Does God Really Know You?

“O Jehovah, . . . you have become familiar even with all my ways.” ​—PSALM 139:1, 3.

1. How widespread is the feeling that ‘others do not understand’ the anxieties, problems, and pressures that we face?

DOES anyone really understand the anxieties, pressures, and problems that you face? Worldwide there are millions of people, young and old, who have no family or relatives who care what happens to them. Even within families, many wives​—yes, and husbands too—​feel that their marriage mates do not truly comprehend the pressures that weigh them down. At times, in frustration, they protest: “But you don’t understand!” And not a few young people have concluded that no one understands them either. Yet, among those who have longed for greater understanding from others are some whose lives have later taken on rich meaning. How is that possible?

2. What can enable worshipers of Jehovah to have lives that are richly satisfying?

² It is because, regardless of whether fellow humans fully understand their feelings or not, they are confident that God does understand what they are going through and that, as his servants, they do not have to face their problems alone. (Psalm 46:1) Furthermore, God’s Word coupled with the help of discerning Christian elders enables them to see beyond their personal problems. The Scriptures help them to appreciate that their faithful service is precious in the eyes of God and that there is a secure future for those who rest their hope in him and the provisions he has made through Jesus Christ.​—Proverbs 27:11; 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18.

3, 4. (a) How can appreciation of the fact that “Jehovah is God” and that he “made us” help us to find joy in his service? (b) Why do we have complete confidence in Jehovah’s loving care?

³ You may be acquainted with Psalm 100:2, which says: “Serve Jehovah with rejoicing. Come in before him with a joyful cry.” How many truly render worship to Jehovah in that manner? Sound reasons for doing so are given in verse 3, which reminds us: “Know that Jehovah is God. It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasturage.” In the Hebrew text, he is there referred to as ʼElo·himʹ, thus indicating his greatness in majesty, dignity, and excellence. He is the only true God. (Deuteronomy 4:39; 7:9; John 17:3) His servants come to know his Godship, not merely as a fact that has been taught to them but as something they experience and of which they give evidence by obedience, trust, and devotion.​—1 Chronicles 28:9; Romans 1:20.

⁴ Because Jehovah is the living God, able to see even our heart, nothing is hidden from his eyes. He is fully aware of what is happening in our lives. He understands what causes the problems that we face as well as the mental and emotional turmoil that may result from these. As the Creator, he knows us better than we know ourselves. He also knows how to help us to cope with our situation and how to provide lasting relief. Lovingly he will help us​—like a shepherd who holds a lamb in his bosom—​as we trust in him with all our heart. (Proverbs 3:5, 6; Isaiah 40:10, 11) A study of Psalm 139 can do much to strengthen that confidence.

The One Who Sees All Our Ways

5. What does Jehovah’s ‘searching through’ us mean, and why is that desirable?

⁵ With deep appreciation, the psalmist David wrote: “O Jehovah, you have searched through me, and you know me.” (Psalm 139:1) David was confident that Jehovah’s knowledge of him was not superficial. God did not see David as humans might, noting only his physical stature, his speaking ability, or his skill in playing the harp. (1 Samuel 16:7, 18) Jehovah had “searched through” into David’s innermost self and had done so with loving concern for his spiritual welfare. If you are one of Jehovah’s devoted servants, he knows you just as well as he did David. Does that not stir within you feelings of both gratitude and awe?

6. How does Psalm 139:2, 3 show that Jehovah knows everything we do, even all our thoughts?

⁶ All of David’s activities were exposed to the view of Jehovah, and David was aware of that. “You yourself have come to know my sitting down and my rising up,” the psalmist wrote. “You have considered my thought from far off. My journeying and my lying outstretched you have measured off, and you have become familiar even with all my ways.” (Psalm 139:2, 3) The fact that Jehovah is in the heavens, far removed from the earth, did not prevent his knowing what David was doing or what he was thinking. He “measured off,” or carefully examined, David’s activities, both by day and by night, so as to know their nature.

7. (a) Using incidents from David’s life as a basis, comment on some of the things in our lives that God is aware of. (b) How should awareness of this affect us?

⁷ When love for God and confidence in His power to deliver moved David as a young man to volunteer to fight the Philistine giant Goliath, Jehovah knew that. (1 Samuel 17:32-37, 45-47) Later, when the hostility of men caused David’s heart severe pain, when the pressure was so great that he gave way to tears at night, he was comforted by the knowledge that Jehovah heard his supplication. (Psalm 6:6, 9; 55:2-5, 22) Likewise, when a heart filled with gratitude caused David to meditate about Jehovah during a sleepless night, Jehovah was well aware of it. (Psalm 63:6; compare Philippians 4:8, 9.) One evening when David watched the wife of a neighbor bathing, Jehovah knew that too, and he saw what happened when David, even for a brief period, allowed sinful desire to crowd God out of his thoughts. (2 Samuel 11:2-4) Later, when the prophet Nathan was sent to confront David with the gravity of his sin, Jehovah not only heard the words that came from David’s mouth but also discerned the repentant heart from which they came. (2 Samuel 12:1-14; Psalm 51:1, 17) Should that not make us think seriously about where we go, what we do, and what is in our heart?

8. (a) In what way do the ‘words on our tongue’ influence our standing with God? (b) How can weaknesses in the use of the tongue be overcome? (Matthew 15:18; Luke 6:45)

⁸ Since God knows everything that we do, it should not surprise us that he is aware of how we use a body member even as small as the tongue. King David realized this, and he wrote: “For there is not a word on my tongue, but, look! O Jehovah, you already know it all.” (Psalm 139:4) David well knew that those who would be welcomed as guests in Jehovah’s tent would be people who did not slander others and who refused to use their tongue to spread juicy tidbits of gossip that would bring reproach on an intimate acquaintance. Those whom Jehovah favored would be people who spoke the truth even in their hearts. (Psalm 15:1-3; Proverbs 6:16-19) None of us are able to keep our tongue under perfect control, but David did not weakly conclude that there was nothing he could do to improve his situation. He spent much time composing and singing psalms of praise to Jehovah. He also freely acknowledged his need for help and prayed to God for it. (Psalm 19:12-14) Is our use of the tongue also in need of prayerful attention?

9. (a) What does the description at Psalm 139:5 indicate as to how thoroughly God knows our situation? (b) Of what does this make us confident?

⁹ Jehovah does not see us or our situation from just a limited perspective. He has the full picture, from every side. Using a besieged city as an example, David wrote: “Behind and before, you have besieged me.” In David’s case, God was not a besieging enemy; he was, rather, a watchful guardian. “You place your hand upon me,” David added, thus indicating God’s control and protection exercised for the lasting benefit of those who love him. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high up that I cannot attain to it,” David acknowledged. (Psalm 139:5, 6) So complete, so thorough, is God’s knowledge of his servants, that we cannot fully comprehend it. But we know enough to be confident that Jehovah truly understands us and that the help he provides will be the very best.​—Isaiah 48:17, 18.

Wherever We Are, God Can Help Us

10. What encouraging truth is conveyed by the vivid description at Psalm 139:7-12?

¹⁰ Viewing Jehovah’s loving care from another standpoint, the psalmist continues: “Where can I go from your spirit, and where can I run away from your face?” He had no desire to try to get away from Jehovah; rather, he knew that wherever he might be, Jehovah would know and, by holy spirit, could help him. “If I should ascend to heaven,” he continued, “there you would be; and if I should spread out my couch in Sheol, look! you would be there. Were I to take the wings of the dawn, that I might reside in the most remote sea, there, also, your own hand would lead me and your right hand would lay hold of me. And were I to say: ‘Surely darkness itself will hastily seize me!’ then night would be light about me. Even the darkness itself would not prove too dark for you, but night itself would shine just as the day does; the darkness might just as well be the light.” (Psalm 139:7-12) There is nowhere that we might go, no circumstance that we might face, that would put us beyond Jehovah’s view or beyond the reach of his spirit to help us.

11, 12. (a) Even though Jonah lost sight of it for a time, how was Jehovah’s ability to see and to help demonstrated in Jonah’s case? (b) How should Jonah’s experience benefit us?

¹¹ At one point the prophet Jonah lost sight of that. Jehovah had assigned him to preach to the people of Nineveh. For some reason he felt that he could not handle that assignment. Perhaps because of the fierce reputation of the Assyrians, the thought of serving in Nineveh frightened Jonah. So he tried to drop out of sight. At the seaport of Joppa, he obtained passage on a ship bound for Tarshish (generally associated with Spain, over 2,200 miles [3,500 km] west of Nineveh). Nevertheless, Jehovah saw him board the ship and go to sleep down in the hold. God also knew where Jonah was when he was later thrown overboard, and Jehovah heard Jonah when he promised from within the belly of the big fish that he would pay his vows. Delivered back to dry land, Jonah was again given an opportunity to fulfill his assignment.​—Jonah 1:3, 17; 2:1–3:4.

¹² How much better it would have been for Jonah from the start to have relied on Jehovah’s spirit to help him fulfill his assignment! Later, though, Jonah did humbly record his experience, and that record has helped many since then to manifest the confidence in Jehovah that it seemed so difficult for Jonah to gain.​—Romans 15:4.

13. (a) What assignments had Elijah faithfully fulfilled before he fled from Queen Jezebel? (b) How did Jehovah help Elijah even when he sought to go into hiding outside the territory of Israel?

¹³ Elijah’s experience was somewhat different. He had faithfully delivered Jehovah’s decree that Israel would suffer drought as chastisement for their sins. (1 Kings 16:30-33; 17:1) He had boldly upheld true worship in the contest between Jehovah and Baal at Mount Carmel. And he had followed through with the execution of 450 prophets of Baal at the torrent valley of Kishon. But when Queen Jezebel in a rage vowed to have Elijah put to death, Elijah fled the country. (1 Kings 18:18-40; 19:1-4) Was Jehovah there to help him at that difficult time? Yes, indeed. If Elijah had climbed a high mountain, as if to heaven; if he had hid in a cave deep within the earth, as if in Sheol; if he had fled to some remote island with speed like that of the light of dawn spreading over the earth​—Jehovah’s hand would have been there to strengthen and lead him. (Compare Romans 8:38, 39.) And Jehovah did strengthen Elijah not only with food for his journey but also with marvelous displays of His active force. Thus fortified, Elijah undertook his next prophetic assignment.​—1 Kings 19:5-18.

14. (a) Why would it be wrong to conclude that God is omnipresent? (b) Under what circumstances has Jehovah lovingly sustained his servants in modern times? (c) How is it that even if we were in Sheol, God would be there?

¹⁴ The prophetic words of Psalm 139:7-12 do not mean that God is omnipresent, that he is personally present in all places at all times. The Scriptures clearly show otherwise. (Deuteronomy 26:15; Hebrews 9:24) Yet, his servants are never beyond his reach. That is true of those whose theocratic assignments have taken them to distant places. It was true of loyal Witnesses in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and it was true of the missionaries held in solitary confinement in China during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It was true of our dear brothers and sisters in a Central African country who had to flee repeatedly from their villages, even from the country. If need be, Jehovah can reach right into Sheol, the common grave, and bring faithful ones back by means of a resurrection.​—Job 14:13-15; Luke 20:37, 38.

The One Who Truly Understands Us

15. (a) From how early a time was Jehovah able to observe our development? (b) How is the extent of God’s knowledge of us indicated by the psalmist’s reference to the kidneys?

¹⁵ Under inspiration, the psalmist draws attention to the fact that God’s knowledge of us precedes even the time of our birth, saying: “For you yourself produced my kidneys; you kept me screened off in the belly of my mother. I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware.” (Psalm 139:13, 14) The combining of genes from our father and our mother at the time of conception produces the pattern that profoundly influences our physical and mental potential. God understands that potential. In this psalm special mention is made of the kidneys, which are often used in the Scriptures to represent the innermost aspects of personality.a (Psalm 7:9; Jeremiah 17:10) Jehovah has known these details about us since before we were born. He is also the one who with loving concern designed the human body so that a fertilized cell within a mother’s womb produces a protective housing to ‘screen off’ the embryo and protect it as it develops.

16. (a) In what way does Psalm 139:15, 16 highlight the penetrating power of God’s vision? (b) Why should this be encouraging to us?

¹⁶ Then, emphasizing the penetrating power of God’s vision, the psalmist adds: “My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was woven in the lowest parts of the earth [evidently a poetic reference to his mother’s womb but with an allusion to Adam’s creation from the dust]. Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, and in your book all its parts were down in writing, as regards the days when they [the body parts] were formed and there was not yet one [distinct body part] among them.” (Psalm 139:15, 16) There is no doubt about it​—whether fellow humans understand us or not, Jehovah does. How should that affect us?

17. When we view God’s works as being wonderful, what does this move us to do?

¹⁷ The writer of Psalm 139 acknowledged that God’s works about which he was writing were wonderful. Do you feel that way too? Something that is wonderful makes a person think deeply or show rapt attention. Likely you react that way to Jehovah’s works of physical creation. (Compare Psalm 8:3, 4, 9.) Do you also give that sort of thought to what he has done in establishing the Messianic Kingdom, to what he is doing in having the good news preached in all the earth, and to the way in which his Word transforms human personalities?​—Compare 1 Peter 1:10-12.

18. If we find God’s work to be fear-inspiring, how will it affect us?

¹⁸ Is it likewise your experience that contemplation of God’s work is fear-inspiring, that it produces in you a wholesome fear, one that is powerfully motivating, one that has a profound effect on your personality and on the way you use your life? (Compare Psalm 66:5.) If so, your heart will move you to laud Jehovah, to praise him, to make opportunities to tell others about his purpose and the marvelous things that he has in store for those who love him.​—Psalm 145:1-3.

“Search Through Me, O God”

“Search through me, O God, and know my heart. . . . Lead me in the way of time indefinite.”​—PSALM 139:23, 24.

1. How does Jehovah deal with his servants?

ALL of us like to be dealt with by someone who is understanding, someone who takes into account our circumstances, someone who helps when we fall short, someone who does not demand of us more than we are able to do. Jehovah God deals with his servants in that way. Psalm 103:14 says: “He himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust.” And Jesus Christ, who perfectly reflects his Father, extends the warm invitation: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you [or, “Get under my yoke with me,” footnote] and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”​—Matthew 11:28-30.

2. Contrast Jehovah’s view with that of humans as regards (a) Jesus Christ, and (b) followers of Christ.

² Jehovah’s view of his servants is often very different from that of humans. He looks at matters from a different standpoint and takes into account aspects that others may know nothing about. When Jesus Christ walked the earth, he was “despised and was avoided by men.” Those who did not put faith in him as the Messiah “held him as of no account.” (Isaiah 53:3; Luke 23:18-21) Yet, in the eyes of God, he was “[God’s] Son, the beloved,” to whom the Father said: “I have approved you.” (Luke 3:22; 1 Peter 2:4) Among the followers of Jesus Christ are people who are looked down on because they are materially poor and endure much tribulation. Yet, in the eyes of Jehovah and his Son, such ones may be rich. (Romans 8:35-39; Revelation 2:9) Why the difference in viewpoint?

3. (a) Why is Jehovah’s view of people often very different from that of humans? (b) Why is it vitally important for us to examine the sort of person we are inside?

³ Jeremiah 11:20 replies: “Jehovah . . . is examining the kidneys and the heart.” He sees what we are inside, even those aspects of our personality that are hidden from the eyes of others. In his examination, he gives primary emphasis to qualities and conditions that are vital to a good relationship with him, those that are most lastingly beneficial to us. Our knowing that is reassuring; it is also sobering. Since Jehovah pays attention to what we are inside, it is important for us to examine what we are inside if we are going to prove to be the sort of persons that he wants in his new world. His Word helps us to make such an examination.​—Hebrews 4:12, 13.

How Precious God’s Thoughts Are!

4. (a) What motivated the psalmist to declare that God’s thoughts were precious to him? (b) Why should they be precious to us?

⁴ After having meditated on the breadth and depth of God’s knowledge of his servants, as well as on God’s extraordinary ability to provide whatever help they might need, the psalmist David wrote: “So, to me how precious your thoughts are!” (Psalm 139:17a) Those thoughts, revealed in his written Word, are far higher than anything from humans, no matter how brilliant their ideas may seem. (Isaiah 55:8, 9) God’s thoughts help us to keep in focus the really important things in life and to be zealous in his service. (Philippians 1:9-11) They show us how to look at matters the way God does. They help us to be honest with ourselves, to face up to the sort of person we truly are at heart. Are you willing to do that?

5. (a) What does God’s Word urge us to guard “more than all else”? (b) How can the Bible record regarding Cain benefit us? (c) Though we are not under the Mosaic Law, how does it help us to understand what pleases Jehovah?

⁵ Humans are inclined to put too much emphasis on externals, but the Scriptures counsel us: “More than all else that is to be guarded, safeguard your heart.” (Proverbs 4:23) Both by precepts and by examples, the Bible helps us to do that. It tells us that Cain went through the motions of offering sacrifices to God while in his heart he seethed with resentment, then hatred, toward his brother Abel. And it urges us not to be like him. (Genesis 4:3-5; 1 John 3:11, 12) It records the Mosaic Law requirement of obedience. But it also emphasizes that the foremost requirement of the Law was that those who worshiped Jehovah must love him with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength; and it states that next in importance was the commandment that they love their neighbor as themselves.​—Deuteronomy 5:32, 33; Mark 12:28-31.

6. In applying Proverbs 3:1, what questions should we ask ourselves?

⁶ At Proverbs 3:1, we are urged not merely to keep God’s commandments but to be sure that the obedience is an expression of what is truly in our heart. Individually we need to ask ourselves, ‘Is that true of my obedience to God’s requirements?’ If we realize that in some matters our motivation or thinking is deficient​—and none of us can say that we are flawless—​then we need to ask, ‘What am I doing to improve the situation?’​—Proverbs 20:9; 1 John 1:8.

7. (a) How might Jesus’ denunciation of the Pharisees at Matthew 15:3-9 help us in safeguarding our heart? (b) What situations may require us to take strong measures to discipline our mind and heart?

⁷ When Jewish Pharisees made a pretense of honoring God while craftily promoting a practice motivated by self-interest, Jesus denounced them as hypocrites and showed that their worship was in vain. (Matthew 15:3-9) Jesus also warned that to please God, who sees the heart, it is not sufficient to lead an outwardly moral life while, with a view to passionate pleasure, we also persistently indulge in thoughts that are immoral. We may need to take drastic measures to discipline our mind and heart. (Proverbs 23:12; Matthew 5:27-29) Such discipline is also needed if as a result of our secular work, our goals in education, or our choice of entertainment, we are becoming imitators of the world, allowing it to mold us according to its standards. May we never forget that the disciple James addresses as “adulteresses” those who profess to belong to God but who want to be friends of the world. Why? Because “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”​—James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:19.

8. To benefit fully from God’s precious thoughts, what do we need to do?

⁸ In order to benefit fully from God’s thoughts on these and other matters, we need to set aside time to read them or hear them. More than that, we need to study them, talk about them, and meditate on them. Many readers of The Watchtower regularly attend congregation meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, where the Bible is discussed. They buy out time from other pursuits in order to do it. (Ephesians 5:15-17) And what they receive in return is worth far more than material wealth. Is that not how you feel?

9. Why do some who attend Christian meetings progress more rapidly than others?

⁹ However, some who attend these meetings make more rapid spiritual progress than others do. They apply the truth more fully in their lives. What accounts for this? Frequently, a major factor is their diligence in personal study. They appreciate that we do not live on bread alone; spiritual food every day is just as important as eating physical food regularly. (Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 5:14) So they endeavor to spend at least some time every day reading the Bible or publications that explain it. They prepare for the congregation meetings, studying lessons in advance and looking up the scriptures. They do more than read the material; they meditate on it. Their pattern of study includes thinking seriously about the effect that what they are learning should have on their own lives. As their spirituality grows, they come to feel as did the psalmist who wrote: “How I do love your law! . . . Your reminders are wonderful.”​—Psalm 1:1-3; 119:97, 129.

10. (a) For how long a time is it profitable to continue to study God’s Word? (b) How do the Scriptures show this?

¹⁰ Whether we have studied God’s Word for a year, 5 years, or 50 years, it never becomes simply repetitious​—not if God’s thoughts are precious to us. No matter how much any of us have learned from the Scriptures, there is more that we do not know. “O God, how much does the grand sum of them amount to!” said David. “Were I to try to count them, they are more than even the grains of sand.” God’s thoughts are beyond our ability to count. If we were to enumerate God’s thoughts all day long and fell asleep doing that, when we woke up in the morning, there would still be much more to think about. Thus, David wrote: “I have awaked, and yet I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:17, 18) For all eternity there will be more for us to learn about Jehovah and his ways. We will never come to the point where we know it all.​—Romans 11:33.

Hating What Jehovah Hates

11. Why is it important not only to know God’s thoughts but to share his feelings?

¹¹ Our study of God’s Word is not merely with a view to filling our head with facts. As we let it penetrate our heart, we also begin to share God’s feelings. How important that is! If we do not develop such feelings, what may result? Though we may be able to repeat what the Bible says, we may, nevertheless, view as desirable what is forbidden, or we may feel that what is required is a burden. It is true that even if we hate what is wrong, we may have a struggle because of human imperfection. (Romans 7:15) But if we do not put forth earnest effort to bring what we are inside into line with what is right, can we expect to please Jehovah, “the examiner of hearts”?​—Proverbs 17:3.

12. How important are godly love and godly hate?

¹² Godly hate is a powerful protection against wrongdoing, even as godly love makes the doing of what is right a pleasure. (1 John 5:3) Repeatedly the Scriptures urge us to cultivate both love and hate. “O you lovers of Jehovah, hate what is bad.” (Psalm 97:10) “Abhor what is wicked, cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) Are we doing that?

13. (a) With what prayer of David regarding the destruction of the wicked are we in full agreement? (b) As shown in David’s prayer, who were the wicked that he prayed for God to destroy?

¹³ Jehovah has clearly stated his purpose to root the wicked ones out of the earth and to usher in a new earth in which righteousness is to dwell. (Psalm 37:10, 11; 2 Peter 3:13) Lovers of righteousness long for that time to come. They are in full agreement with the psalmist David, who prayed: “O that you, O God, would slay the wicked one! Then even the bloodguilty men will certainly depart from me, who say things about you according to their idea; they have taken up your name in a worthless way​—your adversaries.” (Psalm 139:19, 20) David did not personally long to slay such wicked ones. He prayed that retribution would come at Jehovah’s hand. (Deuteronomy 32:35; Hebrews 10:30) These were not people who had in some way merely offended David personally. They had misrepresented God, taking up his name in a worthless way. (Exodus 20:7) Dishonestly, they professed to serve him, but they were using his name to promote their own schemes. David had no love for those who chose to be God’s adversaries.

14. Are there wicked people who can be helped? If so, how?

¹⁴ There are billions of people who do not know Jehovah. Many of them in ignorance practice things that God’s Word shows to be wicked. If they persist in this course, they will be among those who perish during the great tribulation. Yet, Jehovah takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, nor should we. (Ezekiel 33:11) As long as time permits, we endeavor to help such people to learn and apply Jehovah’s ways. But what if some people show intense hatred for Jehovah?

15. (a) Who were the ones that the psalmist viewed as “real enemies”? (b) How can we today show that we “hate” those revolting against Jehovah?

¹⁵ Regarding them, the psalmist said: “Do I not hate those who are intensely hating you, O Jehovah, and do I not feel a loathing for those revolting against you? With a complete hatred I do hate them. They have become to me real enemies.” (Psalm 139:21, 22) It was because they intensely hated Jehovah that David looked on them with abhorrence. Apostates are included among those who show their hatred of Jehovah by revolting against him. Apostasy is, in reality, a rebellion against Jehovah. Some apostates profess to know and serve God, but they reject teachings or requirements set out in his Word. Others claim to believe the Bible, but they reject Jehovah’s organization and actively try to hinder its work. When they deliberately choose such badness after knowing what is right, when the bad becomes so ingrained that it is an inseparable part of their makeup, then a Christian must hate (in the Biblical sense of the word) those who have inseparably attached themselves to the badness. True Christians share Jehovah’s feelings toward such apostates; they are not curious about apostate ideas. On the contrary, they “feel a loathing” toward those who have made themselves God’s enemies, but they leave it to Jehovah to execute vengeance.​—Job 13:16; Romans 12:19; 2 John 9, 10.

When God Searches Through Us

16. (a) Why did David want Jehovah to search through him? (b) What is there about our own heart that we should ask God to help us discern?

¹⁶ David did not want to be like the wicked in any way. Many people try to conceal what they are inside, but David humbly prayed: “Search through me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me, and know my disquieting thoughts, and see whether there is in me any painful way, and lead me in the way of time indefinite.” (Psalm 139:23, 24) When referring to his heart, David did not mean the physical organ. In harmony with the figurative meaning of that expression, he referred to what he was inside, the inner man. We too should want God to search our heart and discern whether we have any improper desires, affections, emotions, purposes, thoughts, or motives. (Psalm 26:2) Jehovah invites us: “My son, do give your heart to me, and may those eyes of yours take pleasure in my own ways.”​—Proverbs 23:26.

17. (a) Instead of covering over disquieting thoughts, what should we do? (b) Should it surprise us to find wrong inclinations in our heart, and what should we do about them?

¹⁷ If there are hidden within us any painful, disquieting thoughts because of wrong desires or wrong motives or because of some wrong conduct on our part, then surely we want Jehovah to help us clear the matter up. Instead of the wording “any painful way,” Moffatt’s translation uses the expression “a wrong course”; The New English Bible says: “Any path that grieves thee [that is, God].” We ourselves may not clearly understand our disquieting thoughts and so do not know how to express our problem to God, but he understands our case. (Romans 8:26, 27) It should not surprise us if there are bad inclinations in our heart; still, we should not excuse them. (Genesis 8:21) We should seek God’s help to root them out. If we truly love Jehovah and his ways, we can approach him for such help with the confidence that “God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.”​—1 John 3:19-21.

18. (a) How does Jehovah lead us in the way of time indefinite? (b) If we continue to follow Jehovah’s direction, what warm commendation can we expect to receive?

¹⁸ In harmony with the psalmist’s prayer that Jehovah would lead him in the way of time indefinite, Jehovah does, indeed, lead his humble, obedient servants. He leads them not only in the path that can mean long life because they are not prematurely cut off for evildoing but in the way that leads to life eternal. He impresses upon us our need of the sin-atoning value of Jesus’ sacrifice. Through his Word and his organization, he provides us vital instruction so that we are able to do his will. He emphasizes to us the importance of responding to his help so that we become inwardly the sort of person that we profess to be outwardly. (Psalm 86:11) And he encourages us with the prospect of perfect health in a righteous new world along with an eternity of life to use in serving him, the only true God. If we continue to respond loyally to his direction, he will, in effect, say to us, as he did to his Son: “I have approved you.”​—Luke 3:22; John 6:27; James 1:12.