The Name and Knowledge of God

Daily Reflection: Psalm 9:10 — 11/20/2023

Those who know your name trust in you,  for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. — Psalm 9:10

In the Bible, a persons name does not merely refer to what they are called, but it refers to the their reality. Therefore, to act in the name of someone means to stand in the authority of that person, and to act in ways that further their interests. So the old traffic officers would say, “Stop, in the name of the law.” That means they are acting in the authority of the state, for the sake of the state.

Another word that has a different meaning than how it is popularly used is “knowledge.” Knowledge, in the Bible, does not merely refer to information about something, it refers to a kind of interactive relationship. So when God said, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth…” (Amos 3:2), he wasn’t saying he doesn’t know about all the other nations of the earth, he is saying that he hasn’t known them interactively, as he does Israel.

It is this kind of knowledge that makes one have strong faith, because it leads to a growing experience of God’s reality as something that can be relied on. And the only way to come to know God interactively is to launch out in obedient faith that is based on the kind of person he is — his Name.

Peter did this. He saw his Lord walking on the water and he asked him to call him out there, too. As Peter leapt out of the boat, he landed on water… but he also landed on a knew foundation of knowledge about his Lord; that is, his word is reliable enough to stand upon, even when it doesn’t make sense.

We can have the same experience as we act upon his word, according to his Name.

Father in heaven, you have revealed your Name to us in Jesus Christ. Grant that we, having placed our faith in him, would grow in our knowledge of you. That our faith will not be a stagnant thing, but ever-increasing in nature. In Jesus’ name.

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