But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
I’ve read that the etymological basis for the word, “tried” is to examine or test for purity as one would a metal. The Bible says that God tests, examines, tries our heart especially in relation to its attitude to God. Is or is not our heart toward God?
Of course, God knows the answer. We are the ones so easily deceived by our heart. We are the ones who, without such testing, would go about believing our heart was pointed toward God when, in fact, it is far from Him.[1]
I am reminded of the test that God made of Abraham. Genesis 22:1 (KJV)
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
The Bible says that God instructed Abraham to take Isaac to the mountain and offer him, and that God did so to tempt or to test him. Abraham did as God told him. In the end the Bible says,
Genesis 22:11-12 (KJV)
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
God learned no new thing about Abraham but Abraham learned a great deal about himself.
Testing, trying, and trouble are never easy. But if through it we discover where our heart is in its attitude toward God, we are so much the better for it.
[1] Matthew 15:8 (KJV)
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
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