.  I wasn’t grounded much growing up.  I probably should have been grounded a whole lot more than I was.  However, I do remember a time in 8th grade that I was grounded from “the event” of the year.  At that time, Alma and Van Buren were huge sporting rivals.  Hundreds of kids, teens, adults would flock to the Alma/Van Buren football game to root their team on to victory.  Everyone wanted the “bragging rights” for the year.  I was so looking forward to going to the game, however I had a problem with my mouth….as most teenagers do.  I never knew how to stop when it came to back-talking my parents.  Needless to say, a few days before the big game, I back-talked my dad, and he grounded me from the game! I was devastated.  Like I said, I was rarely grounded, and now here I am grounded from “the event” of the year.  I was so upset.  I remember sitting on my bed the night before the game just stewing.  My dad, who was known to be very soft-hearted when it came to his children, came into my room to talk.  Without thinking, and without allowing him to speak, I spouted off and back-talked him again.  Little did I know, my dad was coming in to change my punishment and allow me to go to the game. However, after back-talking the second time, my grounding remained. Boy did I learn my lesson.  It was hard listening to the game on my little radio in my bedroom, knowing all my friends were at the game having a great time.  I learned on that day what it truly meant to be “grounded.”  It meant you don’t go ANYWHERE. It meant you stay put. 

In Ephesians 3, Paul makes it apparent that we are to be rooted AND grounded in love.  We need to be rooted in the fact that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten son for us.  Our beliefs, our faith, and our expectations come from this knowledge.  If God loved us so much that He would give His only son to us, what wouldn’t He give to us!  When we are rooted in this fact, our spirits grow, and we can become “grounded in love.”  It is only in the revelation of God’s love for us, that we are able to be “grounded in love” with others.  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote a comprehensible list of what love truly is.  Love is kind, love is patient, love bears all things, love believes the best of all people.  When we are rooted in God’s love for us, we stay put.  We stay put in our love when people wrong us.   We stay put in our love when people hurt us.  We don’t behave rudely or self-seeking.  Love suffers long and is kind.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  Love never fails.  When we are rooted in God’s love for us, we can be grounded in our love for others!

Stay On Course

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by GOD. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, GOD, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:1-8 MSG)
By Your words I can see where I’m going: they shed light on my dark path. (Psalm 119:105 MSG)
I’ve been meditating on these verses for the past week. Did you know that the Lord has a specific path for you to walk on? He has a plan for your life. That plan is good and that course for your life is the only thing that will satisfy you.
In reading and thinking about this passage of scripture, my prayer has been like David’s, ‘oh that my steps would be steady. Keeping to the course you set…’ I want to STAY in His path, even when it’s hard, even when it uncomfortable, even when it looks impossible. Because I KNOW that’s where blessing us, that’s where fulfillment is, and that’s where I’ll finish what God has called me to do!
The first step to take is to find out what that path is. I encourage you today, take some time to ask the Lord to show you what direction He wants you to take. If you don’t know, He will show you!
If you already know the steps to take, ask Him to give you strength that you need to stay steady on that course. He is the One who will give the strength to take the steps and stay on the path He has for you.