4.r. How unsearchable are his judgments and how incomprehensible his ways!

Job 4:12   “Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it. Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice: Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth. Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

Romans 11:33   Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 9:20     But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Ecclesiastes 7:20    Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Jeremiah 17:9   The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew Henry:   “Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Ps 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, more pure, than God, who being his Maker, is his Lord and Owner? How dreadful, then, the pride and presumption of man! How great the patience of God! Look upon man in his life. The very foundation of that cottage of clay in which man dwells, is in the dust, and it will sink with its own weight. We stand but upon the dust. Some have a higher heap of dust to stand upon than others but still it is the earth that stays us up, and will shortly swallow us up. Man is soon crushed; or if some lingering distemper, which consumes like a moth, be sent to destroy him, he cannot resist it. Shall such a creature pretend to blame the appointments of God? Look upon man in his death. Life is short, and in a little time men are cut off. Beauty, strength, learning, not only cannot secure them from death, but these things die with them; nor shall their pomp, their wealth, or power, continue after them. Shall a weak, sinful, dying creature, pretend to be more just than God, and more pure than his Maker? No: instead of quarrelling with his afflictions, let him wonder that he is out of hell. Can a man be cleansed without his Maker? Will God justify sinful mortals, and clear them from guilt? or will he do so without their having an interest in the righteousness and gracious help of their promised Redeemer, when angels, once ministering spirits before his throne, receive the just recompence of their sins? Notwithstanding the seeming impunity of men for a short time, though living without God in the world, their doom is as certain as that of the fallen angels, and is continually overtaking them. Yet careless sinners note it so little, that they expect not the change, nor are wise to consider their latter end.

Clear Conscience

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

“So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”

Psalms 19:12  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Job 6:24   “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.

1 Corinthians 4:4   For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

Psalms 139:23-24    Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalms 139:2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

Jeremiah 17:9   The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Reading God’s word with intent to be taught and used by God will always lead us to a place where we understand more and more of His holiness and our unholiness.  It is during these times of wanting to know Him more we become aware of how easy it is for us to put self ahead of God.  These men of God spoke of the heart and how deceitful it is, the mind and how God knows all of our thoughts, and after seeing how easy it is for us to fall back to old ways asking God to search their heart and see if there was anything offensive to Him and to lead them in paths that honor Him.  How do we know if we are honoring and glorifying God in our daily walk?  How do we know if our heart is right before Him?  How do we know if our thoughts are in line with His purpose?  I wonder if there are times we use the culture to determine if we have a clear conscience or not rather than His word. This year commit to staying in His word with desire to have Him speak to your heart so that we humbly serve Him.