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Psalm 44:21
won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
19though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21won’t God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever.
Notice
The secrets of the heart become part of a suffering people’s appeal: God knows whether they have forgotten him, even when their suffering seems to suggest rejection.
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 139:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.Both passages speak of God searching and knowing a person, including what lies beyond another person’s sight.
Hebrews 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.The heart’s secrets in the psalm belong among the things Hebrews says are laid open before God.
Job 42:2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.Both acknowledge something beyond human limits in God, though Job speaks of his power and purpose rather than his knowledge.
Jeremiah 17:10“I, the LORD, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”Both describe God searching the inner person; Jeremiah also connects that searching with judgment according to a person’s deeds.
Proverbs 15:11Sheol and Abaddon are before the LORD— how much more then the hearts of the children of men!Both affirm that human hearts are known to God, with Proverbs setting them among the depths exposed before him.
Matthew 6:4so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.Both affirm God’s knowledge of what is secret, though Matthew speaks of merciful deeds and the psalm of the heart.
Romans 8:27He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.Both speak of God searching hearts; Romans connects his searching knowledge with the Spirit’s intercession for the saints.
Jeremiah 23:24Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I can’t see him?” says the LORD. “Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.Both deny that secrecy conceals anything from God: the psalm names the heart, while Jeremiah names hidden places.
Job 34:21–22“For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings.Both describe God’s knowledge of human life, with Job emphasizing a person’s ways and the psalm the heart’s secrets.
Ecclesiastes 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.Both speak of hidden things within God’s knowledge; Ecclesiastes adds that every work will come into judgment.
Job 31:4Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?Both appeal to God’s knowledge through a question, naming either the heart’s secrets or a person’s ways and steps.
Hebrews 4:12–13For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, …Both concern knowledge of the heart’s interior, with Hebrews describing God’s word as discerning its thoughts and intentions.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. injustice and anger. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
These suffering people appeal to God’s knowledge of their hearts while their distress remains unresolved. Your hidden thoughts are within his sight; suffering does not make them less known.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).