A Prayer For Sanctification

Sep 28, 2025

022 A Prayer For Sanctification

Psalms 139:23-24

September 28, 2025

We are currently looking at THE DYNAMICS OF SANCTIFICATION

Again, we know how sanctification works.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit within us

To conform us to the image of Christ.

He does this through various means and tools.

Scripture – Prayer – Providence – Fellowship – Obedience

So we use these tools to pursue Christ.

· We behold Christ in Scripture…

· We behold Christ in Prayer…

· We behold Christ in Providence…

· We behold Christ in Fellowship…

· We behold Christ in Obedience…

Having looked at Scripture as the first tool…

THIS MORNING we shifted to our second tool and that is prayer.

Using the model prayer as an example

We recognized that when we go to Christ in prayer,

It of necessity causes us to see our weakness and His glory.

· We see Him as sovereign, not ourselves.

· We see Him as sanctified, not ourselves.

· We see Him with a scepter, not us.

· We see Him as secure, not ourselves.

· We see Him as sinless, not ourselves.

· We see Him as strong, not ourselves.

And that is not only true in the model prayer,

THAT IS TRUE IN ALL PRAYERS.

Take even the prayer we are going to study tonight.

(23-24) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

By crying out to God to be searched you already see

Things David recognizes to be true of God that are not true of himself.

FOR EXAMPLE:

1. David recognizes that he does not know all things, even his own heart, but God does.

2. David realizes that there are thoughts that may be displeasing to God, and that God is ultimately the Judge of them.

3. David realizes that his ways may indeed be offensive to God, and God is aware of them.

4. David realizes that he is unsure about the path to walk, but God is a sure and certain guide.

So what glory does David see in Christ just in those two verses?

David sees Him as omniscient God.

David sees Him as the final Judge.

David sees Him as Holy watcher of men.

David sees Him as the reliable Guide.

David is here gazing on His glory.

You see that.

Prayer does that.

We saw that this morning, and you see it here.

WELL TONIGHT, I want to again get very practical with you.

· We read Proverbs 2 last week and talked about how to read the Bible.

· Well tonight I want to get practical again and give you an example of prayer.

There are many (too many to count) great prayers in Scripture

Than can be used as an example, indeed Psalms is full of them.

Psalm 51 was certainly tempting.

There are some great prayer examples there.

· (2) “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

· (7) “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow”

· (10) “Create in my a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

· (14) “Deliver me from bloodguitliness, O God, the God of my salvation.”

But ultimately tonight I decided to land on Psalm 139.

Mostly because the segment we look at is short and easy to remember.

· I gave you that acronym from Proverbs 2 because I wanted you to remember it as you read the Bible.

· Well, in prayer, as you pray for sanctification I want you to have a short prayer that you can easily remember that will also serve to guide you into even more detailed prayer.

· Psalms 139:23-24 is a perfect passage for that.

I do trust that the 139th Psalm is one of familiarity to you.

The first 18 verses of the Psalm represent a segment of Scripture

That people love to meditate upon and rightly so.

WE SEE THERE THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.

(READ 1-6)

You see David recognizing that there is nothing God doesn’t know.

· David’s mind is overwhelmed when he contemplates all that God knows.

· But David is aware that God knows everything about him.

We can hear Jesus here

· Reminding us that “the very hairs of our head are all numbered”.

· Warning us that “every careless word we speak, we will give an account on the day of judgment”.

God knows it all.

WE SEE THERE THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD.

(READ 7-12)

You can’t hide from God.

· There is nowhere you can go that God can’t find you.

· Jonah might be a good witness to that truth.

But we hear there Jesus again

· Reminding us that “nothing is hidden that will not become evident”;

· Telling us that “everything in the darkness will be exposed in the light”.

We hear the book or Revelation

· Revealing that at the judgment “death and hades”, “the sea”, and every corner of creation will give up the dead to stand before God’s judgment throne.

There is no escaping Him.

WE SEE THERE THE SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE OF GOD

(READ 13-16)

We glory in the reality that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

We take great comfort in knowing that God has “ordained our days”.

We hear then the writer of Ecclesiastes

· Telling us to make the most of our time.

· We hear Paul echo the same.

We hear Jesus

· Reminding us that we were placed on this earth for a purpose and that purpose is to believe in Him.

We hear Paul

· Reminding the Athenians that God created all men and is now declaring that “all men everywhere should repent” because He has fixed a day of judgment.

We see all of those great truths in our study of this Psalm.

Now, those realizations are NOT the main point of what David has to say.

Those testaments to who God is

Are David’s way of setting the stage for his prayer.

David is making it clear that he knows exactly who he is praying to.

He is praying to the omniscient God.

· David is not going to be able to deceive Him at all.

He is praying to the omnipresent God.

· God knows everywhere David has been and everything he has done there.

He is praying to the sovereign God.

· The God who is qualified to judge if David is living this life properly.

The first 18 verses are David’s way of clarifying

That he knows exactly who he’s praying to.

After that announcement, David makes a statement of praise to God.

(17-18) “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”

That’s a great way to introduce your request to God.

Ok God, I know who you are.

· I know that You know everything.

· I know that You’ve seen everything.

· I know You have determined how I am to live.

And God, I am more interested in Your input regarding my life than any other input, including my own.

· Your assessment…

· Your insight…

· Your correction…

· Your guidance…

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Now all that is just INTRODUCTION.

David hasn’t even gotten to the issue yet,

But what a way to start!

The issue of David’s prayer starts becoming clear in verse 19.

It’s actually such a shame that most people skip verses 19-22 when they study this Psalm because they don’t like the tone and don’t know what to do with them, but these verses are the heart of the Psalm.

Now, you’re going to be tempted to read these verses as a request,

But that’s NOT what they are.

These verses are a declaration that David is making.

They are a declaration that David is making about himself.

IN OTHER WORDS

· David is approaching the God who knows and sees everything and who will judge men according to how they have lived,

· And David is here telling Him, this is who I think I am.

“God I’m going to lay out for You

What I believe my passions and behaviors to be.”

And here they are:

(19-22) “O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.”

David is expressing that he believes himself

To have nothing in common with the world.

He sees things very much in black and white.

· You have those who are for God and those who are against God.

· You have those who love God and those who hate God.

Here is David amidst a generation that hates God

And he is driving his flag in the front yard as a man on God’s side.

There is no fence riding here.

You don’t have to question which side David thinks he is on.

It’s not so much David requesting that all the wicked die immediately

So much as it is him declaring that he is in full agreement with God’s judgment on the wicked.

He wants nothing to do with them.

Now, in order to understand the last two verses

And the prayer we want to examine tonight

You need to understand of exactly who David is talking about here.

· Who are these “wicked”?

· Who are these “men of bloodshed”?

· Who are these “enemies”?

· Who are these that “hate” God?

· Who are these that “rise up against” God?

You really need to know

Because David is making an adamant point

That he doesn’t think he’s in their camp at all.

Let’s focus in on that label “men of bloodshed”.

It is a title that David uses in 3 other Psalms.

We need to look at them very quickly.

TURN TO: PSALMS 26

(READ 1-7)

· Now those verses are very telling.

· And you’re going to see the very same requests given in verse 2 repeated

here in our Psalm.

· “Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart.”

But what you notice here in this Psalm is that

David is particularly disgusted by men who are frauds in the faith.

Men who do not walk in truth.

Men David calls (4) “deceitful men” and “pretenders”

(He identified them back in Psalm 139

As God’s enemies who take His name in vain.)

They put on a show of being real, but they are frauds.

And David says, I have no interest in being around such men.

(READ 8-12)

And there we see David’s first usage of the “men of bloodshed” title.

· Here they are men who are clearly sinners.

· They do not love the habitation of God’s house.

· They are wicked and love bribes.

· Their worship of God is all a sham meant only to benefit their pocketbook.

Psalms 28:3 “Do not drag me away with the wicked And with those who work iniquity, Who speak peace with their neighbors, While evil is in their hearts.”

So “men of bloodshed” are frauds and ultimately heart murderers.

Let’s look at David’s second usage.

TURN TO: PSALM 55

(READ 1-15)

Well we see again the type of man we are dealing with.

· He is a dangerous man and a phony.

· He once pretended fellowship in God’s house, now he is David’s enemy.

(READ 16-23)

Well there they are again.

· Described as men who violate the covenant of God.

· Men whose speech is smoother than butter.

· Men who are scoffers and men of war.

They pretend devotion to God, but they are actually enemies.

TURN TO: PSALM 59

(READ 1-5)

And there they are again.

· They are men who do iniquity.

· They are men set an ambush.

· They are men who launch an attack.

· They are men who attack the innocent.

So when David says that he is opposed to “men of bloodshed”

What type of men are we talking about?

We’re talking about men who pretend a relationship with God,

But who are actually God’s enemies.

Men who pretend religion to destroy the innocent.

For a reference, can you see the Pharisees here?

· Sitting in the seat of Moses.

· Broadened Phylacteries.

· Lengthened Tassels.

· Praying on the Corner.

· Giving for all to see.

· Taking great pains in their fasting.

· Can you see them refusing to enter Pilate’s praetorium so as not to be defiled?

· Can you see them refusing Judas’ returned money since it is blood money?

THEY LOOK SO DEVOUT.

· But can you also see them scolding the poor for being healed on the Sabbath?

· Can you see them devouring widow’s houses?

· Can you see them attacking the man born blind?

· Can you see them conspiring to condemn and murder Jesus?

· Can you see them giving Judas that blood money at the first?

THEY ARE HYPOCRITES

They are phonies, they are frauds.

· They pretend to love God, but in reality they hate Him.

· They pretend to be God’s children, but they take His name in vain.

· They pretend to worship God, but they actually rise up against Him.

That is who David is talking about here.

He is talking about men who are hypocritical phonies.

And this is where we come to understand the point of David’s request.

David’s prayer is to ask God,

· The One who knows all things…

· The One who sees all things…

· The One who judges all things…

David is asking that God,

“Would You examine me and please make sure I am not one of them?”

David’s greatest concern is that he is not a fraudulent hypocrite like them.

If you’re asking David,

· He’s pretty sure he hates them.

· He’s pretty sure he is nothing like them.

But then again:

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

David needs a higher authority.

David needs a more informed judge.

That is what makes these last two verses

Such a great example of a prayer for sanctification.

It IS NOT you asking God to deal with the flaws you are aware of.

It IS you asking God to first reveal your flaws and then deal with them.

If you want an example of a true prayer for sanctification

Then commit these last two verses of Psalm 139 to memory

And let them be a guide when you pray.

So here David is lifting up to God a 3 fold request.

He needs God’s examination in 3 areas.

#1 MY DEVOTION

Psalm 139:23a

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;”

If you are really interested in having every area of your life cleaned

Then you need to approach the One who knows it all.

This God knows everything there is to know about David,

He knows the truth about David’s devotion.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

David knows that God knows the heart.

And if you will remember, the heart (devotion) was the key problem of the hypocrites in Jesus’ day.

Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

What an indictment of phony men.

Everything was external.

Jesus would also call them

· Blind guides,

· Whitewashed tombs,

· Dirty cups,

· False teachers,

· Sons of murderers,

· And a brood of vipers.

And while no one in their day knew it,

Jesus knew it because He looks at the heart.

John 2:25 “and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

David is well-aware that a man can totally fool other men,

But he cannot fool God.

David is here concerned that he may have fooled himself,

So he volunteers for God to examine his heart.

David is asking God

WHAT DO YOU THINK? AM I REAL?

Paul said:

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

Peter said:

2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”

It is a simple request.

· Do I really hate what You hate?

· Do I really love what You love?

· Is my heart really Yours?

God, You see me and know me like no one else.

You know if my heart is fully Yours or not, please examine me.

WHAT A GREAT REQUEST.

Do you trust your own evaluation?

· David didn’t.

· He thought he knew, but only God really knew.

START THERE IN YOUR PRAYER.

· God, please examine my devotion.

· You know it better than I do.

· Look at my heart and tell me what areas I am lacking.

We need to know if we are real,

Or if we are deceiving yourself about our devotion to Christ.

SO WE ASK HIM

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;”

So first examine my devotion.

#2 MY DOUBTS

Psalms 139:23b

“Try me and know my anxious thoughts;”

At first reading we may be tempted to think that David is simply talking about things that cause him stress.

You know, “God, I’m so stressed out, would you check it out and let me know why I’m so stressed.”

But that’s not exactly his point.

There’s only one other place where this word “anxious thoughts” is used

And it gives us great insight into what David means here.

TURN TO: PSALMS 94

The Psalm begins with David crying out to God that He might deal with the wicked.

(READ 1-7)

David then calls out to the wicked to point out the foolishness of their sin.

They are living as though God does not see them and that is stupid!

(READ 8-11)

David then thanks God for His discipline which has held him back from participating in similar sins.

(READ 12-16)

And then comes the passage.

(READ 17-23)

What you have here is David understanding the necessity

Of standing against the evil of his day.

He knows that such sin should be called out.

He knows he should declare his allegiance to God publicly.

But that is hard.

In fact, (17) “If the LORD had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.”

If God hadn’t strengthened me,

I would have been too afraid to speak up.

And David says, (19) “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”

So what are these “anxious thoughts”?

They are the fears that rise up in David

And make him afraid to stand up and confront evil.

They are the things that intimidate him and keep him from being different.

They are his doubts and fears.

Now, that is what David is praying about again.

· He is well-aware of times in his life that doubts have arisen that would threaten to silence him.

· He is also aware that there are times when he has been able to push those doubts aside and stand for God against the wicked.

· But just because he thinks he has done it, doesn’t mean there haven’t been times of failure that he is unaware of.

So that is his next prayer.

God, are there times when my doubts and fears and “anxious thoughts” have toppled me?

Are there doubts or fears that are overcoming me and keeping me from standing with you against the wicked?

Are there doubts or fears that are causing me to be more like a hypocrite than a true devoted follower of Yours?

AND THAT IS ANOTHER GREAT REQUEST.

You start with: God would you please check my level of devotion?

And next: God would you please address my doubts which hinder that devotion?

I want to be sanctified.

I want to be holy.

I want to be real.

I want to be faithful.

So “Try my and know my anxious thoughts.”

What a great prayer.

#3 MY DIRECTION

Psalms 139:24

“And see if there be any hurtful way in me”

David just outlined earlier all the ways that the wicked offend him.

What David wants to know now is

If there is any way in which he is offensive to God.

Imagine being offensive to God and not knowing it?

Imagine the shock of the Pharisees

When they woke up in hell only to learn that all of their piety was nothing but a filthy rag.

Have you heard Jesus on earth?

Mark 9:19 “And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

Did you catch Him weeping over Jerusalem because of their unbelief?

The disciples once confronted Jesus for being offensive to the Pharisees,

But failed to see how offensive they were to Him.

Matthew 15:12-13 “Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.”

Well that’s what David wants to know.

· God am I offending You in any of my ways or actions?

· Am I offending You in the way I walk?

What a great request.

“And lead me in the everlasting way.”

Regardless of my direction,

God I want you to take the wheel and guide me from here on out.

See David thinks he knows where he stands.

· He thinks he’s a man on God’s side.

· He thinks he loves what God loves and hates what God hates.

BUT ONLY GOD REALLY KNOWS.

And if I’m sincere about sanctification

Then I must approach Him for examination.

· David asks God to check his level of devotion.

· David asks God to judge his doubts and if they are hindering that devotion.

· David asks God to see if he is offensive in how he lives.

· And ultimately gives God free reign to change his direction in any place God

desires.

WHAT A GREAT PRAYER.

DO YOU WANT TO BE SANCTIFIED?

Do you want your secret sin exposed and removed?

Here is your prayer.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”