(Note: The AI-generated content consists of my graphics.)

Some people have never met a mirror they didn’t like. They catch their reflection in a window, stop at every mirror, and seem perfectly comfortable with the person staring back.

I’m more likely to avoid the mirror. I’m afraid of what I’ll see and afraid I won’t like the image staring back at me. Sometimes it’s easier not to look too closely.

And I wonder if I sometimes do the same thing spiritually.

Psalm 26 challenges me because David dares to look into a different kind of mirror. He invites God to take a close look at his life:

“Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.”
Psalm 26:2

That is a courageous prayer.

David isn’t looking around the room at everyone else. He isn’t asking God to examine their motives, attitudes, words, or choices. He says, in effect, “Lord, look at me.”

That stops me.

It is so much easier for me to notice what needs changing in someone else than to stand still before God and allow Him to reveal what needs changing in me. I can see someone else’s impatience, pride, critical spirit, selfishness, or inconsistency with remarkable clarity. But somehow my vision becomes a little blurry when I turn the mirror toward myself.

Psalm 26 reminds me that I need to look in the mirror—but not merely through my own eyes. I need to see myself through God’s eyes. What does He see in me?

While my mirror reflects only my outward appearance, others often judge me based on superficial impressions. Worst of all, I frequently view myself through the distorted lens of insecurity, comparison, and self-criticism.

But God sees deeper.

He sees my heart and my motives. He sees the things I excuse, rationalize, or overlook. He also sees what others cannot see—my desire to please Him, the battles I am fighting, the growth He is producing, and the grace that is still transforming me.

The question of Psalm 26 is not simply what we see when we look at ourselves, but rather: “God, what do You see in me?” Then the real challenge becomes our willingness to stand before that divine mirror long enough to hear His answer.