“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” (Ps 139:23).
What a blessing to be able to say these words to our Father in full confidence! There is no longer any need to hide or avoid looking closely at the state of our heart. Rather, we enter into a mature relationship with our Father.
Surely this is the openness that He wants to find in us, so that we acquire a pure heart and the Spirit of God can work deep within us.
What do we really have to fear? Is there anything that God does not yet know? What do we have to hide from the Almighty? Are we afraid of our own depths and what may be hidden there?
If so, it is all the more important that we join the Psalmist in this prayer. It is for our own good, for we know that nothing unclean can enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Rev 21:27). Therefore, nothing should remain in our soul that cannot stand before the light of God.
Our Father, in His love, makes us a great offer to purify ourselves in this life from many things that are an obstacle to a deeper encounter with Him and that can therefore hinder our fruitfulness for the Kingdom of God. If we are not able to entrust ourselves to God in this way, it would be as if we were voluntarily tied to a chain that prevents us from moving forward.
We must be aware that we are not dealing with a dictator from whom we must fear all kinds of repression. Nor are we dealing with a human being who cannot know the depths of our hearts. No, we are addressing our loving Father! As the Scriptures say:
“We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Heb 4:15-16a).