GOD TESTS HEARTS (2)

“YOU have TESTED MY HEART; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing…” – Psalm 17:3a

It’s worthwhile for us to ponder on the question of how we respond when GOD TESTS HEARTS: “YOU have TESTED MY HEART; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress” (Psa.17:3). The New International Version says: “Though you PROBE MY HEART, though you EXAMINE me at night and TEST me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed.” David purposed that his mouth shall not transgress! He ended up leaving for posterity, a psalm that’s remarkable for its trust in God, lack of confidence in self and glorious heavenly hope!

This Psalm was David’s urgent plea for deliverance in a time of crisis. He asked God to intervene in the menacing situation, pleading and making note of his loyalty to the Lord and obedience to His commands. He insisted that he was in the right and free from deceit. It is natural, but not rational, to complain or blame God when trials come. But David did neither of these. He believed the trials he faced were intended by God, for a purpose: to test and reinforce the spiritual quality of his life. From that perspective, he confidently claimed that God's testing turned up nothing amiss. David was aware of his own sins, but not as a typical pattern of life. David did not engage in self-deceit: “Do not enter into judgement with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous” (Psa.143:2).

To guard his words was among David’s strong commitments to God. He would not complain nor blame the Lord for whatever befell him. David testified that his prayer did not flow from “deceitful lips” (v.1b). He also refused to take matters into his own hand: “Let my vindication come from Your presence” (v.2a). David invited the divine test in the previous verses, and then spoke as having passed the test: “You have tried me and have found nothing”! He allowed God to test his heart; hence he could come with great confidence in prayer. David’s actions also towed right paths: “I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer” (v.4b).

Knowing his human limitations however, David still sought for God’s help: “Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip” (v.5). Proclaiming God as Saviour of those who seek refuge in Him, he asked God to heed his cry and reveal His lovingkindness to him (v.7). Verse 8 uses two phrases that describe God's tender care and love: “apple of the eye” and “shadow of Your wings.” David compared his “deadly enemies” to a ferocious, stealthy, bloodthirsty lion (v.12). Yet, through these struggles, he looked forward to a blessed eternity of beholding God's face: “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (vv.9, 15). These are the confident confessions of one whose heart was divinely tested and proved.

The Lord tests believers today, too, but how we respond to the discipline is extremely important. Do we invite God to test our hearts? Are we ready to be corrected? Would we listen to others if God used them to tell us that we may be wrong? Are we willing to be vulnerable before God? Do we try to hide behind a finger? Do we try to withhold facts or veil our motives rather than admit all things before Him with whom nothing is hidden? We must come to God and His Word with a heart ready to be convicted and corrected.

Tested believers should regard divine disciplining as the Father's way of correcting His children and improving their character: “…For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son who He receives” (Heb.12:5–6). Why does God the Father test His children: “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).