Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/89

Contributor - Tom Welscott

Title - How Can I Know God?

Topic - God

Perhaps a better question for today's times is, "Why do we need God anyway? Isn't religion just a crutch?" Today many people would say that religion is something created in our mind that has no real bearing on what happens in our life. Even though this may be how many people today view life, when crisis sets in and difficulty intrudes on our perfectly controlled and ordered world. Where do we turn?

I'm not suggesting that only in crisis is it beneficial to know the strength that is available from a God who wants to be known, and has made himself known to his people for thousands of years. Anyone who would spend time reading through books in the Bible, like the Psalms, will be amazed at how little man has changed in the last 2000 years. Today we can talk to anyone in the world on the telephone, and computers do everything from answering the phone to flying space ships. Yet man's inner struggles with the meaning of life are the same. Under the surface, if we stop long enough to reflect, that 'age old' question surfaces, "HOW CAN MAN KNOW GOD?"

Some of the most well-known biblical literature is in the Psalms. David was the author of many of these Old Testament Psalms, as was true of Psalm 34. If you take a minute to read Psalm 34 you will discover some very important things about David and his intimate relationship with God. When this Psalm was written David was a fugitive on the run trying to escape from King Saul. King Saul was trying to kill David because he saw him as a threat to his throne.

Putting ourselves into David's situation we may wonder how someone with his neck on the line could write, "I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his (God's) kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. Let us praise the Lord together, and exalt his name." It would seem more normal for David to be very upset with God, blaming him for this rather stressful predicament. A more normal reaction to being hunted down would have been to say, "I quit! I know I agreed to be king, but why should I do it if you are going to make it so difficult, God? I can't handle this any more, I'm leaving the country!"

David's reaction wasn't anything like that. He quietly and assuredly affirmed his confidence that his God was an invisible player in the chess game of his life. He boasted about HIS God, and told how his God was always there to deliver him. His God was available not just to him, but to all who had faith. In fact, using the battle imagery of that time, God's angels are encamped all around God's people. Thus, providing support whenever needed.

Finally, David says in verse 10 of Psalm 34, "Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing". This is the image of a God who is very involved in all of life. God has not started the world in motion and let it go on it's own merry way. God is very involved in the activities of our everyday lives. He wants us to experience him first hand just like David did. He wants us to praise him because we know his loving concern and his caring for us. He wants us to pray to him convinced that he hears us and will bless us with many good things.

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