To Know Him

Isaiah 55:9 tells us that God is the most intelligent being in the universe.  Psalm 139 tells us that this intelligent being intentionally created us with a purpose.  Not only that, He was intimately involved in the process.  It was not left to proxies to put us together.  He was the one that "wrought" us.

Psalm 95:8 - 11 outlines for us how we can hear from this intelligent, intentional, intimate creator.  It seems to me that this would be a good thing to know.  To hear what this intelligent, intentional, and intimate creator might advise us to do with ourselves.

We get instruction in this from the negative.  Israel did not hear.  The psalmist outlines for us what it is we could do that Israel did not.  The Israelites did not hear God because they...

• Hardened their hearts – they complained to The Lord about His provision after they had witnessed miraculous deliverance.  They were not thankful but demanding of more.
• Tried God – they had seen God’s work but forgot quickly His power.  They questioned His heart toward them accusing Him of bringing them out of Egypt to die of starvation and thirst.  They did not believe that God cared for them.

Hebrews 11:6 takes up this thought for us does it not?  We have to believe God and believe that He rewards us.  The Israelites did not.

The results?

• They erred in their hearts – they harbored thoughts that were wrong about God.  In this case that the Lord would not take care of them.  They did not trust the Lord.
• They did not know His ways – this to me is critical.  The thrust of the Bible seems to be that we need to strive to know God, and know Him well.  Not to do so is to follow a god that we have created in our own minds and hearts.  This seems to be what the Israelites did.

One of my mentors has said that our Christian life is a continual journey from idolatry to the worship of the true God.  That seems to be the underlying message here.  We need to work at continually checking that our understanding of God, our true knowledge of Him is increasing.  2 Peter 1:3 – 11 tell us that one sure way to continually move in this direction is through the promises of God, i.e. the Word of God.  Through the Word, His promise, we become partakers, have true knowledge, of His nature and character.

It is a continual pursuit.  It is worth the chase.