April 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"I the LORD search the heart" (Jeremiah 17:10).

Devotional

As solemn as this view of God's character is, the believing mind finds in it sweet and hallowed peace. What more comforting truth in some of the most trying positions of a child of God than this—the Lord knows the heart! The world may condemn, the saints may judge, but God knows the heart.

And to those who have been led into deep discoveries of the heart's hidden evil, to whom have been made startling and distressing unveilings, how precious is this character of God—"he who searches mind and heart" (Rev. 2:23)! Is there a single nook or cranny of our hearts that you would hide from his penetrating glance? Is there a corruption that you would hide from his view? Is there an evil of which you would have him ignorant? Oh no! Mournful and humiliating as it is, you would throw open every door and window to invite and urge his scrutiny and inspection. You would hide nothing, hold back nothing, and make no excuses when dealing with the great Searcher of hearts, exclaiming, "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" (Ps. 139:23–24).

And while our Lord is thus acquainted with the evil of your heart, he most graciously conceals that evil from the eyes of others. He seems to say by his benevolent conduct, "I see my child's infirmity." Then, covering it with his hand, he exclaims, "But no eye shall see it except my own!" Oh, the touching tenderness, the loving-kindness of our God! Knowing, as he does, all the evil of your nature, he yet veils that evil from human eye, so that others may not despise you as you often despise yourself. Who but God could know it? Who but God would conceal it?

And how blessed, too, to remember that while God knows all the evil, he is just as intimately acquainted with all the good that is in the hearts of his people! He knows all that his Spirit has implanted, all that his grace has wrought. Oh encouraging truth! That spark of love, even though faint and flickering ... that pulse of life, even though low and unsteady ... that touch of faith, even though feeble and hesitating ... that groan, that sigh, that low thought of self that leads one to seek the shade ... that self-abasement that places his face in the dust... Oh, not one of these sacred emotions is unseen, unnoticed by God. His eye ever rests with infinite kindness and delight on his own image in the renewed soul. Listen to the way he spoke to David: "Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart" (2 Chron. 6:8).

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
grant my desire to magnify thy Name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly thine;
fill my poor heart with thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee;
send a revival, start the work in me.
Thy Word declares thou wilt supply our need;
for blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

(J. Edwin Orr, 1936)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.