Psalm 26:2
2 Examine [bachan] me, O LORD [Yahovah], and prove [nacah] me; try [tsaraph] my reins [kilyah] and my
heart [leb].KJV-Interlinear
2
Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. NASB
A complete examination is
requested of God in order to verify the existence of a sound spiritual
foundation and life within the believer.
The words for examine, prove,
and try, are all related in one way or another to the examination or testing of
precious metals.
To examine, is a method
for verifying the genuineness and therefore the value.
To try, is typically used
in connection with an examination of smells and odors, and is typically used
for foods or plants to determine their goodness or freshness. When testing
metals then the examination would be for color or the observation of
contaminants or impurities, and therefore the quality of the metal.
To try, is an examination
of the strengths, durability, or sustaining power or ability of a metal.
The one performing
examination is the Lord, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the examination is thorough
and complete, objective and fair.
What is being examined
are the reins and the heart of the individual believer.
The reins, have been used
in Scriptures to identify the bowels, or the seat or source of one’s affections
and emotions. This examination looks at the stability, the poise, and a genuine
desire, a genuine deep desire, of the believer’s attitude toward God, Christ,
and Bible doctrine. This looks at the believers commitment, not pretense,
towards sticking to their daily study and use of Bible doctrine within their
daily life.
The heart is the thinking
or circulation aspect of the soul. It represents or identifies the thoughts and
activity of the thinking processes of the individual.
What you think is what
you are. And if you have Bible doctrine in your soul, placed their by
consistent and regular daily Bible study, then your thoughts will be along the
lines of objectivity and accurate thinking of the truths of life, and proper
orientation to the real realities of life.
If you lack Bible
doctrine in your soul, then your mind is opened to the chaos and nonsense of
the thinking of this world.
We as believers, engage
in our daily Bible study not to learn some mysterious secret that no one else
has discovered over these many thousands of years, not to gain some magic
potion or access to a miracle for one’s own use, not to make ourselves into
some super person that can accumulate brownie points or special things from
God.
We engage in our daily
Bible study so that our minds and thoughts and actions will continue on a daily
basis after a pattern that is consistent with truth.
Bible doctrine is a
system of structure and boundaries that helps us keep our soul healthy, and
growing, and connected to the realities of life, so that we can be oriented
properly and not fooled by the deceptions and distortions and lies of this
world.
Bible doctrine keeps us
on track within our spiritual life. Bible doctrine helps us bear up under the
burdens of life in this world. Bible doctrine is not a magic potion that will
make the problems of life go away, it helps you face them, and deal with them
as they happen in your life.
You can ignore God and
doctrine to try to make your own way through life, but that is a fool’s choice.
If you were to sum up all
of life that exists in this world, into one word, then that word would be,
temporary.
If you were to sum up all
of life that exists in the spiritual world, into one word, then that word would
be, eternal.
Anything that is
temporary is empty and will amount to nothing.
Anything that is eternal,
has great intrinsic value and will continue on forever.
So which is better, to
invest in the temporary, or to invest in the eternal? How do you do that?
