To know God

Revised and re-posted is the Verse of the Day for March 11, 2018 found in Deuteronomy 7:9:

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

The verb “to know” in this instance is translated from the Hebrew word yada , which according to Strong’s Concordance means: to  know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to know.

The same verb occurs in Deuteronomy 4:35 in the Amplified Bible:

To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

This kind of knowing corresponds to the Greek word ginosko, translated “to know” in the New Testament.  Biblical scholar E.W. Bullinger translates the verb:

To perceive, observe, obtain knowledge of or insight into.  It denotes a personal and true relationship between the person knowing and the object known, i.e. to be influenced by one’s knowledge of the object, to suffer one’s self to be determined thereby.

Once a person knows God on such an intimate, experiential level, that person “knows for himself or herself,” and such an individual is forever changed.

God desires that we know him, as He expresses His deep desire for intimacy on a very personal level. We come to know God through the Word of God. As we establish and maintain our relationship with him, we also experience his love. I recall the popular love song of the 1950s recorded by the Teddy Bears expresses a profound truth when connected to God: “To know him is to love him.’

Not only can we know God, but we can know that we know Him, as 1 John 2:3 makes known:

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

As we continue to draw even closer to God, we also come to know Him at even deeper levels of intimacy, as God expresses His desire that we might be filled with the knowledge of His will revealed by the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of Him. This desire is expressed in the prayer found in Ephesians 1, which serves as an introduction to this response:

The Spirit of Knowledge

  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  the Father of glory, may give to you

  the spirit of wisdom and revelation

  in the knowledge of him;

  Ephesians 1:17

 

To excel in mighty works that demonstrate God’s power,

Far above the knowledge of any human mind,

Beyond the confines of any exalted tower,

We pursue knowledge and seek that we might find,

To know the exceeding greatness of that power,

Surpassing natural intellect of the mind;

That we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

Such knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord,

Knowing that every promise our God will fulfill,

We receive the spirit of knowledge, not just a word.

We have been bought with a price, we are not our own.

Assured that God keeps His covenant we stand still.

The fullness of that knowledge shall someday be shown:

When Christ returns, then shall we know as we are known.

Our desire to know God to an even greater degree is to know His Son, Jesus Christ, so beautifully expressed in the worship song “Knowing You Jesus”:

We know that we know

The Verse of the Day for March 11, 2017 comes from Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV):

 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

The verb to know in this instance is translated from the Hebrew word yada , which according to Strong’s Concordance means: to  know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to know.

The same verb is used in Deuteronomy 4:35 in Amplified Bible:

³⁵ To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

This kind of knowing corresponds to the Greek word ginosko, translated “to know” in the New Testament.  Biblical scholar E.W. Bullinger (1895) translates the verb:

To perceive, observe, obtain knowledge of or insight into.  It denotes a personal and true relationship between the person knowing and the object known, i.e. to be influenced by one’s knowledge of the object, to suffer one’s self to be determined thereby (p. 434).

Once an individual knows God on such an intimate, experiential level, that person “knows for himself or herself,” and that individual is forever changed.

God desires that we know him, as He expresses His deep desire for intimacy on a very personal level. We come to know God through the Word of God. As we establish and maintain our relationship with him, we also experience his love. The popular love song of the 1950s recorded by the Teddy Bears expresses a profound truth connected to God: “To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him.’

The Amplified Bible puts it this way:

And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings).

As we continue to draw even closer to God, we also come to know Him at even deeper levels of intimacy, where we sing this love song for Him:

We know that we know that we know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

We know that we know that we know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

No matter how many times we go astray

And leave your side and choose to disobey.

When we’re overwhelmed and can’t even pray,

No matter what we do or do not say.

We know that I know that I know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

We know that we know that we know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

No one else knows our heart: You are the one

To call us home when we have no place to run.

When we look all around at all that we’ve done,

Despite all our failures, You still love us,

As you loved your beloved Son.

We know that we know that we know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

We know that we know that we know that we know.

We know that we know You still love us.

And so we conclude with this musical reminder:

We Know We Know (I’m Gonna Praise God)

So good, so ready, so full of love

The Verse of the Day for January 31, 2017 offers a remarkable declaration of who God is and what He is willing to do:

Psalm 86:5 (NLT)

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

As we take a closer look at the verse, we see that God is “so good,” “so ready,” and “so full of love. . .”

O Lord, you are so good…

Book of Ezra notes that when the builders completed the foundation for the Temple, the priests and the people celebrated:

Ezra 6:11

¹¹ With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:

“He is so good!
His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”

Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.

So ready to forgive. . .

1 John 1:9 reminds us of this truth:

⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

The Psalmist also declares:

Psalm 103:2-3

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
³ Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,

So full of unfailing love. . .

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NLT) reveals the extent of God’s faithfulness and love:

Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.

John 3:16, one of the most often quoted verses in the Bible, makes known that God did not just love, but He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

So

Used as an adverb three times in the Verse of the Day, “so” is a little word of great importance. It expresses the degree or the extent of the adjective that it modifies: “So” is also part of the expression “Amen.” The Hebrew word used for amen in the Old Testament is “ei men” and means “so be it, verily, true,” or “truly” (literally “truth”). In the New Testament the expression is transliterated from the Greek word “amen” and is said to be a declaration of affirmation of what was just spoken or written. “So it is” or “truly” and even “true” and “yes”; so be it—thus shall it most surely be, it is so.

Psalm 41:13 is says, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.” When repeated the statement spoken or written is established.

The last word used in the Bible, “Amen”, indicates that God has the last “say so”, for the Lord God Almighty, the creator of the ends of the Earth, affirms and confirms all that He has spoken—Amen—it is so!

We conclude with Casting Crowns offering this call to worship based on Psalm 86: The Voice of Truth:

The faithful God

The Verse of the Day for March 11, 2015 makes known one of the attributes of God, who is described in this way:

Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 32:4 further proclaims:

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

The Psalmist speaks of God’s faithfulness:

Psalm 25:10

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

The truth that God is faithful in everything that He does is echoed in the Psalms:

Psalm 33:4

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does

Psalm 145:13

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

Psalm 145:17

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

Throughout the New Testament we find declarations of the absolute faithfulness of God:

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and prote2 Timoct you from the evil one.

Even when we, as believers, are deficient in faith, God remains full of faith

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Hebrews 10:23 also reminds us that God is faithful to keep his promises:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

God is faithful to His covenant, and He has promised to fulfill that covenant and bless the land of those who maintain their covenant with Him, as an expression of His everlasting love:

Perfected Love

I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
    enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
    an object of scorn to the nations.

Joel 2:19 [NIV]

Jehovah, creator, author and finisher,

Who initiates to nourish perfected love;

Ever-abiding source and resource, publisher

Of declarations of genuine love to move

The soul of man to return to the place of his first

Love, the Beloved, whose heart overflows to give,

For only this passion can satisfy our thirst,

As you refresh us and teach us how we should live.

You have pledged your love through a sacred covenant.

If we maintain your vows of love, you will sustain

Our souls and feed us so that we shall never want.

You will shower with mercy as the gentle rain

With grain, new wine and oil supplied by your gracious right hand.

Here is a song that brings to mind the faithfulness of God: “He’s Been Faithful” offered by Damaris Carbaugh and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.”

To know: I know that I know

The Verse of the Day for March 11, 2014 is found in Deuteronomy 7:9:

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

The verb “to know” in this instance is translated from the Hebrew word yada , which according to Strong’s Concordance means: to  know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to know.

The same verb is used in Deuteronomy 4:35 in Amplified Bible:

To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

This kind of knowing corresponds to the Greek word ginosko, translated “to know” in the New Testament.  Biblical scholar E.W. Bullinger translates the verb:

To perceive, observe, obtain knowledge of or insight into.  It denotes a personal and true relationship between the person knowing and the object known, i.e. to be influenced by one’s knowledge of the object, to suffer one’s self to be determined thereby.

Once an individual knows God on such an intimate, experiential level, that person “knows for himself or herself,” and that individual is forever changed.

God desires that we know him, as He expresses His deep desire for intimacy on a very personal level. We come to know God through the Word of God. As we establish and maintain our relationship with him, we also experience his love. I recall that the popular love song of the 1950s recorded by the Teddy Bears expresses a profound truth when connected to God: “To know, know  him is to love, love him.”

Not only can we know God, but we can know that we know Him, as 1 John 2:3 makes known:

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

As I continue to draw even closer to God, I also come to know Him at even deeper levels of intimacy, where I can now sing this love song for Him:

 I Know that I Know that I Know

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

No matter how many times I go astray

And leave your side and choose to disobey.

When I’m overwhelmed and can’t even pray,

No matter what I do or do not say.

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

No one else knows my heart: You are the one

To call me home when I have no place to run.

When I look all around at all that I’ve done,

Despite all my failures, You still call me Son.

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

I know that I know that I know that I know.

I know that I know You still love me.

Smokie Norful offers a powerful testimony in song that verifies that he knows God for himself, as he sings “I Know too Much about Him.”