In Psalm 103 the psalmist exhorts himself and his listeners to know God and praise him. He is not speaking of some vaguely defined divinity ‘out there somewhere’. He is speaking about “the LORD”. Whenever you see “LORD” in capital letters like this in your English translation of the Bible be aware that this is actually the traditional rendering of what is, in the original Hebrew, the personal name of God that he gave to Moses (Exodus 3:15): “Yahweh.” The psalmist is speaking about the God who has revealed himself. The only way we can ever know God is through his self-revelation. The Psalmist declares: “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.” And God wants to make his ways known to you. We have that self-revelation in the Bible, but God doesn’t want his love for you to be a matter of mere theory. God wants to get his hands on your life to forgive and redeem you, to transform you, and to crown you with his love and to satisfy you with his goodness. This is how we really know God. Not just from forming an accurate idea in our minds, but from being the object of his love. You get to know God as he gets his hands on your life. But God only gets involved in our lives in one way: to take charge. God won’t be anything less than God to you. If you are willing for him to take charge of your life then you can know God, and, believe me, it will be wonderful.
Ask God to be who the psalmist says he is for you.
Read Psalm 103
