Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 35: Wednesday
“Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits”
Psalm 103:1–2
Wednesday’s Bible reading is Psalms 102–104. Have you ever thought about how the psalms teach you about God?
We see the psalmists as they call on God in all of the circumstances of their lives. We know their affliction and doubt, their deliverance and joy.
When you read Psalm 102 think about what you learn of the psalmist’s life at that moment? What is he experiencing? (verses 1–11). What does he call to mind about who God is? (verses 12–28).
In Psalm 103 why is he thankful? What are the benefits he has received from God? What does he say about who God is? Look for the answers interwoven in the psalm as he tells what God does and then describes who God is.
Is Psalm 104 what does he say about God’s works and what they reveal about God? (verses 1–32). What is his reaction to who God is? (verses 33–35).
B. B. Warfield wrote:
“…God is a person, and persons are known only as they make themselves known — reveal themselves.
“…Revealed religion comes to man from without; it is imposed upon him from a source superior to his own spirit.
“…we do not see in revelation man reaching up lame hands toward God and feeling fumblingly after Him if haply he may find Him, but God graciously reaching strong hands down to man, bringing him help in his need, we see in it a gift from God, not a creation of man’s….”1
Warfield also wrote that, “…Authority is the correlate of revelation.”2 We cannot impose our ideas of who God is upon Him; we cannot look within to know God—we must look to His Word because there He has revealed Himself to us. As John Owen commented:
“Without absolutes revealed from without by God Himself, we are left rudderless in a sea of conflicting ideas about manners, justice, and right and wrong, issuing from a multitude of self-opinionated thinkers. We could never know who God is, how He is to be worshiped, or wherein true happiness lies…”3
One of the great benefits of the Psalms is to see God revealed in the prayers and praise of the writers.
As you read the Bible ask the Lord to help you to know Him as He is.
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Isaiah 42 Photograph: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications
1, 2Benjamin B. Warfield, Mysticism & Christianity, “This essay originally appeared in The Biblical Review (vol. 2 ,1917, pp. 169-191) but this edition was derived from The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991, vol. 9, pp. 649-666). The electronic edition of this article was scanned and edited by Shane Rosenthal for Reformation Ink. It is in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed. Pagination from the Baker edition has been retained for purposes of reference. Scanning errors may be present in this edition.”
This essay discusses mysticism as a man-made religion.
3John Owen, Biblical Theology: The History of Theology from Adam to Christ, p. xl. Via: Kubecki.com
Original content: Copyright ©2011 Iwana Carpenter
Kindling for Candles 
God reveals Himself to us through His Word. The Psalmists teach us so much about God.
Hi, wisejunction! Thanks for your comment. It’s been one of my prayers the last couple of years to know God as He is. I don’t want to know an image built of my own misconceptions.
Our Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). God has made Himself knowable to us by becoming one of us. Jesus is God. If one has the Son, one has the Father also (1 John 2:23). The Son perfectly reveals the Father. If one wants to know the Father, one will know Him by knowing the Son. Therefore, there is no longer any mystery regarding who God is or what He may be like. If one wants to know the Father, all one must do is know the Son.
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father ‘?” [John 14:8-9]