The Light Comes On

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

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.

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Many of us mistakenly believe that God doesn't want us to be honest about our lives.
We think that He will be upset with us if we tell Him how we really feel. But the
Scriptures tell us that God does not want us to be superficial in our relationship
with Him, with others, or in our own lives. David wrote, "Surely you desire truth
in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place" (Ps. 51:6 NIV).

The Lord desires truth and honesty at the deepest level and wants us to experience
His love, forgiveness, and power in all areas of our lives. Experiencing His love
does not mean that all of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors will be pleasant
and pure. It means that we can be real, feeling pain and joy, love and anger,
confidence and confusion. The Psalms give us tremendous insight about what it means
to be honest with the Lord. David and other psalmists wrote and spoke honestly
about the full range of their responses to situations. For example, David expressed
his anger with the Lord because he felt abandoned by Him:

I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?" (Ps. 42:9 NIV)

At times, David was very angry with others, and he expressed his anger to the Lord
in terms that reveal the depth of his feelings:

Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions!
Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their
arrows be blunted. Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn
child, may they not see the sun. Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns -
whether they be green or dry - the wicked will be swept away. (Ps. 58:6-9 NIV)

David wrote of his despair about difficult situations:

My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling
have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. (Ps. 55:4-5 NIV)

And he communicated his despair to the Lord:

Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? We are brought down
to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. (Ps. 44:24-25 NIV)

Sometimes he was confused:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from
me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
(Ps. 13:1-2 NIV)

Sometimes David communicated his love for the Lord:

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Ps. 42:1-2
NIV)

At times David trusted in the Lord:

The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the
stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against
me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble
and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break
out against me, even then will I be confident. (Ps. 27:1-3 NIV)

At other times he was filled with praise for God:

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name forever and ever. Every
day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and
most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. (Ps. 145:1-3 NIV)



These passages demonstrate that God, who spoke of David as a man after His own heart,
wants us to be open and honest with Him about all of our emotions, not just the pleasant ones.


~ THE SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE, Seeing Your TRUE WORTH through GOD'S EYES
Robert S. McGee