Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me… – Psalm 139:23-24, AMP

One sign of a dedicated Christian is that the Christian will not hesitate to pray Psalm 139:23-24.  To pray Psalm 139:23-24, and to mean it, is to invite God to expose the sin that lurks in the deep, dark reaches of our hearts. When God tries us and looks for wickedness in us, He will find darkness, and He will shine His light upon it. When the light shines, shame and sorrow will well up within us, and they will sting. But after the sting comes, God will apply His healing ointment, and as we let go of the sin we harbor, our relationship with our Creator grows sweeter.

Those Christians who love their sin more than God will never pray Psalm 139:23-24. Or, if they do, they will do so with such shallowness that God will not respond to it.  Whether they pray it without meaning it or whether they don’t pray it at all, God knows that in their hearts and minds, His place is second behind their sin. God is not only dissatisfied by such disregard, He is angered by it, and until we exchange love of sin for love of holiness, God will be our chastiser, not our companion.

Are we afraid to pray Psalm 139:23-34? If we are, we don’t love God like we think we do. We have to decide that God is more important to us than any sin we love, and when we do, we’ll pray Psalm 139:23-34 without hesitation.

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