Proverbs 20 Devotional

A Lamp That Searches Within

“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.”Proverbs 20:27 (BSB)

A question sits in the middle of Proverbs 20 that no one can answer well. Who can honestly claim to have kept his heart pure and to be clean of his sin (20:9)? The honest answer is no one. The chapter shows why we cannot judge ourselves accurately. Our steps come from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way (20:24)? God uses the human spirit like a lamp to search a person's hidden depths (20:27).

God sees deeper into us than we see into ourselves. But the same chapter tells the wronged not to take revenge, and to wait instead for the LORD, who will save them (20:22). The God who searches the heart is also the God who rescues. John writes that for those who walk in the light, the blood of Jesus, God's Son, washes away every sin (1 John 1:7). The question of 20:9 does have an answer, just not one we supply. Cleansing is God's gift, and it begins by letting his light search us.

To think about: What part of your heart have you been reluctant to let God search, and will you ask him to search it today?