Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
October 12, 1986
The Benefits of Knowing God
Psalm 104, KJV
Is there any benefit in knowing God? There had better be!
Just consider all we are supposed to give up: lying, backstabbing, sex outside of marriage, bad language, cheating on your taxes, holding grudges.... I deliberately said supposed to give up.
I know that there are Christians who do all these things but I am talking about someone who is really sincere about their commitment to Christ. Being a genuine Christian requires effort. What do we get from all this effort? A lot! Psalm 103 packs many promises in a small package and it is not surprising that it has been a favorite of believers for generations.
The first benefit of having a relationship with God is that he forgives all our sins. Not just the big, embarrassing ones but all of them. It's a good thing he does this because there can be no sin in God's presence. It violates everything he stands for. But once our sins are forgiven we can approach the presence of God.
The second benefit is the healing of our diseases. You can take this two ways; either physical illness or spiritual. Both are actually related. If physical healing is in view, then the second benefit differs from the first one. When we accept Christ as our Savior our forgiveness by God is automatic. Physical healing can take much longer and our total healing must wait for heaven. King David provides a good example. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, then Nathan the prophet rebuked him and David repented. He was forgiven immediately but his ill son was not healed in spite of seven days of prayer.
If our relationship with God is the most important thing in life this makes good sense. Sin destroys that relationship while suffering can deepen it. We only grow mentally and spiritually when we are challenged.
The third benefit of knowing God is redemption. Redemption is a special concept. Originally it had nothing to do with salvation. It was something a next-of-kin did to help out a struggling member of the family. If the person in need couldn't pay their own way the next of kin paid for them, voluntarily. The beautiful story of Ruth and Boaz focuses on his redemption of her.
A far greater love story focuses on how God redeems us. The King James Version says God redeems us from destruction. Literally it is the "pit" which stands for death. Because of our sin, we deserve to die under God's wrath but in his love he redeems us from death. David only caught a glimpse of what this means. It takes the death of Jesus on the cross, for us, to reveal the full cost of redemption.
Redemption goes beyond having the penalty of our sin paid for. After he wipes our slate clean, he crowns us with his love and salvation. This is the fourth benefit. We don't deserve it! But we should be awfully glad he does it. Redemption and the love that goes with it are not reserved for the distant future. We are meant to enjoy them now while we are living.
This ideal is taken up in the fifth benefit. God satisfies us with good things and he renews our strength. The prophet Isaiah must have loved this psalm because he quotes it in a round-about way. Turn to Isaiah 40:31 -
But they that wait upon the Lord shall review their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary
and they shall walk and not faint.
Do you ever wish you had more energy? The moment I turned thirty my body gave up on me. My potbelly no longer disappears in the summer - it gets bigger. I walk by money lying on the ground and I don't pick it up unless it's at least a nickel. To have the energy Rebecca and Sarah have! They don't walk - they run. When they start talking, they never stop. But energy is not a monopoly of the young. Anyone who believes in God can have the energy to accomplish anything. Anything at all. It doesn't depend on your age, your mental ability or your strength. God's power does it! It's available if we want it.
In verse 6 David turns his thoughts to one of the greatest events in the Bible, the Exodus. The Exodus is interesting because it shows how powerful and loving God could be but also how selfish and stubborn his people could be. When Moses brought down the Ten Commandments; the very word of God, what were the people doing? Having an orgy in front of a golden calf. So Moses went up the mountain again. When God reappeared to Moses he identified himself with words almost identical to the 8th verse of this psalm.
"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plentiful in mercy."
God doesn't give what we deserve. Verses 9 and 10 compare him with us. We like to nurse grudges. God doesn't. We want to get even with those who wrong us. God doesn't. God control his anger against our sin and he even hold back from giving us what we truly deserve. He's too good for that. But what does God do? He sticks with us.
Verse 11 to 15 are very comforting. When our kids tell us they love us they stretch out their hands - "I love you THIS MUCH." That's not good enough for God. To escape the love of God you have to go quite a distance. Verse 11 mentions the height of heaven. Celeste let me buy a very fancy telescope which I set up in my driveway. On a dark night I can focus on galaxies that are hundreds of millions of miles away. If I could go beyond them, God could still reach me. You can look at it from another angle. Instead of going up we can go out. If you go on forever you still won't be able to appreciate God's forgiveness because he has cast our sins even farther out.
In verse 13 David goes in a different direction. Instead of vast distances he looks at the closeness of a family. God loves us as our father did when we were little. "Pity" isn't the best way to translate it. It really means to have a heart, to cherish someone.
Verse 14 adds that our heavenly Father knows us as deeply as he cares for us.
"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust."
When you really think about it, we don't amount to much. We dream of making a big impact on the world but we never do. We have an idea of where we want to end up but we never get there. Even if you win the lottery you'll still never be able to live your dreams. God has put eternity in our hearts but he has made us out of dust. He accepts us like this, even if we cannot accept ourselves.
Everything we do and everything we are will one day crumble. It's only with God that we can have eternal life. As verse 17 puts it, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.
Last night I experienced a beautiful illustration of eternity. I was in my study polishing up this sermon while Rebecca and Sarah were taking a bath by themselves around the corner. Rebecca has this plastic soap dish with a bunny attached to it. Something only a grandma would get her. I heard a loud shriek and I knew that Sarah had grabbed it. "No Sarah, it's mine and you can't use it for ever and ever and ever!" So Sarah broke off the bunny!
Eternity is a great benefit from God but it is limited to those who commit themselves to him. Verse 18 says it's for those who keep the covenant and remember the commandments. Jesus put it in slight different words. He said: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me." Have you come to him?
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Typed on May 30, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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