When Are We Really Closer To God?

In Psalm 19, David starts by pointing out that the very nature of creation is a wordless tribute to God and His power. Then in verse seven, he changes the focus from the works of God to the word of God. A seeming abrupt change but it’s not the only one.

David also changes at how he refers to God. In the first six verses, he uses the general name for God, one that anyone of any religion might use, but when talking about the word of the Lord he uses the personal name of God given to Moses from the burning bush. There is a message in that.

Often you will hear people remark that they find God not in a place of worship but in nature. It is certainly true that his creation is evidence of God (Romans 1:20) it is, in essence, an impersonal way of knowing him. Yet to listen to the Word of God, having His nature expressed thru his own law, is a much deeper way to connect with him. Rather than just catching a glimpse of Him, You see God much more clearly.

David ends this psalm, by stating that only God sees us clearly as well. He asks to be kept from hidden faults, from presumptuous sins. He wants to make sure his thinking is what God wants and not the other the other way around. To know God, so he can know what he needs to be.

Man is often presumptuous in how he views God. We assume that we know Him because of a glimpse of His power. You don’t know a person just because you once had brief conversation. A cover doesn’t tell the complete story of the book. A person that has only seen a photograph doesn’t know a face like one that has stared into every day. You will never know God fully just by His viewing his works, you must know His Word.

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