This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
The Intimacy Of God
The 139th Psalm ought to be the personal experience of every Christian. My own introspection, or exploration of myself, will lead me astray, but when I realize not only that God knows me, but that He is the only One who does, I see the vital importance of intercessory introspection. Every man is too big for himself, thank God for everyone who realizes it and, like the Psalmist, hands himself over to be searched out by God. We only know ourselves as God searches us. ‘God knows me’ is different from ‘God is omniscient’; the latter is a mere theological statement; the former is a child of God’s most precious possession—‘O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.’
From Biblical Ethics
I love the line, “We only know ourselves as God searches us.”
He knows me better than I know myself. If I ever hope to mature, I can only do so as I make this my daily prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23,24)
Craig T. Owens 
March 15, 2012 at 7:48 pm
I think I would say – ‘We only know ourselves as we search God.’ Ross & I have been feeling that ‘american evangelical christianity’ has become ‘individual/consumer-centered’ instead of totally & completely Father/Christ-centered. During this Lenten season, we are finding great freedom from self in the early church fathers & the old liturgies/common book of prayer 🙂
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