Please explain to me Psalm 139:23-24.
Psalm 139 is a psalm of David. 1 Samuel 13:14 tells us that David was “a man after His own heart”. This means that David was a man after God’s own heart, which indicates that David was a believer. Therefore, Psalm 139:23-24 are verses for believers. That says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
In these verses, David pours out his heart to God. David wanted the Lord to search him, know his heart, try him and know his thoughts. What a wonderful, humble attitude David shows with this prayer. If we are honest, we know that if we ask the Lord to thoroughly search us, then He will find imperfections in us. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.”
The second part of David’s prayer reveals the remedy to this problem. “See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” What is “the way everlasting”? The Lord Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” We read in Psalm 90:2 that “from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” So the Lord Jesus is the way and God is everlasting. Are Jesus and God separate or the same? God is speaking about His Son in Hebrews 1:8. That says, “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is God!
In Psalm 119:89 we read, “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” The written Word of God is eternal and the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, is also eternal. The Lord Jesus is spoken of as the Word in John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” It follows that “the way everlasting” in Psalm 139:24 is all about Christ and His Word, the Bible.
When the Lord shows us our wrong attitudes, thoughts, words and actions, He wants us to do what David did and confess that we did wrong. David confessed his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 51:3-4. “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.” The way to prevent ourselves from sinning is found in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Every Christian needs to spend time in the Word each day to keep from sinning. There is power in the Word to strengthen us to live for our Savior and not for ourselves. What a wonderful resource we have in the Holy Scriptures! Our Bibles are God’s love letter to us and He has so many spiritual blessings for us when we study His precious Word. (158.6) (DJ)