I want to be like the author of Psalm 17. He challenges God with an honesty and boldness that few dare to express: “Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night—You will find I am just what I say I am.” That is a striking statement of integrity and confidence in one’s walk with God. If God surprised you in the middle of the night—came when you were not expecting it—what would He find? Would He find a heart fully devoted, a mind at peace, a life aligned with His Word? I ask that question carefully, because I know what my kitchen looks like at midnight, and my soul can resemble it more than I would like to admit. This psalmist reminds us that real faith is not afraid of divine inspection. It welcomes it. It says, “Search me, O God,” because the one who has nothing to hide lives in the light.

This writer really means it when he prays, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He writes, “I am not trying to get my way in the world’s way. I am trying to get your way, your Word’s way.” That is the essence of discipleship—to want what God wants. He sounds almost like Barbra Streisand singing, “You and me against the world.” There is a sense of partnership with God, a determination to stay close no matter what. “I am staying on your trail; I am putting one foot in front of the other. I am not giving up.” That is what faith looks like—steady, consistent, persistent. Even when God seems silent, the psalmist refuses to walk away. “I call to you, God, because I am sure of an answer. So—answer! Bend your ear! Listen sharp! Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you.” It is a vivid picture of mercy, and a reminder that even our clumsy prayers are heard.

Troubles are all around us—heartache, depression, loneliness, weariness. The psalmist felt it too: “They are after me, nipping my heels… lions ready to rip me apart.” Yet his confidence never wavers: “Only YOU can make the darkness bright!” That confidence finds its clearest expression in Jesus Christ, who said, “Whoever does what is true comes to the light” (John 3:21), and “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Through Him, we see that God does indeed act “barehanded,” reaching into our darkness with grace. The psalmist’s closing hope echoes the promise that “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). With God, there is always a little bit of heaven on earth, even when the night inspection comes without warning.