In reading through Psalm 139:1-23 recently, I was brought to remember three realities about the God of the Bible. Great reminders for all of us!
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
God is intimate – After traveling around the world and studying world religions at a fairly high level, this is absolutely one of the defining characteristics of the God of the Bible. God knows us as individuals. He knows us intricately. He knows us intimately. God knows and cares about our thoughts. God knows us so well that He isn’t even limited by our speech. He knows what we are going to say before we say it. He knows what we mean, even when we don’t articulate it very well, when our words can’t get from our heart to our tongue.
As I have been fumbling through a language that is not my own for the past ten years (here is an unfortunate example), this particularly stands out to me as I think about God. So often, I have things I want to say to people over here, but my language fails me. Thankfully my friends know me intimately enough to translate my meanings and the heart behind what I am saying, even when my Asian vocabulary fails me. This is God to us, only infinitely more! [Read more…]