God Who Reveals Himself to Us

[Psalm 76]

What is revelation?
Revelation means “to reveal what is hidden (like opening a curtain and showing it).”
The term revelation is generally used only in the sense of “divine revelation,” and especially emphasizes God’s “self-revelation,” since God is truth itself.
God intentionally reveals Himself to us.
That is why Augustine said, “I believe so that I may understand” (Credo ut intelligam).

There are two types of revelation:
“general revelation” and “special revelation.”
General revelation refers to the revelation universally communicated to all humanity through nature, so it is also called “natural revelation.”
The natural world created by God reflects God’s existence and principles.
Special revelation refers to the revelation communicated to a limited number of people through supernatural means, so it is also called “supernatural revelation.”
Special revelation is more direct and clear than natural revelation, complementing it, emphasizing it, or correctly interpreting it.
For the salvation of sinners, God’s grace through special revelation is essential,
because according to the principle of general revelation, only judgment and destruction await sinners (Internet source).

In the passage read today during early morning prayer, Galatians 1:11-12 says:
“Brothers, I want you to know that the gospel I preached is not of human origin;
for I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatian believers who were following a “different gospel” (v.6), states that the “gospel of Christ” he preaches (v.7) is not “according to human intention” (v.11).
In other words, he said that the gospel of Christ was neither learned nor received from people, but “came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v.12).

Our God is a God who reveals Himself.
In other words, our God desires to make Himself known to us.
Psalm 76:1 says that God was made known in Judah, according to the psalmist.
The Most High and Glorious God revealed Himself to His very small people, Israel.
As we meditate today on this revealed God in four aspects, I pray that you and I may come to know our God more deeply.

First, the God who reveals Himself to us is a God who is angry (a God of wrath).

Look at Psalm 76:7:
“The Lord, yes, the Lord is to be feared; who can stand before him when he is angry?”
God is angry with the enemies of His people Israel, that is, the enemies of the Lord.
Therefore, He breaks the enemies’ arrows, shields, swords, and war (verse 3).
In other words, the God who is angry defeats and destroys the enemies of the people of Israel.
The psalmist says:
“O God of Jacob, when you rebuke, both chariot and horse lie still” (verse 6).
Jesus, who calms the storm with a rebuke,
God has appointed a day to judge the whole world and has set Jesus as the judge.
When He judges the wicked, He will be angry, and the wicked will suffer eternal punishment.

The psalmist says this angry God “restrains the wrath of mankind” (verse 10).
This means that God “girds human wrath to His waist” (according to Park Yoon Sun).
That God girds human wrath to His waist means that God also uses human anger to manifest His glory.
The human anger permitted by God is the anger of the enemies of Israel, and God allows and uses the anger of these wicked people to ultimately destroy them,
so that God’s people, seeing the destruction of the wicked, praise God.
Ultimately, God even uses the wrath of the wicked as an occasion to pour out His holy wrath.
Therefore, by destroying the wicked, He reveals His holiness and justice to His people.
The people of Israel, who experience God’s presence, cannot help but praise Him (verse 10).
God who even uses the anger of the wicked to pour out His own wrath on them is a God who reveals His glory.

When we think of this God of wrath, we must realize that we ought to fear God.
Our God is “One to be feared” (verse 7).
The psalmist calls God “One to be feared” (verse 11).
He is the God who causes fear even to the kings of the earth (verse 12).
We must not forget that the God we rightly fear is the God who reproves our sin.
Look at Psalm 39:11:
“You rebuke man for sin, and you consume his wealth like a moth— surely everyone is but a mere breath” (Selah).
Therefore, we must fear God’s rebuke in His wrath:
“Do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath” (Psalm 38:1).

Second, the God who reveals Himself to us is the God who saves.

Look at Psalm 76:9:
“When God rose to judge, to save all the meek of the earth (Selah).”
God, the Judge, “pronounced judgment from heaven” (verse 8), pouring out His wrath on the wicked, destroying them, and saving His people.
He saves, specifically saving the meek.
In other words, God is the God who saves the humble.

Who are these humble ones?
The word “meek” refers to believers who, under trials and persecution, humble their hearts and come to rely only on God (Park Yoon Sun).
These humble believers who have lowered their hearts and rely solely on God can be described in four ways in this passage:
(1) The humble are those who know God (verse 1). Knowing God naturally leads to humility.
(2) The humble are those who dwell in the Lord’s dwelling place (verse 2). In other words, those who dwell in the presence of the Lord or walk with Him.
(3) The humble are those who fear God (verse 7).
(4) The humble are those who praise the Lord (verse 10).

God saves these humble ones.
He saves them by defeating and destroying the proud ones who oppose and persecute the humble—namely, the “strong of heart” (verse 5).
Thus, God saves His humble people by overcoming and destroying the proud.

God is a God who exalts the humble (Psalm 75).
The apostle James said:
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).
God defeats the proud and bestows grace upon the humble.
That grace He bestows is precisely salvation.

Regarding God’s zeal for saving the humble, John Calvin said:
“It is impossible for God to abandon those who are innocently oppressed, as that would be to deny Himself” (Calvin).

Thirdly, the God who reveals Himself to us is a glorious God.

Look at Psalm 76:4:
“You are glorious and honored from the mountains of prey.”
Here, “glorious” in the original Hebrew means “clothed with light.”
This symbolizes a manifestation of power that no human can violate (Daniel 2:22; 1 Timothy 6:16) (Park Yoon Sun).

This glorious God saves His people by defeating the nations that repeatedly plunder and gains victory, appearing honorably before His chosen people (Park Yoon Sun).
Before this victorious and honorable God, the “strong of heart” and “warriors” have no power (verse 5).

Therefore, the Psalmist exhorts this glorious God to “make vows and pay them”:
“Make vows to the Lord your God and pay them; let all around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared” (verse 11).
God’s people, who have received the grace of salvation from God who defeated the plundering foreign nations and saved the people of Israel, must make vows and fulfill them to God.
The Psalmist also says that all neighbors around should bring offerings to God.
As we consider the grace of salvation from this glorious God, we must give Him honor and glory.
We must fulfill the vows we have made and also offer God our offerings with sincerity.
When we think about how this glorious God poured out the wrath that should have been on sinners like you and me onto His only begotten Son Jesus, granting us the grace of salvation and regarding us as precious, we must present ourselves as living sacrifices before the Lord.
We must dedicate ourselves to the Lord just as we are.

Finally, fourthly, the God who reveals Himself to us is a great God.

Look at Psalm 76:1:
“God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.”
God poured out His wrath on the enemies of Israel, destroying them and saving His people, manifesting His glory and honor so that the people of Israel would come to know God.
The Psalmist, who knew this God, confessed, “His name is great in Israel” (v. 1).
God, who loved and chose the smallest nation among the peoples, Israel (Deut. 7:6-8), just as He redeemed Israel from Pharaoh’s hand during the Exodus by His mighty hand and revealed His glory, also destroyed foreign nations (Assyria) and revealed His great name throughout the world.
Isn’t it true that the greatest God, who loves the smallest nation Israel with great love, also loves us—the very small or insignificant ones—with that great love and, in His time, saves (rescues) us by His helping grace?
How should we respond to this great love of God?
First, we should praise the Lord (v. 10).
Second, we should fear the Lord (vv. 7, 11, 12).
Third, we should be humble before the Lord (v. 9).
Fourth, we should serve the Lord with all our body, mind, sincerity, and dedication (v. 11).

Today, on the way to the nursing home, Ye-eun said she missed the grandmother at church and wanted to visit only her.
When I asked “Why?”, Ye-eun said, “The other grandmothers cannot speak or recognize us, so I want to visit only the grandmother who can talk.”
So I answered Ye-eun, “Then the grandmothers who cannot speak will be sad. And even though they do not recognize us, God knows that we are meeting with the grandmothers.”
And I am convinced that even if Sister Park has no memory due to dementia, God has not forgotten nor does He forget His beloved daughter.

Even if we do not fully understand when God reveals Himself to us, I hold fast to 1 Corinthians 8:3:
“But whoever loves God is known by Him.”
And our hope is:
“Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (13:12).
With this hope, I pray that you and I grow today in the knowledge of God.

Known by God,

Pastor James Kim
(Desiring to strive to know myself because I know God, and to know God because I know myself)