We Need to Know God Intimately

My husband was advised to not date me when we were in college.  The advisor was someone who perceived me to be on the wild side.  I suppose I can see that person’s point of view.  I was loud, excessively chatty, a prankster, and way more social than serious.  I liked capturing all the attention and thrived on the crowd’s laughter.  I’m older now.  Calmer. Quieter. More willing to take a back seat.  I like to think my personality has been tempered (who wants to think they’re just old after all).  There are moments when I hear myself laugh LOUDLY and in the back of my mind a little voice says, “Oh! There you are!”

God’s personality is never tempered; God is always the same.  Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”  Who God is in Genesis is who God is in Revelation.  Who God was to Adam and Eve, to Moses, to David, to Paul, is who God is to us. 

1 Chronicles 16

We’ve been looking at 1Chronicles 16 for the past several weeks.  David is expressing his gratitude that the Ark of the Covenant has returned to Jerusalem. In verses 8-36 he pens a Psalm of Thanksgiving that reveals his attitude of being totally focused on God and not himself.  David paints a picture of what it looks like for someone to live in wonder over God in his midst.  The first week I told you I found four concepts to help us focus more on God, to realize afresh the wonder that God dwells with us.

• First: we are to give God the credit.  He is worthy and it moves us to a position where we are focused on Him.
• Second: we are to express joy.  We are to give thanks and worship God because of the confidence and peace we gain recognizing the Almighty is in control of all the details of our lives.

This week: Know God

First Chronicles 16:11 says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” (CSB) The Message translation paraphrases it as “Study God and His strength…” and the Amplified Version states, “...seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence] …” The idea in this verse is more than knowing about God or being acquainted with who He is.  David is describing something beyond looking for God to step in and provide His assistance.  Did you notice that David doesn’t tell us to seek God and have Him make us strong?  David says to seek God, seek God’s strength, seek God’s face continually. David is telling us that the seeking and the studying is the focus, not what we might receive.

My oldest sister died when her daughters were under five.  Several years ago, I sat at a table with the two of them all grown up, along with another of my sisters, and they asked us questions about their mom.  I realized I knew my sister, but the difference in our ages, and the fact that I didn’t have the opportunity to spend much time with her once we were out of our childhood home, limited how much I knew about her.  I have wonderful memories of her, but the questions her girls wanted answered, that fleshed out who she was in living color, I couldn’t answer.  I knew her, but my knowledge of her wasn’t deeply intimate.

David Knew God

David knew God deeply and intimately.  Throughout his Psalm he identifies various characteristics of God:

• He’s holy (v10)
• He is able; He does wondrous things (v12)
• He is just (v12)
• He is the LORD (v14)
• He governs (v14)
• He is trustworthy; He keeps His promises (v15)
• He is generous (v18)
• He is protective and powerful (v19-22)
• He saves (v23)
• He is glorious (v24)
• He is above all others (v25)
• He is creator (v26)
• He welcomes us into His presence (v29)
• He is King (v31)
• He is good (v34)
• He loves faithfully and forever (v34)

 

David was closely familiar with the breadth of who God is.  He had experienced life with God and knew Him in a profound and personal way. David was so overwhelmed with who he knew God to be, that having God’s presence dwell with him was the pinnacle of life.

Do We KNOW God?

Today, we don’t have the Ark of the Covenant.  We don’t need the Ark of the Covenant.  John 14:16-20 tells us we have the Holy Spirit, Christ in us, with us, always.  We also have God’s Word readily accessible to us, so much more than David ever had. And yet we don’t seem to know God like David knew God. The word know means “1. to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly with certainty. 2. To have established or fixed in the mind or memory. 3. To be cognizant or aware of.  4. Be acquainted with (a thing, place, person, etc.), as by sight, experience, or report…” (Dictionary.com) I admit I think I have accepted the fourth definition for knowing God more than the first.  We are easily acquainted with God, but do we perceive and understand Him to know who He is as fact and with certainty?

God Almighty is in our midst. Always. He dwells within us. Continually.  We are to KNOW Him.  David reminds us in 1 Chronicles that knowing God, being aware of who He is and identifying how He interacts with us, strengthens us to be more centrally focused on Him. Being rooted in who God is enables us to be more and more in wonder that He chooses to be with us.

My prayer is that you will open your eyes and your heart to a fresh facet of God’s glory today; may you KNOW Him. Spend time in His Word.  Learn and list the characteristics of our Lord. Talk to Him in prayer. Listen for what He is whispering to your soul. Experience the wonder of God in our midst.

Photo of Bible by Ben White on Unsplash