Google Me, O God – Are You His Search Engine?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

Working in the search engine optimisation industry, especially Google, the thought of people as search engines crossed my mind.

And Psalm 139:23-24 readily flashed through my thoughts as the search algorithm that the Psalmist uttered.

Working in Internet marketing for many years, I learned much about search engines.

They index everything published on the web with one primary purpose, to give (or sell) every information available to humankind.

Perhaps you realised that anything you want to know about any topic is just a search engine away.

Although, one needs to be careful to fact-check the information you are getting because not everything online could be true or accurate.

Google and Bing could offer thousands of related topics for any word you type in the search box. You could even opt to search for photos and videos only.

In this era of information and social media, one could not help but wonder, are search engines trying to be an all-knowing, ever-present, and robust instrument playing essential roles in people’s lives?

Some people (maybe the antichrist watchers) might perceive search engines as trying to act like God. Crazy! In this freedom of expression and belief society, it won’t be surprising to see “search engine worship” arising as a religious sect.

I don’t think search engines are trying to act like God for two reasons.

First, search engines may have all the information on the World Wide Web, but they cannot classify which one is true or false.

Second, search engines do not prescribe or try to impose knowledge except on their search algorithm.

Having established such about search engines, let us now show how God would search us in the light of Psalm 139:23-24.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

We see God here as the “Searcher”, and we are His search engine, pleading to be searched.

We are asking Him to know our hearts and thoughts.

And as human search engines, what information is indexed in our hearts and minds? Are they true or not?

Do they speak about God’s love and eternal purpose?

Will God be pleased or offended when He comes to search or examine us?

Will He find a “malware” (sin) affecting our spiritual, mental, and physical functions? Are we willing to let Him cleanse us from all “malware” (sin)?

We have the Almighty God searching our lives for anything that offends Him, and we ought to rejoice, for He has led us to everlasting life.