Psalms 44:21
Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Study Note
Study Note
The rhetorical question — 'shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart' — invokes divine omniscience as both comfort and conviction. In the context of Psalm 44, this verse forms part of the community's protest that they have not been unfaithful (44:17-22), arguing that God knows they have not forgotten him even while suffering. The theological claim that God searches 'the secrets of the heart' transcends behavioral inspection, reaching the hidden motivations that human observers cannot assess. Romans 2:16 ('God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ') and 1 Corinthians 4:5 develop this theme eschatologically: the final judgment will fully expose what only God currently knows.
Other Translations
Will not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Doth not God search out this? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart.
Cross References
The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be …
That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt offering …
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be …
I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and …