Bible Strands
Psalms 139:23
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, immediately after declaring perfect hatred for his enemies (139:22) and just before asking to be led in the way everlasting (139:24). The moment is a pivot from outward judgment to inward self-examination.
The words — שַׂרְעַפָּי (sara'appai, H8312) is a rare noun meaning "disquieting thoughts," not merely "concerns" as the BSB renders it. The verb חָקְרֵנִי (chaqe.reni, H2713) carries the force of a forensic examination, not casual inquiry.
The thread — Psalms 26:2 pairs the same "test" and "examine" verbs in a parallel plea, and Job 31:6 asks God to weigh him with honest scales. 1 Peter 1:7 describes faith refined by fire as more precious than gold.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to submit to a search they cannot control or direct. It is not a self-help exercise; it is a request that God find what the psalmist cannot see in himself.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Cross-references
- Psalms 26:2 Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
- Job 31:6 let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
- 1 Peter 1:7 so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Proverbs 17:3 A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Psalms 139:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
- Jeremiah 11:20 O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.
- Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Deuteronomy 8:16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.