How Many Times a Day Do You Search For Something?

By Dean Collins

We all have those moments when we can’t find our keys or phone. But sometimes we search for information because we want to learn something—or learn more about someone we want to hire, do business with, or elect to public office. In those cases, our searches tend to be online through a search engine like Google.

According to a Google search I did today, I learned that a percentage of search results contain inaccurate or false information. Google appears to have greater accuracy than many other search engines, but when you consider the trillions of searches conducted each year, even a small percentage of errors represents an enormous amount of inaccurate information. And information generated by AI brings its own concerns about accuracy.

I started thinking about this as I read Psalm 139 this morning. The first verse says:

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”

Of course, the Almighty doesn’t need Google or AI to search us and know us! His omniscience means that he knows everything about us with 100 percent accuracy. We can try to hide information. We can have blind spots about ourselves. But our all-knowing God knows it all. He knows us completely.

The psalmist continues by telling God—and reminding us—that we cannot hide from him. He knows our daily routines. He knows when we change or avoid a routine. He even knows what we are thinking before we complete the thought! And how does he know? Well, for one thing, he created us.

I recently listened to a podcast discussing AI agents that found ways around some of the restrictions their human creators had placed on them and began acting in unexpected ways. I don’t know how long it took the creators to discover what was happening, but it illustrates something interesting: The creator of a human-made system does not necessarily know or anticipate everything the creation will do.

While that can be scary to consider, it is extremely comforting to know that God has no problem understanding us.

In the case of those AI agents, it was almost as if the creations were testing their human creators. Eventually, the humans figured out what was going on but were somewhat baffled by how it happened.

At the end of Psalm 139, the psalmist invites the Almighty to search his heart:

“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!”

I don’t think the psalmist was trying to see whether God could uncover some secret plan. The prayer was based on the psalmist’s confidence that God did, in fact, know him better than he knew himself. His desire was for God to reveal anything he was blind to or needed to know about himself—anything that needed to change so that his life might more closely align with the holiness of his Creator.

When we sin and, in essence, run from or try to hide from God, our defenses are pretty high. We have no desire for God to search us and correct us.

However, when we are willing to meet our Lord daily in prayer and invite him to search us, know us, and reveal our errors and temptations, we discover that this intimacy with God can help prevent us from going rogue in life.

Maybe this is a good day to read this psalm a couple of times and quietly invite God to search you and know you—and to reveal the things that need attention in your life.

Father, we are grateful that you know us and promise always to be present with us. Forgive us when we give in to temptation and become blind to your love and presence. Correct us and teach us, that we might see you more clearly and follow you more closely. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 139:1–24 ESV

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