Examination By the Creator

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps 139:23-24 AV)

The thought here is, if the LORD created us, then He should also correct and guide us.  The theme of this psalm is the hand of God which creates each individual by providential guidance.  We are not a result of a mere biological process.  We are created, from each individual cell, to be the person who we are.  The Psalmist testifies that before God formed him, He knew him.  That is before God formed the psalmist, He had a plan for his life.  Each trait and shortcoming are all part of the perfect plan of God.  The ability to choose is part of that plan and that opens the obvious ability for that individual to do that which is contrary to the perfect plan of God.  If that is the case, the perfect plan of God includes corrective and punitive measures.  If we are created for a purpose, yet we have the ability to conduct ourselves contrary to that purpose, then it would stand to reason those who wish to live according to the Creator’s wishes would ask for that which is stated above.  This is a prayer that should be uttered every single day.

One of the most enjoyable classes I took in High School was art-type classes.  I was able to take four years of it.  This included photography.  My father had a photography lab.  Or, as we call them, dark rooms.  I spent a lot of time in that room.  It was a real treat for me to escape to a room no one else had an interest in and work away the hours loading film, developing film, and making prints.  There were other classes I took as well.  There was woodworking, sculpting, and drawing.  The thing about art classes is individual creativity, while encouraged, was governed by whatever principle the teacher was trying to instill.  We could be ourselves yet within certain parameters.  I remember one such project very well.  We had to create a wire sculpture.  We used hangers as the skeleton and then filled it in with much smaller gauge wire.  I used a two-by-four as a brick wall and sculpted a horse jumping the wall.  Like a steeplechase, the horse and rider were on a mission to win the competition.  The teacher would walk around the room and give pointers.  She would offer both encouragement and criticism.  She wasn’t trying to produce a work of art that she personally would be proud of.  However, what she was trying to do was to give us a pointer on how to improve the outcome using our own abilities and talents.  One of the suggestions she made was to glue green scrub pads to my piece of wood to make it look like a grass-covered wall.  The point is, she regularly inspected our work to make sure it was done in the parameters she laid out and that when we were done, it would be the best possible work we could create.

God created us in the way He determined best for His purposes and glory.  We were not created for our own ambitions, purposes, desires, etc.  If that is the case, and it is so, then it would stand to reason the request above is a good one.  Asking the LORD to examine us right down to our thoughts and desires is a thorough examination.  The psalmist is not asking the LORD to examine his ways.  That is because our ways come from our thinking and desires.  If we want to bring glory to God in a positive way, this examination must take place.  This examination is not an examination for the sake of examination alone.  The writer wants to be examined that he might also be led.  He is asking the LORD to go as deeply as He can and will that the writer may be led of the Spirit to live in accordance to what pleases God.  What a prayer request.  This is the height of spiritual maturity.  This is where we should be and hopefully end up.