A Perfect Heart toward God

“Jehovah looks down from Heaven; He beholds all the sons of mankind.” (Psalms 33:13)

This is a fearful Scripture. God the Father, the Lord God Almighty on His throne in heaven, verse 14 says “...from His dwelling place...” considers and discerns all the sons of mankind, and verse 14 says “...all the people of the earth.” Imagine, only God could do this. There are estimated as of September 19, 2025, eight billion, two hundred and forty-six million, thirty-two thousand and seven hundred and fourteen (8, 246, 032, 714) people on this earth. And He is able to think about, study and judge each person. (Psalms 11:4) I can’t even keep up with myself, my thoughts and motives and judge my actions. Yet, God does this for each person on the earth.

He sees and thinks about, studies and judges each thought, motive and action of each person on earth; the good, the bad and the ugly. “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3) Nothing is hidden from Him. Jeremiah wrote the words of God. “Am I a God near, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.” (Jeremiah 23:23-24) And the writer of Hebrews wrote, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13) We may think no one knows what our real motives are, or no one knows what we are really thinking, but there is one who not only knows it, but discerns it, studies it and judges it. And that is God. This should put the fear of God in us.

A question we may ask is why? Why does God look at each person to study and judge their thoughts, words and actions? Is this God’s role to look and judge? It is not to judge man, but that is what happens. It’s like when we see our child do something. We don’t look at them to judge. We see their actions and judge whether it’s good or bad.  Why do parents look and discern their children’s actions and words? They want to see if their children are following the precepts, they have taught them either in word or through actions. When God looks at man, He’s looking to see if anyone has a heart for Him. He found David. Nathan the prophet told king Saul that God had taken the kingdom from him and given it to someone whose heart followed after Him. “And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He commanded you. For now, Jehovah would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah commanded you.” (1Samuel 13:13-14; Acts 13:22) And that man was David.

Briefly, David was not perfect. We know he sinned and failed terribly. But his heart always turned to God for forgiveness, for strength and for help. He depended and relied strictly on God and not on his own wisdom. And that is what God is looking for. “God looked down from Heaven on the sons of mankind to see if any was discerning, who was seeking God.” (Psalms 53:2) In Noah’s time, he found complete wickedness. There was no one except Noah who sought God. So the Lord destroyed everyone except Noah and his family. “And God looked upon the earth. And behold, it was corrupted! For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:12-13)

God’s reaction to the wickedness on the earth was to destroy mankind. Certainly, sin is rampant in the world today. And the earth is probably more wicked than in Noah’s time. And if it’s not, it certainly will be. God saw it and said so. “But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37) God will not destroy the earth again with a flood as He did in Noah’s time. “And I will establish My covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood. Neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature with you, for everlasting generations: I set my rainbow in the cloud. And it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:11-13)

 God provided the solution to sin in the world. He sent Jesus to take man’s punishment and death for our sin so we would be free to live righteously. “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.” (1Peter 2:24) But we have to accept God’s marvelous gift of grace and mercy. “Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) To receive God’s gift, we must believe on Jesus and as Peter preached, repent, which means turn away from your sin and leave it. Peter preached that then they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Immediately upon receiving God’s gift, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit. We are sealed as God’s for all the invisible world to see. So much happens to us when we believe and repent in the realm of God which I have written about in other lessons. If you search the word salvation in my website, you will find endless references, but in those references you will also find all the marvelous things that happen to us when we are saved by God’s grace.

Returning to our topic, we see that God is looking for those with a heart toward Him, one who will seek Him and obey Him, one who He can use for His purposes, like he used David. We are flesh and blood. We are not perfect. But our hearts can be perfect toward God, seeking Him and seeking to obey Him. “But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not look on his face, nor on his height, because I have refused him. For He does not see as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.” (1Samuel 16:7) God sees all our words and actions, but more importantly, He looks at our heart. We won’t get it right all the time, but if we won’t give up seeking Him and seeking to obey Him, we will be on the right track.

Let us pray:

Father God, You see all from Your Throne and You know all. My life is an open book to You. You see the good and the bad. You see my heart and know my desires and judge whether they are good or evil. Forgive my iniquity Lord and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for forgiveness. Thank You for the life You have given me. I thank You for Your promise, Lord, that You will not let me go and that no one can snatch me from Your hand. I rest in that Lord. There is comfort knowing that through all the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the trials, victories and failures, You got me and are for me. Your Goodness to me is undeserved, but I stand before You covered in the Precious Blood of the Lamb, my Lord Jesus. I stand in His righteousness. My God, I do not take that lightly but seek to follow Jesus with all of my heart. And I thank You Lord that only with the help of Your Holy Spirit, I can obey and be in Your perfect Will, fulfilling Your purpose for me. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.