Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind. (Ps. 26:2)
i don’t know anyone who enjoys having an MRI, which is short for magnetic resonance imaging. I know I didn’t enjoy the one and only time I had one. Mine was to rule out the possibility that a tumor might be affecting my hearing. Fortunately, no tumor.
An MRI of the head is especially disturbing because the machine surrounds the head with only inches to spare. If anyone has a tendency to be claustrophobic, such an MRI does not help. Besides all this, the machine is quite noisy.
But in my case, it was a short experience and resulted in good news.
How about a device that examines thoughts and motives? If one existed, David, the shepherd boy who became king in ancient Israel, would be first in line.
He said, “Test me, O Lord, and try me.” Oh, sure, easy for him to say. That was three thousand years ago, before MRIs or any other sophisticated equipment had been invented.
True, but the Lord has been doing this sort of thing for centuries. In fact, He didn’t even need David’s permission to test him. Nor does He need yours or mine.
What is significant is David’s willingness to be tested. Are you? Can you confidently ask the Lord to examine your heart, thoughts, and motives? He does anyway, you know.
Ask the Lord to examine your heart. It will do you good.
Ron McClung works at his denomination’s world headquarters and lives in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife, Carol. They have two sons and nine grandchildren.
