Search Me
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Introduction
Introduction
Safe vs. Dangerous Prayers
Safe:
Message will be deep - not intellectually but surgically?
Underlying truth: God knows you more deeply, intimately, and more completely than anyone.
(ESV)
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:1
God’s knowledge of you is both serious and safe.
(ESV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Four parts to this dangerous prayer:
Search my heart.
Search my heart.
Sometimes we are worried about someone searching because of what they might find (phone, room, mind)
natural state of the human heart
(ESV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it? v
-26:26
supernatural state of human heart.
(ESV)
19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
Because of the New Covenant we have a new disposition. We have a new inclination. We have a new ability to fight sin and even desire to do so. But even with the new inclination there is still “remnant” sin. There is still remnant “deceitfulness” and desperate wickedness in my soul. I am not totally pure (boy, do I know it!).
progressive sanctification
(ESV)
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
(ILLUST - Few days ago - local news in Panama City Beach, FL told story of Derek Fitzgerald, a Pennsylvania native who had recently completed his sixth IRONMAN race - 140.6 mile triathlon that requires extreme physical fitness.
What makes Derek’s story unique is that it had only been a few years prior that Derek was taking chemo to battle intestinal cancer and recently received a heart transplant.
Prior to his transplant, Derek had never participated in any competitive racing, but following his transplant, he began a rigorous training regimen that allowed him to gain the strength and endurance needed for the IRONMAN.
Physical reality is if someone has a heart transplant they are not immediately a body builder. They have what they need to now work the muscles to become one)
(https://www.wjhg.com/content/sports/Cancer-survivor-heart-transplant-recipient-inspires-at-IRONMAN-Florida-564592651.htmlv)
Reveal my fears.
Reveal my fears.
(ESV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
(NIV84)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
The New International Version (1984) Psalm 139
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
The other time we see this word in Scripture is also in the Psalms where the writer is praising God for being a steadying influence in his life — when things seem shaky or when there are situations of anxiety or fear.
(ESV)
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
What do you fear? What are you really afraid of?
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
1 chro 2917
Losing a job, not having enough money, spouse dying, children dying, parents dying?
Revealing my fears does two things:
Revealing my fears uncovers my true love.
You fear losing what you love having.
ILLUST - Solomon knew this - “dividing” the baby.
You sacrifice to your love — time, energy, money
2. Revealing my fears exposes gaps in my trust in God.
“(What we fear the most reveals where we trust God the least.)”
— Craig Groeschel
Where this was real for me this week — after praying, God revealed my fear of man. Horizontal vision rather than vertical.
reveals my desire to be liked.
(ESV)
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,
How does David pray that God would reveal his fears?
He asks God to “test him.”
He literally asks God to “put him in the fire.”
Word was used to describe the process of melting metals
Brings the idea that the ‘testing’ is not a hypothetical situation, but one borne out of action.
(ESV)
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the Lord tests hearts.
What happens when you melt gold? You purify it.
the heat separates the impurities and the dross floats to the top so it can be skimmed away so the metal can be made more pure.
Expose my sin.
Expose my sin.
Usually the last thing we want!
(ESV)
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
‘Grevious’ = painful, offensive
ILLUST - Perhaps you’ve seen those internet map sites that send cars with cameras mounted on top to capture photos and video of the road so when you look at the map you can see what the road actually looks like? In addition to capturing picture of the road, they have also exposed people doing some bizarre things.
man picking nose while driving (only thing worse is if he texts later)
men in scuba gear walking down city street
Person riding large bicycle down the street while towing a monkey on a small bicycle behind.
two men having a samurai sword fight on a grassy strip between buildings
Man having lunch with his llama
Natural tendency is to hide - we come by it honestly
8 (ESV)
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
you shall eat bread,
If a camera were to follow you all day long — recording everything you saw, everything you said, everywhere you went, everything you did, would you be comfortable projecting it here on the screen next Sunday? Or are there things in your life that you’d rather keep hidden?
till you return to the ground,
The most ironic truth is that nothing is actually hidden from God — the audience that matters most!
for out of it you were taken;
We just read earlier in the Psalm:
for you are dust,
Psalm 139:
and to dust you shall return.”
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
There is nothing we can hide from the omniscient God. It is futile. He already knows.
So, the question is not “Can we hide from God?”, but “Do we WANT to hide from God?”
The second question hints at unconfessed sin in my life.
Are there parts of your day you would like to keep hidden from God?
The power of sin lies in its hiddenness
(auto correct gave me - hidden mess - very true!)
(ESV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is a dangerous prayer to ask God to expose your sin, but that is the only way to reach the victory on the other side!!
(God could not properly cover Adam and Eve with animal skins while they continued attempting to hide behind insufficient fig leaves)
The beauty of the gospel is that when we ask For our sin to be exposed we have a way / place to deal with it
Lead my life.
Lead my life.
(ESV)
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
In contrast to the grievous way, David asks God to lead him in a way of life that leads to goodness — everlasting.
“way” = direction of life
**The end result of this self examination is life - good life. Real life.
Ancient paths (Jeremiah)
Life everlasting
* this is how we come to God through the gospel of Jesus
* An honest eval of who we are
* Recognizing we are not by nature God centered but self centered (our true love)
* Admission of our sin
* Asking Jesus to remove the guilt and power of sin through his work on the cross
* Receive the Holy Spirit to lead in real life
* The action of the gospel is once and done, but the effects of the gospel need to be routinely re applied to every area of our lives.
“way” = direction of life
the only way to this life is by releasing our life and allowing God to lead
How?
walk in Spirit
18(ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
As we allow God to lead us according to his Spirit, we will find that we will not need to be concerned about being exposed.
We have a tendency to lay out our own pathways for our lives. Ones that we believe will lead us to a good life. Sometimes they end up being dead ends, traffic circles, wrong path.
What do you need to give over to God to lead? Is there some pathway you’re heading down that is of your own doing?
a relationship
career path
More than leaders, God needs men and women who are led.
Conclusion
/Often, the most dangerous prayers are the ones we really mean./
Conclusion
Conclusion
For some, this may be your first time praying a dangerous prayer — you’ve always played it safe with God.
You don’t want him to meddle with your life.
Maybe you’re hiding some things and right now you’re realizing what your heart already knew — that nothing is hidden to God. The thing you’d be exposing yourself to in finally confessing your sin is the opportunity for God’s grace and the possibility of victory over the sin.
For mature believer - maybe I should be past this - I need to get to a place of victory over this fear, sin, doubt, struggle - but you’re afraid of being exposed — you’re in good company.
/Often, the most dangerous prayers are the ones we really mean./