Know Thyself

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

Psalm 139:1

An ancient philosopher said, “Know thyself,” but that’s hard to do. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” The apostle Paul cautions us against being too quick to approve ourselves or condemn others, saying, “I care very little if I am judged by you . . . indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Corinthians 4:3-4, NIV).

We must be careful about being overly introspective, and about being too quick to criticize others. As fallen creatures, we’re capable of wounding ourselves and others with misguided judgments.

Yes, be discerning about right and wrong, and be willing to properly admonish someone when the Spirit leads, but remember there’s only One who can actually read the heart. How much better to say with the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

The best of [us] are too apt to judge rashly, and harshly, and unjustly; but [God’s] judgment is always according to truth.

MATTHEW HENRY^a