Psalms 139:23
in Psalms 139Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts;
KJV
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
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This verse in Psalms 139
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
They used to say about Poemen that when he was ready to go out to the meeting for prayer, he first sat by himself for an hour in self-examination, and then went.
This site's exposition
Search me, O God, and know my heart
on Psalms 139:23-24
The search of the first verse comes back as a request. He asks God to know his heart, to test him, and to see whether any offensive way is in him. The last words ask to be led in the way everlasting.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Since then the Body of Christ is in the end to be severed in body also from the unholy and wicked, but now meanwhile groans among them, what does the "love of Christ among the daughters, as the lily among thorns"? [Song of Songs 2:2] What are her words? What her conscience? What is the "appearance of the king's daughter within"? Lo, hear what she says. "Prove me, O God, and know my heart" [Psalm 139:23]. Do Thou, O God, Thou prove me, Thou know; not man, not an heretic, who neither knows how to prove, nor can know my heart, whereas You prove, and know that I consent not to the deeds of the wicked, while they think that I can be defiled by the sins of others; so that, while I in my long wandering do what I mourn in another Psalm, that is, while I "labour for peace among them that hate peace," until I come to that Vision of peace, which is called Jerusalem, "which is the mother of us all," the city "eternal in the heavens;" they, contending, and falsely accusing and separating themselves, may "receive," not, evidently, in eternity, but "in vanity, their cities." Why this? Observe what follows.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Search me, O God, and know my heart,.... He had searched him, and knew his heart thoroughly; try me, and know my thoughts; he had tried him, and knew every thought in him, Psa 139:
He desires that, as far as he was in the right, he might be forwarded in it, which he that knows the heart knows how to do effectually: Lead me in the way everlasting. Note, (1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life.
He lays down this doctrine in the way of an address to God; he says it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it. Divine truths look fully as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over, and much better than when they are disputed over.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men. He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had need be a true man who can put himself deliberately into such a crucible. Yet we may each one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered. Try me, and know my thoughts. Exercise any and every test upon me. By fire and by water let me be examined. Read not alone the desires of my heart, but the fugitive thoughts of my head. Know with all penetrating knowledge all that is or has been in the chambers of my mind. What a mercy that there is one being who can know us to perfection! He is intimately at home with us. He is graciously inclined towards us, and is willing to bend his omniscience to serve the end of our sanctification. Let us pray as David did, and let us be as honest as he. We cannot hide our sin: salvation lies the other way, in a plain discovery of evil, and an effectual severance from it.
Search me, O God - Investigate my conduct, examine my heart, put me to the test, and entwine my thoughts.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Search me, O God - The word “search” here is the same as in Psa 139:1. See the notes at that verse. The psalmist had stated the fact that it is a characteristic of God that he “does” search the heart; and he here prays that God “would” exercise that power in relation to himself; that as God could know all that there is within the heart, he would examine him with the closest scrutiny, so that he might be under no delusion or self-deception; that he might not indulge in any false hopes; that he might not cherish any improper feelings or desires. The prayer denotes great “sincerity” on the part of the psalmist. It indicates also self-distrust. It is an expression of what all must feel who have any just views of themselves - that the heart is very corrupt; that we are liable to deceive ourselves; and that the most thorough search “should” be made that we be “not” deceived and lost. And know my heart - Know or see all that is within it. Try me - As metal is tried or proved that is put to a “test” to learn what it is. The trial here is that which would result from the divine inspection of his heart. And know my thoughts - See what they are. The word rendered “thoughts” occurs only in one other place, Psa 94:19. The idea is, Search me thoroughly; examine not merely my outward conduct, but what I think about; what are my purposes; what passes through my mind; what occupies my imagination and my memory; what secures my affections and controls my will. He must be a very sincere man who prays that God will search his thoughts, for there are few who would be willing that their fellow-men, even their best friends, should know all that they are thinking about.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָקְרֵ֣נִי | chakereni | examine me | H2713 → | 27 times |
| אֵ֭ל | ʾel | O God | H410 → | 241 times |
| וְדַ֣ע | veda' | and know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לְבָבִ֑י | levavi | heart my | H3824 → | 252 times |
| בְּ֝חָנֵ֗נִי | bechaneni | test me | H974 → | 29 times |
| וְדַ֣ע | veda' | and know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| שַׂרְעַפָּֽי׃ | sarapai | disquieting thoughts my | H8312 → |
חָקְרֵ֣נִיexamine me
chakereniH2713 →27 times
אֵ֭לO God
ʾelH410 →241 times
וְדַ֣עand know
veda'H3045 →945 times
לְבָבִ֑יheart my
levaviH3824 →252 times
בְּ֝חָנֵ֗נִיtest me
bechaneniH974 →29 times
וְדַ֣עand know
veda'H3045 →945 times
שַׂרְעַפָּֽי׃disquieting thoughts my
sarapaiH8312 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Peter 1:7so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 23:10
Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- James 1:3–4
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
- Isaiah 48:10
Through
Deuteronomy 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
it leads to
- James 1:3
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
- Deuteronomy 8:16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- James 1:3
Through
Psalms 26:2Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
it leads to
- Psalms 139:23–24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Psalms 139:23–24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 139; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.