Daily Devotionals

Hall of Faith Week 2 Tuesday

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God takes sin seriously. In fact, as we read through the Bible, God’s heartache from sin and the separation from God that sin has caused and continues to cause shows us just how seriously God takes sin. There is no mistaking it: all sin is tragic and has incredibly terrible consequences.

One person in Scripture who took his sin seriously was David, the author of many Psalms. David had experience being confronted with sin and took steps to turn away. You can read all about one of these circumstances in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 when he is confronted with his sin with Bathsheba. It could be his own struggle with sin and experiencing the effects of sin caused Him to take sin seriously. Perhaps this experience also led him to write in Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” David took his sin so seriously that he invited God to search him fully and see if there was any sin or anything that offended Him. He also asked God to lead him away from that sin. He took sin seriously, and because of this, living a lifestyle apart from his sin was of utmost importance to him.

My friend, our sin is serious. We must take steps to ensure we are walking in line with the path God has set for us in the Bible. A starting place right now is following David's example in Psalm 139. We can join David's prayer asking God to search our hearts for any sin that offends Him or grieves His heart and to lead us away from that sin. Make no mistake, God takes sin very seriously. We too should take sin just as seriously.

Moving Toward Action

Is there a sin in your life that you have been taking lightly? Take some time to consider your answer to that question. After reflecting, confess that sin to God. Tell Him that you are sorry for that sin and for taking it lightly. Ask Him for the courage and boldness to walk away from that sin and to treat it as seriously as it is.

Going Deeper

Read Psalm 139:1-24 (NLT)

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

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.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them! 

Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.

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

See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.