Psalm 139:23-24
Investigate me, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my troubled thoughts. See if there is any way in me that causes pain, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We like to appear as if everything is going okay, all is well, and there are no problems we are dealing with; we put on a good mask for the world. The problem is we live in a sinful world, and each of us deals with something; no one is exempt. Even Jesus, who was sinless, had even more trouble being assailed by the religious leaders, but his thoughts remained pure to the end.
Reading this passage, one can feel uneasy because we don’t want you or anyone else to know the evil thoughts or how out of control we are of our lives. But the request is for you to look in our hearts and see our troubles and everything that causes us pain, then lead us to righteousness.
You know the sin that lies in our hearts, you know the heartaches that would lead us away from you, you know the guilt that prods at us, and you see the shame we want to hide. But since you know and test our hearts, we can confidently turn all that over to your Son, our Savior, and know we have forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. He suffered and died for all our sins, so we have the peace of forgiveness; we are restored to you.
Lord, we ask that you look into our hearts, forgive us for Jesus’ sake, and lead us on the path that leads to everlasting life. Let us also share this good news of removing our sins, guilt, and shame with those who do not know you so they, too, can have their hearts examined, and by faith, they will trust in their Savior to forgive them all their sins. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
Nothing is hidden from God; he knows every one of your sins, so when you ask for forgiveness, he removes them all; not one is missed or overlooked.