By Godfrey Miranda

O Lord, You have searched me and known me
(Psalm 139:1, NKJV)

How do you feel when someone in your life really knows and understands you?

I’m a relatively private person, which might sound strange coming from someone who fills a role that involves frequent public communication. But because my personality defaults to keeping my thoughts and feelings to myself, it’s a pleasant surprise when someone truly understands me without extraordinary effort on my part to explain myself.

The people who make us feel seen and heard are the people we feel most secure with, the people we trust the most. When the disciples first entered the upper room to celebrate the Passover prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus said some revealing things (Mark 14:18) that made it clear that He understood their hearts better than they knew themselves. While the news of an in-house betrayer caused great sorrow, their immediate response shows a deep safety they felt with Jesus: “And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, ‘Is it I?'” (v. 19).

In the upper room, the revelation of Jesus’ infinite awareness was intended to lead the disciples toward self-awareness, not for the sake of condemnation but with the hope of restoration. And when we choose to meet with Jesus in the upper room at the beginning of a new year, I believe He invites us toward the same—personal reflection that allows us to be honest with how frail we are apart from Him, an awareness of our brokenness so we can find our wholeness in Him.

Self-awareness is a dominant theme in Psalm 139. The song begins with an adoration-filled acknowledgment that God has searched and known us. And then it concludes with a prayer that God would keep searching and keep knowing us. It’s as if David recognizes that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and instead of being rattled by that reality, he rests in it.

Maybe the idea of your heart being searched doesn’t stir up the most positive feelings or expectations, but we can feel safe because the One who knows us this intimately is the God whose thoughts toward us are precious and numberless (Psalm 139:17-18). In the end, Psalm 139‘s concluding prayer teaches us how to engage healthy reflection to understand ourselves and how God may want to keep leading us in 2026.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23-24, NKJV)

Some of us may have already spent time drafting goals and hopes for the new year, but there’s never a wrong time to walk through these verses to understand where we are and what God may have for us next. Here are some questions you can talk with God about based on this prayer:

HOW DO YOU WANT ME TO GROW?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties …

This new year, start with asking God, “How do You want me to grow?” That question may seem unrelated to the prayer in these lines, but really, it’s about surrendering our heart’s desires and concerns for the year and asking God about the things HE knows we need.

Additionally, this question isn’t so much about changing outward behaviors/circumstances. It’s more focused on asking God about the inward transformation He has in mind for us. Let God talk with you about your heart, attitudes, and thought patterns that He wants to reframe toward renewal. This will require searching and digging, but remember that God knows our hearts better than we do. And if we’re willing to let Him, He’s the One capable of uncovering what’s really in our hearts to reveal the vision He has for the person He’s calling us to be in 2026.

WHAT NEEDS TO GO?

And see if there is any wicked way in me …

What needs to go? Are there habits or commitments that are actually preventing me from experiencing the growth God is calling me to? Are there things I’m holding on to that are actually holding me back from the renewal God has for me?

Don’t be afraid to be real with God and let Him be real with you. Sometimes the things that need to go are things we’ve been doing consciously and even unconsciously. Sometimes, the things we need to release aren’t necessarily things done BY us but ways we’re responding to things done TO us.

HOW CAN I FOLLOW?

And lead me in the way everlasting.

How can I follow? The last line of Psalm 139:24 isn’t a prayer that God will bless the plans we’ve made for 2026 or help us reach the goals we’ve set. No, when we ask God to lead us, we’re committing ourselves to watch and listen.

God has a heavenly destination in mind for us all in view of eternity but asking “How can I follow?” gives God room to clarify “the way” He wants to lead us in the present —this year, this month, right now. “Way” is a word that refers to a road or path, which implies process toward a goal. Give God room to instruct you about next steps toward the growth He has for you this year. Take time to listen for specific instructions and daily invitations to act on, knowing that these things are part of His grand scheme to lead us in the “everlasting way” (v. 24, NIV).

PRAYER

Thank You Lord for being the God who knows me better than I know myself and thank You for knowing the good plans You have for me personally in this new year. I pray for rest in the assurance that all my days are lovingly fashioned by You (Ps. 139:16). Please give me a heart to slow down, surrender, listen closely, and let You lead.

—Godfrey Miranda is lead pastor at Littleton Seventh-day Adventist Church. Republished with permission from Littleton Adventist Church Pastor’s Blog. Photo by Abdullah Arain of Unsplash.