Examine Me, O Lord

Daily Devotional – Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart.
Psalms 26:2 (NKJV)

To prove that a student has understood and can apply the knowledge gained in the classroom, an institution of learning subjects the learner to an examination. Tests also benefit the trainee because the results point out areas that require improvement in the quest for excellence.

Refine My Mind and My Heart

Similarly, when miners bring gold ore to the surface, they subject it to exceedingly hot temperature in order to burn away the dross and retain the pure metal. The furnace plays the same role as an examination in an academic setting. In both cases, tough conditions are necessary for excellence.

Now, despite the noble intentions of examiners, the severity of the process instils fear in the candidates. Ask students you know and many will tell you they would be happy if respective authorities scrapped off exams. If gold could talk, too, it would probably ask to be spared the furnace.

Burn My Reins and My Heart

Not so with King David! He requests God, “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart.” (Psalms 26:2). The psalmist does not fear the furnace. The entire psalm portrays a man who has walked uprightly before God and is confident he will pass the Lord’s examination.

David does not dread trials. He has gone through so many of them that he appreciates the person he has become in the process. He also knows that when God allows troubles to assail us, we identify our areas of weakness and need (read Psalms 139:23-24) thus allowing God to treat and heal our spiritual ills.

Examine Me, O Lord

In essence, even if you are not as confident as David or the conventional student to face trials, you do not have to fear. When God permits trials in your life, His intentions are noble. He wants to purge the dross in you and bring out the gold, the kind of character that will make you fit for heaven.

Would you be confident to take up David’s challenge and ask God to examine you? Remember, all human beings are fallible and God’s scrutiny is not punitive but corrective. Open your heart to God today and ask Him to examine you, correct you, and make you worthy to represent Him on earth, and to spend eternity with Him later.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, examine me, O LORD, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart.