Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O 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.”
The coming of a new year is a great time to step on the spiritual scale, so to speak, to evaluate where we are in a spiritual sense. David did some reflecting in Psalm 139. He took time to ask God to show him what might be causing his anxious thoughts. Anxious thoughts can steal our focus, take our energy, cause us health problems and crowd out the mind of Christ in our lives. Anxious thoughts impair our performance and keep us from sharing our gifts and talents, from realizing our potential.
The Psalmist was dealing with anxious thoughts himself when he wrote, “Test me and know my anxious thoughts.” He was saying, “I am troubled in my thought life, and I am not quite sure what the source is,” but he knew something wasn’t right. Can you identify? Is something not quite right with you? Are you disturbed in your soul? Are your thoughts ones of defeat, regret, and shame? Do you self-sabotage with the thoughts that play on repeat in your mind?
I see in Psalm 139 that anxious thoughts can be the result of a lack of trust in God and His plan for our lives and can also be the result of sin in our lives.
Both things . . . a lack of trust in God and His plan for us and sin against God will move us in a direction different from the one God has laid out for us. In the Psalmist’s prayer here, he doesn’t just say, “God show me where I have messed up, so we can move on with this, and I can get rid of the anxious thoughts,” but the Psalmist absolutely surrenders to a search, and it is a thorough one. He says, “Search me. Know me. Test me. Look deep into my life. Leave no stone unturned.” He doesn’t just say, “Cleanse me of my sin, but lead me in a new way of thinking and living. Help me get completely on Your path. I want to walk in the way of everlasting life, and the fact that I am having these anxious thoughts is a red flag to me that perhaps I am not where I should be spiritually.”
One possible cause of anxious thoughts is A lack of trust in God.
Psalm 5:11-12 “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”
Listen, God goes before you. He is already in the middle of tomorrow. He has a plan to work things out that you haven’t even come up against yet. He is ahead of you to clear your path. Worship Him! Shout for joy. God is working on your behalf to protect you and to guide you to the places and people He has purposed for your life. You are going to make it. If you are behind the shield of God’s favor, you will never miss one thing God has for you!
If you are having a hard time rejoicing, if you aren’t living life with peace and confidence perhaps you have a trust issue with God. If your anxious thoughts are keeping you from moving forward perhaps you aren’t relying on the Lord’s favor to be your shield. Allow me to outline what trusting God completely looks like:
Trusting God completely means letting go of the process, accepting the pace with which He moves in your life AND proclaiming the victory as you walk with Him.
Because God’s favor is like a shield, He is in front of you warding off any evil attack and with His shield He is blazing a trail for you which will enable you to move through life’s circumstances. Look at Exodus 23:20-“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
God goes ahead of us to prepare the way for us and promises to escort and guard us along the way so that we reach the destination He has chosen.
Exodus 23:21ff-21Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.
Vs 27 27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
Did you see that? “Little by little. . .” God has a reason for not just opening His hand and making life as easy as possible for us. We couldn’t handle it if He did. Even the Israelite enemies were going to serve God’s purpose. God had a reason for decreasing them slowly. Had they all been removed it would have been to the Israelites’ detriment. No, God allowed some of the enemies to remain for a while as they were helping to keep the soil worked and in good condition and also were helping to keep the wild animal population subdued. It was little by little. The Israelites didn’t overtake their enemies in a hurry, but they did overtake them.
If the process you are going through seems long, God has a good reason for the pace He has set for you, but you will, if you trust Him, you will possess the Promised Land.
Verse 31 goes on to say, “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.
Even if it looks like you are having to put up with enemies or resistance, He is working things out. Take your hands off of the borders and let God be in control!
If you are trusting God to lead you, He will always lead you to triumph. He will never lead you to failure. Expecting victory, proclaiming victory, maintaining that you are victorious, that will keep you from allowing anxious thoughts to occupy your mind and paralyze your life. Decide in 2025 that you are going to trust God for every outcome!
You may not enjoy some of the teachable moments you will go through. You may have to endure some processes you’d rather skip. You may have to exercise patience when the pace is slower than you would like it to be, but you can always proclaim and expect victory if you obediently stay behind the shield of God’s favor! Stand on Romans 8:28-“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Let me restate this point: Trusting God completely means letting go of the process, accepting the pace with which He moves in your life AND proclaiming the victory as you walk with Him.
Trusting God completely is an antidote for anxious thoughts.
A second possible cause of anxious thoughts is unconfessed sin. The Psalmist wanted to know if he had offended God in any way. When was the last time you asked God that question? How many of us could say with 100% confidence, “I’m exactly where I should be in my relationship with God?” If we aren’t where we know we should be, are we willing to open ourselves up to some examination? Are we willing for God to reveal where we went wrong? Are we interested in allowing Him to bring correction to our lives? I’m gonna be straight with you…sin causes anxiety.
Anxious thoughts can result from guilt and regret over things we have said and done. Sin is serious. I think we downplay how serious it is for a believer to walk in sin. I think we minimize the impact and consequences of sin, but when we choose sin, we give Satan access into our lives which means we give him material to use against us. We give him access into our thoughts. Sin sets us up for anxiety as Satan loves to taunt us with the ways we have disappointed God. Sin is serious.
When sin reigns in our hearts we cut ourselves off from God’s help. (Psalm 66:18) David wanted God’s ongoing help. He knew he needed the Lord, and so he prayed, “Search me! Look for the dirt. Show me the ways I have hurt and offended Your holiness, God. Lay it all out on the table. Open me up, God.”
The condition of our hearts is critical when it comes to our spiritual life. That’s why Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Jeremiah 17:9 tells us our hearts are so dark and so wicked that apart from God revealing to us what is in them there is no way we can know what is truly in our hearts. How long has it been since you’ve asked God to search your heart? Do you desire God more than anything and anyone? Are you serious about pursuing Him, worshiping Him, knowing Him, and obeying Him? Is there apathy in your heart towards God? Is your heart full of faith and trust? Or has doubt about God and His plan for your life crept in? Did you know that unbelief is sin, Hebrews 3:12-13?
David went on to say, “Search my thought life, God.” Do your thoughts glorify God? Or are your thoughts consumed with yourself or something you are longing to possess? Are you thinking about things that are true and noble and right? The things that are lovely, excellent, praiseworthy and admirable? (Philippians 4) Are your thoughts godly? Or are you thinking evil or envious thoughts? Are you thinking lustful thoughts? Are you bitter and angry in your thoughts toward other people? Do you think judgmental thoughts about other people? You can do all the right things outwardly, but be riddled with anxiety from sinful patterns in your life.
David didn’t stop with his heart or his thoughts, he said, “Search my actions, too. See if there is any offensive way in me.” He wanted to be spotless before God. Have you shown the love of God to others this past year? What opportunities have you taken in 2024 to glorify God through your actions? The things you have said, have they edified other people and built them up or have your words been harsh, negative, angry, and complaining? Have you gossiped and spread rumors whether with your tongue or on your social media? Have you always told the truth?
Has the way you have spent your time this past year proven you are one of Jesus’ disciples? Have you owned your mistakes and asked people you have hurt for forgiveness? Have you glorified God in your body, or have you abused your body with drugs and alcohol or engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct? You know the Bible says that for Christians there can’t even be a “hint of sexual immorality.” (Ephesians 5:3) Have you glorified God in the way you have spent your time and money? The things you watch, the places you go. . . is God pleased with them all?
There is great integrity in the Psalmist’s prayer. He didn’t want anything to be sugar coated. He didn’t want God to hold anything back. Perhaps the greatest hypocrisy is the self-delusion that we are alright. True Christians aren’t people who never sin, but they are those who willingly confess it, repent, and make the changes necessary to live differently. True confession involves a desire and a commitment to quit sinning.
God knows when we make excuses. He knows when we compromise. He knows when we move ahead without consulting Him. He knows when we cut corners. He knows when we aren’t where we are supposed to be. He knows when we are relying our ourselves, our connections, our resources. He knows it all. There is nothing we have said or done that has escaped the knowledge of God. He is OMNISCIENT. I think David quickly came to the place where he could ask God to test and try him and reveal his sin because He knew there was no use pretending to be something other than sinful in the presence of an all-knowing God. We can’t fool God, but anxiety is ignited when we try.
The comforting thing about God being the One who knows everything about us is that He is kind, patient, loving, nurturing, and He is gentle. He genuinely cares about each one of us.
In Haggai 1 we read twice, “Give careful thought to your ways.” Before you look ahead to 2025, take some time to look within.
Don’t move into the New Year without letting God move in you and remove from you that which is causing anxiety in your life. Don’t take this year’s baggage into 2025. Be rid of anxious thoughts as you consent to God’s search and surrender fully to Him.