4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah Psalms4:4
Yesterday we saw that penitence begins with seeing God more clearly.
Penitence is more than introspection. Introspection without an awareness of God leads to depression (we see our failure and feel hopeless about it) or denial (we see our brokenness and make elaborate excuses.)
Penitence starts with God - He is the Constant One. He is the standard that we compare ourselves to. But as we look to Him, we also search ourselves and take responsibility for our own spiritual development.
David captures it well here in Ps.4.
"Search your hearts and be silent."
If this were a self-driven exercise it would read - "Search your heart and have a talk to your soul..." But we are asked to search our hearts and then to be silent to listen for the Still Small Voice of God as He may point out something we have not seen or reassure us of His forgiveness.
We're being invited into a DIALOGUE:
Ps139:23-24 captures it well:
"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."
In both Psalm 4 & 139 David portrays penitence as a conversation. We are brave enough to search our hearts and to listen to the prompting of God.
It's a bit like a camera: The shutter opens, light flows in and leaves an image on the film or sensor. When we search our hearts we are prayerfully opening the shutter of our hearts to let God's light shine in and change us.
Will you open your heart and let God's light shine in?
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
