Proverbs 20:27

God searches out our innermost thoughts and feelings. Solomon compared our "spirit" (lit. "breath," Heb. nishmat, cf. Genesis 2:7) to a lamp God uses to investigate all the darkened crannies of our being in this very graphic proverb. Here the spirit is almost equivalent to the conscience (God’s Word also searches, cf. Hebrews 4:12).

"Breath typically goes in and comes out of a person, giving life; but it also comes out as wisdom and words." [Note: R. C. Van Leeuwen, "The Book of Proverbs," in the New Interpreter’s Bible, 5:188.]