A Dangerous Prayer: Psalm 26:2

Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart.

Psalm 26:2

God, like a skillful surgeon, can always get to the heart of the problem. But he will only operate with consent. There is truth in the wise old Baptist saying that “the Holy Spirit is a gentleman”, how else could one resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7)?

You may have heard before that the trouble with living sacrifices is that they crawl off the altar. I think this is the wisdom of Kieth Green, passed to Steve Camp and or Rich Mullins, and finally to Derek Webb; but whoever coined it, it is very very true.

Why is this prayer so dangerous? Well, you tell me?

O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

Psalms 7:9 (NIV) (cf. Rev 2)

Examining, searching... what will He find? Will I be numbered among the righteous and vindicated or among the wicked?

See if there is any offensive [KJV, wicked; NASB, hurtful] way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 139:24 (NIV)

ANY offensive way? Wow, it shouldn't take long to find something... When I open myself up to God in that way, things could get messy in a hurry. What if He tells me to stop something that I am doing: a relationship, a dream, a career path, a habit, an indulgence? Or worse yet, what if He tells me to start doing something: a ministry, a witness, to become a tither, a children's worker, a follower instead of an admirer of the Gospel? What if God really “gets into my business”?

I love to tell stories on myself. When Vicki and I were first married, I began to realize in a hurry that the marriage of two “only children” might have been a mistake! Our first real disagreement was about whether to put a set of jars we were given on the counter, or in the cabinet. This skirmish carried on for weeks, until finally one, or both of us, surrendered. Ironically, I think those jars were sold in our last garage sale. We had to learn to share space, share a checkbook, and so on. As they say, you have to endure the process to get the product. Some came along easier than others, but the process of becoming one flesh was painful for us, but well worth it.

Granted, the images associated with the work of God in our lives are not always pleasant. But the process is so necessary.

"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers ' soap.

Mal 3:2 (NASB)

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade, it into another vessel, as it pleased, the potter to make.

Jer 18:4 (NASB)

For Your arrows have sunk deep into me,
And Your hand has pressed down on me.

Psalms 38:2 (NASB)

There is nothing more fearsome than facing yourself... but thank God you are not alone if you do.