Praying for a Time of Testing
Psalm 139:23,24 God, examine me and know my mind. Test me and know all my worries. Make sure that I am not going the wrong way. Lead me on the path that has always been right.
None of us ever wants to call bad times down on our heads, do we? After all, didn’t Jesus teach us to pray Lead us not into a time of temptation but deliver us from evil? Didn’t He?
It’s interesting how different verses in the Bible can appear to say different things – almost 180-degree opposites. What’s going on? Assuming that God didn’t make a mistake, what He means is for both those verses to be there and for us to figure out what they mean together.
So, here’s a verse that appears to stand in stark contrast to what Jesus said:
Psalm 139:23,24 God, examine me and know my mind. Test me and know all my worries. Make sure that I am not going the wrong way. Lead me on the path that has always been right.
This is a pretty harsh verse. Examine me … test me. The original Hebrew text carries with it a sense of real-life trial and testing. David’s asking God to take him through whatever’s needed to ensure that he’s headed the right way, not the wrong way. Why? Because in the verses leading up to this, he prayed:
Psalm 139:19-22 God, kill those wicked people … I hate those who hate you. I hate those who are against you. I hate them completely! Your enemies are also my enemies.
Those are strong words: I hate them completely! Though righteous anger it may be, David knows that it’s dangerous. Hence his plea to be examined, tested, tried. It’s a plea for God to check the motivations of his heart. And it’s a plea that demonstrates his God-above-all approach to life.
So, is your life on a God-above-all footing?
Lord examine me. Test me. Lead me down the right path, no matter what the cost.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Renee
Hi, I love this verse that you’ve displayed because it’s openly inviting God unto our minds, our hearts and giving ...
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Hi, I love this verse that you’ve displayed because it’s openly inviting God unto our minds, our hearts and giving Him permission to test all of our worries and to know our hearts intent , for God gave us a WILL to choose Him and to seek Him and to let Him into our minds and to test our emotions and to examine our will for He is a good good father and a God of justice and Jesus is the life , the way , the truth.
If we are to live our lives for God, we must seek Him every day because every day is a new day and yesterday is gone .
We must seek God and ASK for his help in all matters not just a few but in all that we think and in all that we intend to do and seek more depth more insight and deeper meaning yeah.
Peter had a thorn in his SOUL ( which is made up of 3 components, mind, will and emotions )
His SOUL he sought the LORD and we all know that Satan is after our soul at all costs and I wonder whether Peters gift was that of COMMUNICATION that he could HEAR WITHIN HIS SPIRITUAL EARS GOD, but also could hear the world as well which is Satan and he needed to be in continual and constant communication with GOD so as to not to be dissuaded by wayward minds that are of the world and Satan , but also he would have had his gift tested to not listen to other brethren’s either for he had to learn how to discern God’s voice .
I don’t know but Peter had a thorn in his soul that required him to always need to be closer to God .
To walk by faith and to be walking in faith and to be trusted with our gift to be used only for God and purposes of His will , we must always seek to have our hearts and minds examined and completely surrender to God’s will for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven .