THOU HAST PROVED MINE HEART

The Lord warned against the “leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”, Luke 12. 1. The prayers of the Pharisees were a pretence; they loved to be seen by men. They honoured God with their lips only; their heart was far from Him. The Lord severely condemned these self-righteous hypocrites, Matt. 6. 5; 15. 8; 23. 27, 28; Luke 18. 9.

David’s prayer was both righteous and sincere. It came “not out of feigned lips”, v. 1. In asserting the righteousness of his cause, vv. 2-4, he was not guilty of self-righteousness like the Pharisee in the parable, Luke 18. 10. He was attesting his honesty of heart and stedfastness of purpose. The words, “thou hast tried me, and findest nothing”, v. 3 R.V., were not a boastful claim to faultlessness. His appeal for help lest his feet should slip, v. 5, and the requests that he makes in verses 6-8, are proof of this.

David’s confidence in prayer sprang from self-examination in the presence of God. In the stillness of the night when the conscience is not easily silenced, he exposed himself to Him who searched his heart, v. 3; cf. Psa. 139. 1, 23, 24. He knew that if he regarded iniquity in his heart, the Lord would not hear his prayer, Psa. 66. 18. Out of his own personal experience, David passed on this wise counsel to his son Solomon, 1 Chron. 28. 9.

We, no less than David, need to pray, “Search me, O God”; when we sing the following lines, do we really mean them?

“Search all my thoughts, the secret springs, The motives that control; The chambers where polluted things Hold empire o’er the soul.”

Our prayers will be more effective if we submit to the discipline of self-examination before Him who searches the heart, Jer. 17. 10; 1 Cor. 11. 28, 31. The two-edged sword of the Word of God is the means the Spirit uses to search us. It pierces, cuts, judges and exposes us before “him with whom we have to do”, Heb. 4. 12, 13. When we awake in Christ’s likeness, Psa. 17. 15, heart-searching will no longer be needed.

“Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God”, 1 John 3. 21.