A father was trying to explain to his 5-year-old daughter how she could see and speak with her mother using a smartphone. He tried his best to explain how technology had put her mother inside the phone but to no avail. Sensing his exasperation, the daughter said, “Daddy, I don’t need to know how the phone works as long as I can talk with Mommy!”
David knew that there were many things in his life that he simply could not and would not understand (Psalm 131:1). There is much about God and His ways that far exceeds our human ability and capacity (Job 42:3; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-34). So David humbly accepted the impossibility of trying to figure God out: “I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp” (Psalm 131:1).
David was not the first to admit that he couldn’t fully know God. Three millennia earlier, Job, a godly man (Job 1:1), stated this challenge: “Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty?” (Job 11:7).
God wants us to know Him (Jeremiah 24:7, 31:33- 34). He’s revealed Himself to us through His Word (Amos 3:7; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Hebrews 1:1) and through His Son (Matthew 11:27; John 8:19, 14:7; Hebrews 1:2). He’s given us the Holy Spirit to teach us (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-12). Those who have eternal life can now know God (John 17:3).
David chose not to be troubled by the matters that properly belonged to God (Psalm 131:1; Deuteronomy 29:29). Instead, like a weaned child enjoying the protection, provision, and presence of a mother (Psalm 131:2), David calmly trusted God with a childlike faith (Psalm 131:2). A faith characterized by humble dependency (Psalm 131:1), calm contentment, confident trust (Psalm 131:2), and unfailing hope (Psalm 131:3).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Joshua 23:1-16
More:
Do you agree or disagree that God is inscrutable and His ways beyond understanding? Why or why not? What does Deuteronomy 29:29 say about God’s inscrutability, His revelation, and our responsibility?
Next:
What aspects of God and His ways are you struggling to understand at this time? How has Psalm 131 helped you?
pjp on March 5, 2012 at 5:15 am
Tnx very much k.t. very encouraging. My soul has been calmed. praise God.
eppistle on March 5, 2012 at 9:27 am
This is one of the best (if not the best) ODJs I’ve read. I really like the verses that you found to go with it.
I thought going to seminary would clear up everything to me. But instead, it revealed that there are even more mysteries that I don’t understand. For example, I still don’t understand the paradox between God’s sovereignty and human’s responsibility. But I am grateful for a God who chose me in spite of me, and I know that it’s my responsibility to respond to Him.
There are so many good verses to highlight from this devotional, but I particularly like Deuteronomy 29:29: “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”
Certainly we need to worship God with our minds by trying to understand Him and His mysteries better. But perhaps instead of evangelicals dividing over nonessential doctrines that haven’t been resolved for centuries, we should focus on what God has revealed clearly to us: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Let’s focus on a compassion for the needy (the poor, the unsaved, the oppressed, the unborn) and a passion for holiness out of a love for a compassionate, holy God!
lindafrances on March 5, 2012 at 10:14 am
we should focus on what God has revealed clearly to us: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Let’s focus on a compassion for the needy (the poor, the unsaved, the oppressed, the unborn) and a passion for holiness out of a love for a compassionate, holy God!
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Well said!
sheridan voysey on March 6, 2012 at 3:41 am
Amen to that eppistle! Really well put.
lindafrances on March 5, 2012 at 10:11 am
I am reading Chronologically through the bible in one year and had a really hard time with some of the laws God gave Moses. I know we now live under a new covenant, but I really struggled with the why’s.
This is where todays message makes me step back and say, God is in control, all this is in his plan. I may not comprehend it, but one day He will make things clear.
winn collier on March 5, 2012 at 11:45 am
The mysterious realities of God are (sometimes) one of the things that most encourage my faith. If God were a God I could fully comprehend, I would be concerned I had created him.
sheridan voysey on March 6, 2012 at 3:43 am
I agree. Beware the person who says they’ve gotten God completely understood. All eternity won’t exhaust all there is to know of God.