Word of Encouragement (12/03/2024)
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” (1 Chron. 29:17–19)
David confesses, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness” (v. 17). This may be an inconvenient truth, but it is a truth nonetheless. David was aware of this truth early on. When he was on the run with King Saul relentlessly pursuing him, God allowed Saul to fall into his hand, not just once but twice. Oh, how the table had turned! But David refused to stretch out his hand and take King Saul’s life. The door was wide open for him to end his fugitive life as well as for his men and their families. But he knew that not ever open door was a divinely ordained opportunity. He knew that it was wrong to lift one’s hand against God’s anointed.
David chose to do what was right instead of following what the situation seemed to dictate. He was able to resist the temptation to take a shortcut to the throne because he saw the situation as a test from God. He knew that the only standard of God’s test was righteousness (i.e., obedience to God’s will), not pragmatic expediency or efficiency. It was true that God promised to make him king. But it was also true that the end did not justify the means: the end God promised must be achieved by the means He established.
Consider the terrible tragedies that ensued when people tried to attain the end God promised in their own ways. God created Adam and Eve in His image so that they might be like Him through obedience. But Eve, tempted by Satan, wanted to be like God by doing what God forbade. The rest is history, as they say. How about Abraham and Sarah? God promised them a son. But instead of waiting His time, Sarah tried to make it happen by using Hagar. We know the trouble the descendants of Ishmael (the Midianites, Edomites, Moabites, Hagarites, and Amalekites) caused Israel throughout history.
There is a sense in which our life is a long series of tests, isn’t it? Every decision we make in constantly changing situations of life tests our character, exposing what we are made of. But this is not just a self-test or a test imposed on us by an impersonal entity, whatever that may be. No, we are ultimately accountable to God: it is He who tests our hearts. How sobering and humbling that is! As we begin the day, let us remember the principle of coram deo: we live before God. May this truth encourage us to do what is right in His sight! Acknowledging our propensity to do what is easy and convenient, let us cling to Christ and walk in reliance on the Holy Spirit.