“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me” prays King David (Psalm 139:1).
“You have searched.” Does God need to search for anything? Doesn’t he know everything already? And after all, aren’t we the ones who are supposed to search for God? “Searched” is a strong word. It’s not just that God glanced at me, but God rummaged me, he rifled through me, he explored me, he winnowed me. God hunted in every corner, combed through me, and found me out.
We often take this negatively – God discovered all my sins. Yes, that’s part of what it means for God to search us. David confessed elsewhere, “God, you know my folly and my guilt is not hidden from you.” But there’s a consoling positive side to this too.
“You have searched me.” God wasn’t just searching for stuff. He explored me and you! Little us. Most of us are pretty simple people. It doesn’t take much to uncover who we are. But God takes the time to explore simple people. God searched me and you – our frailties, anxieties, history, relationships, perplexities, bodies, illness, future. He’s not interested in searching for information. He searches me and you. Every corner. God knows us better than we know ourselves.
“And you know me.” This is the result of his searching. “You have searched” is in the past. “And you know” is in the present. God’s searching worked. He found. Sometimes we search for our car keys and we can’t find them. Sometimes we do find them but can’t access them – they are locked in the car. The Lord’s searching of you worked – he knows you.
This is so important in our lonely, anonymous and distanced world. Someone knows me! Teens complain, “my parents just don’t understand me.” Spouses lament distance in their marriages. Thoughtful employees know that the corporation really doesn’t care for them – all it wants is their work hours. But God knows me. Among the 8,053,692,236 people on the planet, God knows you. Little you and little me.
Some people love this. Others hate it because it confronts our two-faced living. But the truth that comforts the humble always irritates the proud.
You are God’s big interest if you are his child. Lord, here I am – rummage me.