Summer in the Psalms - To Know and Be Known

At our core, we all have a desire both to know others and to be known by them. That is what a relationship is. Seeking and being sought. Knowing and being known. Accepting and being accepted. Loving and being loved. Pouring into someone else, having them pour into you.  

We sometimes treat God in the same way. We approach seeking God like He is someone that we want to know, but we see Him as someone, who seems distant and disinterested in who we are.  We act as if we have to gain His attention or His approval.

Other times we focus on the immensity of God because we are worried about putting God in a box. The truth is that all the great and powerful attributes of God sometimes lead us to forget His personal nature. We spend time focusing on the fact that He is the all-powerful, all-knowing, creator of the universe and therefore so much bigger than it. 

The message of scripture is that God calls us into relationship. A chief attribute of being in relationship with God is, just like human relationships, knowing and being known. Galatians 4:9 says, “Now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God.”

Psalm 139 praises God for His amazing power, but it does so by showing how that power is used by God to know us. The result is a psalm of praise for who God is, a psalm of love for being cared for by Him, and a psalm of devotion to God in response to His devotion to us. The whole psalm could be summarized by v17: “How precious are your thoughts to me, O God.” 

God knows You Because He Sees You (v1-6)
God Knows You Because He is Near You (v7-12)
God Knows You Because He Made You (v13-18)
Our Response to God’s Knowledge (v19-24)