Cleanse Me (or Search Me O God)

Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me;
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

Written by James Edwin Orr in 1936, this words of this hymn were written to an aboriginal tune from the Maori tribe in New Zealand.  The tune is the Maori song of farewell.  Mr. Orr wrote this song after participating in an Easter convention in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand.  Dr. Orr was so inspired by the move of the Holy Spirit that was taking place in this community that he decided to write a song about revival.  He believed this song reflected the heart of the revival that was taking place there.  After writing this song and putting it to the tune sang by four young Aborigine girls upon his departure from New Zealand, Dr. Orr would often use this song in future ministry events to encourage new spiritual awakenings, especially in Australia.  Verse one is probably very familiar to most of you, but I think the additional three verses really capture the heart of revival.

The song is based upon the closing verses of Psalm 139 which read:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  I also like the Message version of this text.  It reads “Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong – then guide me on the road to eternal life.”  To be honest, those words are a tough prayer to pray.  I don’t know if I always want the Lord to do an investigation of my heart.  In my mind, I know He knows my thoughts and my motives.  But I really don’t know if I want to ask him to do a complete investigation and cross examination.  I don’t know about you, but that would be a painful experience.  But, the reality is that our prayer should be that of the Psalmist.  For us to ask the Lord to show us the things in our life that aren’t measuring up to His standard.  Not to beat us up, but to help  conform us to the image of His Son.  A tough prayer, but a prayer that should be prayed nonetheless.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame – Whether we were saved at a young age or later in life, I think all of us have some shame and regret for the things that we did before we were saved.  We knew what was right, but we didn’t do it.  Many of us still live with the impact of sins that we may have committed years ago.  Yes, I believe those sins are covered by the blood, but that doesn’t mean we don’t live with the consequences of the sin or that we don’t have a sense of shame about that sin.  But I like the author’s words here.  Where sin and shame once ruled our heart, the author prays that the Lord will fill that place with a fire – a passionate love for God and a passion to tell others about His saving grace.  A passion to tell unbelievers that we have found a Savior that removes condemnation (Therefore, there is now no condemnation – Romans 8:1).  One who fills us with His Holy Spirit to live a life on fire for God.  What a trade!!  Sin for Salvation.  Shame for Passion.  Condemnation for Freedom.

• Take all my will, my passion, self and pride – Have you ever met someone in ministry who was not only in the center of the Lord’s will, but was passionate about being in the center of the Lord’s will?  Their circumstances, from the world’s perspective, may not be great.  They may not be financially blessed or blessed with the greatest health.  But their passion and their mission was to do the will of the Lord.  The author reminds us here exactly what the Lord really wants.  He wants our will in subjection to His will.  He wants our passion to reflect His heart.  He wants us to lose our self in Him.  And He wants us to give up our pride for His Glory.  Those are not necessarily easy things to do.  But when we do them, there is tremendous freedom and satisfaction.  Satisfaction that comes from doing what the Lord has asked us to do, and being an instrument in His service.

• Send a revival, start the work in me – If you are like me, I have often wondered why churches don’t seem to have revivals like they used to.  I wonder if the American church in some ways has become complacent or satisfied with just enough God.  But my words convict me.  Revival doesn’t happen just because a church schedules a dynamic preacher.  Revival doesn’t come by having nightly services for one or two or three weeks.  True revival starts with you and starts with me.  It starts with a hunger for more of God that is honest and is contagious.  It then spreads to the hearts of people, and then manifests itself in the impact of a local congregation in a community.  I hope today that you can pray – Lord, send revival and start the work in me.  That is a prayer I am confident the Lord will answer.

As a fan of all kinds of musical styles and all kinds of Christian music, there is one kind of Christian music that has always bothered me.  It is those songs where the focus tends to be on me, and not the Lord.  You know the songs that have “I, Me, and My” in them.  Part of me has a real problem when a praise song is more about “me” then it is about Him.  In this week’s hymn, the words “I, Me, My” appear over 20 times.  But you know what, it doesn’t bother “me.”  You know why – “I” need to learn these words and pray this prayer in “my” life.  This song is really not about “me” but is about what the Lord can do for “me.”  He can search “me” and cleanse “me” and fill “me” and revive “me.”  It isn’t really a song glorifying “me” but a song of humble submission and a prayer that Lord would have His way with “me.”

I hope today that you can pray this prayer.  Not because you are confident that there is no wicked way in you, because that is not the case.  But that you pray this prayer because you recognize God’s control over your life.  That you are willing to submit yourself to Him, to His counsel, leadership, discipline, and investigation.  That you know with full confidence that whatever God finds and however God cleanses that wicked way from you, you can rest assured that it is for your good and that it is done out of love.  That is the kind of searching, cleansing, convicting, loving God we serve.