Tag: knowing God

  • Psalm 23: Do You Know Him or Just About Him?

    Five Valais Blacknose sheep with curly white fleece, black faces, and black knees and feet stand close together on green grass, facing the camera. Iluustrating a reflection on PSalm 23

    Lately, my social media feeds have been filled with videos of Valais Blacknose sheep. These black-and-white sheep, especially the romping lambs, are incredibly cute and make me smile (but please don’t send more of them). I have no idea how cost-effective or profitable raising them is, but if I were a shepherd, I might be tempted to keep a few, just because of the cute factor.

    The thoughts of sheep and shepherds bring to mind one of the world’s best-known Bible passages.

    The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    He makes me lie down in green pastures.

    He leads me beside still waters.

    He restores my soul.

    He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 ESV

    Even many non-believers can recite these familiar words. Many people turn to them in times when they need comfort. The images are clear, and the text is theologically rich. I can’t begin to imagine how many times I’ve heard or read this little passage, or seen it referenced in some way.

    Yet only recently did I notice something about Psalm 23 that may be obvious to others. A pronoun change.

    It’s obvious that David knows of the Lord. The first few verses talk of Him; then the pronoun changes to something more relational. He becomes you. David not only knows of the Lord; David knows Him and has a relationship with Him.

    Everyone knows something about God, whether they acknowledge it or not. Romans 1:20 is clear that we are without excuse. Yet only a relatively small number truly know Him and have a relationship with Him. There is a vast difference.

    I know many things about famous people, present and historical, but I’m not actually friends with them. I can’t knock on their door at any time of day or night and be welcomed with open, loving arms. I can’t expect them to be ready to help me, bring me comfort or just be there to talk to.

    Knowing about God is very different than actually knowing Him and being in a relationship with Him.

    Do you know Him or just about Him? He’s calling you into relationship today.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I only recently noticed that, partway through Psalm 23, David stops speaking about the Lord and starts speaking to Him. He’s calling you to know Him too, not just know about Him.

    TAKEAWAY

    In Psalm 23, “He” becomes “you.” David didn’t just know about the Lord; he knew Him and had a relationship with Him.

    Everyone knows something about God, and Romans 1:20 says we are without excuse. Yet relatively few truly know Him.

    You can know plenty about famous people and still not be welcome at their door. Knowing about God is very different than knowing Him, and He’s calling you into relationship today.

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  • What Do You See? Opening our spiritual eyes.

    stylized Adam and Eve hiding in the garden

    We aren’t very far into the Bible when things go terribly wrong. You know the story.

    Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:1-8 ESV

    Now, prior to this, both Adam and Eve walked in the garden in a close personal relationship. They knew the Lord as intimately and personally as it is possible for a person to know Him. They understood His love, compassion and mercy.

    What changed? The obvious answer is they sinned. Yet, what moved them from joy to fear?

    With sin-filled eyes, we cannot see God as He truly is. They now saw God through distorted lenses and created a harsh God of their own imaginings. It’s what we do.

    Some see God as a Monty Python-like foot ready to stomp on us for any sin. Others see Him as a cosmic genie there to grant our every wish and desire. For some people, he’s a doddering old man who either cannot see our sins or, if he does, is unable or unwilling to do anything about them.

    There are those who pretend that He doesn’t exist. The great civilizations of the past imagined Him as a pantheon of very flawed human-like capricious gods.

    The truth is that the God revealed to us in the Bible is none of those things. He is benevolent, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He loves us so much that Jesus came and died so that we could be restored into a right relationship with Him and be adopted into His family.

    He is too beautiful and wonderful for us to understand with our sin-filled minds. Even as believers whose sins have been atoned for do not yet see him clearly, but the day will come when we will. He will open our spiritual eyes to see the truth.

    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:32

    I can hardly wait. What about you?

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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