Searched and Known

There is a deep desire in the human heart to be searched and known. Yet, in the busy, self-
focused world we live in, so few take the time to know one another. At the same time, we
don’t want to be too known. We desire to have our strengths known, but our weaknesses,
sin, and deep desires – let’s keep those hidden! All at the same time, we desire to be known and to hide – what a struggle!

This tension only has one solution: the Lord Jesus Christ! In Psalm 139, we are shown the
depths of the searching and knowing that the Lord goes to in every square inch of our lives.
He knows the internal and external, the beginning and the end, the highs and the lows, and
the light and the dark parts of our lives. He knows the thoughts, words, actions and hidden
motives of all we do. He knows it all, but is He loving and tender?

If God is harsh and demanding, it is a terror to be an open book before Him. If His heart is
cold and closed towards us, ours will be towards Him. But He is warm and tender! We see
His tender work towards us as He knits us together in the secret place of the womb. What
intricate design and tender care He shows us! On what ground, though, are we handled so
tenderly?

He first knit His own Son in the womb of His mother. The Word became flesh and was
fearfully and wonderfully made. His days, too, were intricately formed to lead our Lord Jesus to His cross and the grave. The day grew dark as He took on our sin and the wrath that we deserved. The grave was cold and dark, yet He was not abandoned – His Father broke through, and He rose from the grave!

David was not crushed by the dark days he faced, because Jesus would crush the darkness 1,000 years later. So, too, we can claim the words of Psalm 139 for ourselves because we have been searched and known by God and knit to His Son. The searching and knowing in Psalm 139 is an intimate act initiated by our Lord Jesus that brings us into union with Him.

So, then, the deep desire to be known at the deepest levels of our hearts has been fulfilled by the work of Christ. As such, we no longer need to resist Him out of fear of being found out. He knows it all, so we can pour out our desires, struggles and questions to Him as He
delights to minister to every square inch of our hearts. He is warm and tender; we can lay our hearts open to Him.

And we are sent out to search and know, too. What an amazing opportunity we have as the
Bride of Jesus to go out into a hurting, unfulfilled world and look for inroads into hearts. In
Christ, we have what the world so desperately needs. Let us be prayerful and intentional with each person the Lord brings our way. In our own families, in our church family, and in the comings and goings the Lord brings us throughout the week.

Search us and know us, O God!