Intimacy with God
King David was known as “a man after God’s own heart.” The first time I heard him described this way was so inspirational to me. I wanted to be known like that too, so I started asking myself, “How do I become a man after God’s own heart?” I had no clue! With all my heart, I prayed, “God, I want to be a man after Your heart. I don’t want to chase after anybody else’s heart other than Yours.” This was at a point in my life where I was trying to figure out how to have a closer relationship with God after drifting away. I felt like I was relearning how to even have a relationship with God in the first place.
Psalms is probably one of the more popular books of the Bible, and David had a great deal to do with the writing of them. My favorite Psalm is 139. It’s such a beautiful perspective in our relationship with God, as our Creator, our sustainer, our physician, our Heavenly Father, and our closest friend. If we were to go around a room and ask people to describe how they view God, I think the first three perspectives would be the most popular (Creator and Sustainer), and I think the final two (Heavenly Father and closest friend) would be the least popular. It seems more often than not our relationships with God hinge on His ability to sustain and provide for us, and we forget about God’s ability to be the closest of friends and a heavenly Father.
In verses 1-4 it says, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all of my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” That’s just the beginning of the Psalm. David continues to break down God’s relationship with us to a micro level. “You created my inmost being… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body.” What a beautiful picture of the intimate relationship of the Creator with His creation.
As I dug into these verses and other Psalms, I began to notice how raw David was with his feelings: his feelings about life and about his relationship with God and others. Too often, we feel like we have to be buttoned up and presentable when we approach God. In Psalm 22, David says, “God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” This is super raw. How often have we gotten that raw with God? I was so challenged by these verses because I always felt like I needed to be polite in order for God to hear me. This psalm and many more refute that idea.
God is more than able to handle the spectrum of our emotions. Our anger, our disappointment, our sadness, resentment, jealousy, and everything else in between. I would go as far as to say that He welcomes it. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, not just the fun stuff but the not-so-fun stuff too. If we never allow God into the less than dignified parts of our hearts, how will He ever be able to change them? I don’t think that God needs our permission, but I also don’t think He’s going to force us to change either. It’s all about the posture of our heart.
Hebrews 4:16, “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
When we can approach our relationship with God with humility and confidence, we can expect change in the deepest, darkest places of our lives. It just requires us to be honest with ourselves and with Him. That’s my challenge. He created you. He knows everything about you. He knows your every step. Let’s believe what the Bible says and trust God with every part of who we are.
PRAYER: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the places in our lives that we don’t trust God with? Psalm 139:23-24
JOURNAL: What is the scariest most embarrassing part of you? What’s the worst that could happen if you let God into it? “God, what do you think about this part of me?”
Psalms is probably one of the more popular books of the Bible, and David had a great deal to do with the writing of them. My favorite Psalm is 139. It’s such a beautiful perspective in our relationship with God, as our Creator, our sustainer, our physician, our Heavenly Father, and our closest friend. If we were to go around a room and ask people to describe how they view God, I think the first three perspectives would be the most popular (Creator and Sustainer), and I think the final two (Heavenly Father and closest friend) would be the least popular. It seems more often than not our relationships with God hinge on His ability to sustain and provide for us, and we forget about God’s ability to be the closest of friends and a heavenly Father.
In verses 1-4 it says, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all of my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” That’s just the beginning of the Psalm. David continues to break down God’s relationship with us to a micro level. “You created my inmost being… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body.” What a beautiful picture of the intimate relationship of the Creator with His creation.
As I dug into these verses and other Psalms, I began to notice how raw David was with his feelings: his feelings about life and about his relationship with God and others. Too often, we feel like we have to be buttoned up and presentable when we approach God. In Psalm 22, David says, “God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” This is super raw. How often have we gotten that raw with God? I was so challenged by these verses because I always felt like I needed to be polite in order for God to hear me. This psalm and many more refute that idea.
God is more than able to handle the spectrum of our emotions. Our anger, our disappointment, our sadness, resentment, jealousy, and everything else in between. I would go as far as to say that He welcomes it. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, not just the fun stuff but the not-so-fun stuff too. If we never allow God into the less than dignified parts of our hearts, how will He ever be able to change them? I don’t think that God needs our permission, but I also don’t think He’s going to force us to change either. It’s all about the posture of our heart.
Hebrews 4:16, “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
When we can approach our relationship with God with humility and confidence, we can expect change in the deepest, darkest places of our lives. It just requires us to be honest with ourselves and with Him. That’s my challenge. He created you. He knows everything about you. He knows your every step. Let’s believe what the Bible says and trust God with every part of who we are.
PRAYER: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the places in our lives that we don’t trust God with? Psalm 139:23-24
JOURNAL: What is the scariest most embarrassing part of you? What’s the worst that could happen if you let God into it? “God, what do you think about this part of me?”
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1 Comment
I was told recently from our Head of School, in an admin meeting, in front of 14 other coworkers that I had a heart like David. It was a compliment but kinda not. I had showed my ugly, messy side towards some other in leadership. The reason why she said that to me, I do always go check myself with God and tell Him to show me where I was wrong. See, I do this from time to time, act in my flesh, and it's usually not behind closed doors. So because I love God, I do at some point, get right with him and then with whoever I had no filter with. I will say two different sermons during the Ruth series, helped, and spoke to me. It was about being humble, being teachable and one thing spoke to me the loudest. Not sure which pastor said this but the Holy Spirit spoke it loud and hilighted it for me.... Just because I show honor to someone in leadership doesn't mean I have to agree with them. That set me free in this area. Anyways..... I'm messy and God knows it. I'm glad He knows my heart. Daily I choose to surrender to Him, at least at some point in my day!