God who reveals Himself to us
[Psalms 76]
What is revelation? Revelation means to reveal what is hidden (as if you open a curtain). The word revelation is generally used exclusively to “divine revelation”, and in particular the “self-revelation” character of God who is truth is emphasized. God intentionally reveals Himself to us. So, Augustine said, ‘We believe to know (Credo ut intelligam).’ There are two types of revelation. There are “general revelation” and “special revelation”. General revelation is also called “natural revelation” because it means revelation that is universally transmitted to all mankind through nature. The natural world created by God reflects God's existence and principles. Special revelation is also called “super-natural revelation” because it refers to revelation that is communicated to limited people through a supernatural way. Special revelation is more direct and clear than natural revelation and complements or emphasizes revelation and interprets it correctly. For the salvation of sinners, God's grace through special revelation is essential. This is because, according to the principle of general revelation, sinners can only have judgment and destruction (Internet).
If we look at Galatians 1:11-12 among the words I read during today’s morning prayer meeting, we can find these words: “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” The apostle Paul wrote to the members of the Galatians, saying that the “gospel of Christ” (v. 7) he preached to those who followed the “other gospel” (v. 6) was not according to man (v. 11). In other words, he said that the gospel of Christ was neither received it from man, nor was he taught it, but "I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (v. 12).
Our God is the God who reveals Himself. In other words, our God wants to reveal Himself to us. In Psalms 76:1, the psalmist says that “God is known in Judah”. The most great and majesty God revealed Himself to His little people of Israel. As we meditate on the revealed God in four ways, I hope and pray that we will learn more about our God.
First, the God who reveals Himself to us is God who is angry.
Look at Psalms 76:7 – “You, even You, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?” God is angry with the enemies of the Israelites, the enemies of the Lord. Therefore, He breaks the flaming arrows, the shield and the sword and the weapons of war (v. 3). In other words, the angry God defeats and destroys the enemies of the Israelites. The psalmist says: “At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep” (v. 6). Jesus who rebukes the storm and calms it down, God set the day of judgment for the whole world and made Jesus the Judge. He is angry with the judgment of the wicked, and the wicked will be punished forever.
The psalmist says that this angry God restrains man's wrath (v. 10). The meaning of this word is that God puts man's wrath on His waist (Park). The saying that God has man's wrath on His waist means that God also uses human anger to reveal His glory. The wrath of this man that God permits is the wrath of the enemies of the Israelites, and God allows the wrath of the wicked to be used and eventually to destroy them. By doing so, God makes His people to praise Him when they see the destruction of the wicked. In the end, God uses the wrath of the wicked as well, so He uses it as an opportunity to pour out His holy wrath. Therefore, by destroying the wicked, He reveals His holiness and righteousness to the people of God. The Israelites who experience God's presence cannot but praise God (v. 10). He is a God who pours out His wrath on the wicked by using even the wrath of the wicked, and therefore reveals His glory.
When we think of this God of wrath, we must realize that we must fear God. Our God is God who alone to be feared (v. 7). The psalmist speaks of God as “the One to be feared” (v. 11). He is God who is “feared by the kings of the earth” (v. 12). We must not forget that the God we ought to fear is the God who rebukes our sins. Look at Psalms 39:11 – “With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.” Therefore, we must fear that God rebukes us in the midst of wrath: “O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger” (38:1).
Second, the God who reveals Himself to us is God who saves.
Look at Psalms 76:9 – “when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah.” God, the Judge, who pronounced judgment from heaven (v. 8), poured out wrath on the wicked and destroyed them and saved His people. He is the God who saves the afflicted. In other words, God is the God who saves the humble. Who are these humble ones? The word “the afflicted” refers to the believers who had become humble in their hearts under tribulation and persecution (Park). The humble believers who became humble in this way turned to God alone. We can think of four things as what kind of people are these humble believers in Psalms 76: (1) They know God (v. 1). (2) They dwell in His dwelling place (v. 2). In other words, those who dwell in the presence of the Lord or those who walk with the Lord. (3) They fear God (v. 7). (4) They praise God (v. 10). God saves these humble people. God saves His humble people by defeating and destroying the proud people who oppose and persecute the humble, namely, “Valiant men” (v. 5).
God is a God who exalts the humble (Ps. 75). This is what the apostle James said: “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Jam. 4:6). God is the God who defeats the proud and shows grace to the humble. The grace that is given to the humble is salvation. Regarding God's saving zeal for the humble, John Calvin said: ‘It is impossible for God to leave one who is innocently oppressed, as it is impossible for Him to deny Himself’ (Calvin).
Third, the God who reveals Himself to us is God who is majestic.
Look at Psalms 76:4 – “You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.” Here, the original Hebrew word for “majestic” means ‘became surrounded by light. This symbolizes the manifestation of power that humans cannot invade (Dan. 2:22; 1 Tim. 6:16) (Park). This resplendent God appears honorably in front of His chosen people because He defeats the nations who are looting in order to save His people and to gain victory (Park). Before this triumphant and majestic God, the stouthearted or the the warriors cannot use any power (v. 5).
Therefore, the psalmist exhorted the Israelites to make vow to this majestic God: “Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared.” God's people who have been favored of the salvation of God, who saved the Israelites, must make vows to God and fulfill them. And the psalmist is telling us that all our neighbors on all sides should also offer gifts to God. We must give honor and glory to God, thinking about His saving grace. We must repay our vows, and we must offer our gifts to God sincerely. When we consider the fact that the majestic God pours out the wrath on His only Son Jesus, that should be poured out on such sinners like us, and gives us the grace of salvation and honors us, we offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. We must dedicate ourselves to the Lord as we are.
Fourth and last, the God who reveals Himself to us is great.
Look at Psalms 76:1 – “God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.” God poured out His wrath on the enemies of the Israelites and destroyed them to save the Israelites. The reason He revealed His glory and honor was to make the Israelites know God. The psalmist who knew this God confessed, “His name is great Israel” (v. 1). God, who loved and chose the fewest Israelites among the nations (Deut. 7:6-8), redeemed the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt with His mighty hand in the time of the Exodus and revealed his glory. Likewise, He destroyed the foreign nations (Assyria) and revealed His great name to the nations. The greatest God concerned the fewest Israelites with His great love, and gave them the grace of salvation, also loves us, the least people, with His great love and is saving us. How should we respond to this great love of God? First we must praise the Lord (v. 10). Second, we must fear the Lord (vv. 7, 11, 12). Third, we must humble ourselves before the Lord (v. 9). Fourth, we must serve the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength (v. 11).
Today my youngest daughter Karis said she wanted to see a church grandmother at a nursing home. So when I asked her ‘Why do you want to go to the nursing home and to see only one church grandmother even though there were two church grandmothers. Karis said that since other grandmother couldn't say anything and couldn’t recognize us, she wanted to go see only the grandmother who knew how to talk. So I replied to Karis: ‘Then, the grandmother who cannot speak will be sad. And even though she doesn't recognize us, God knows everything when we meet with that grandma.’ I am sure that even though grandma Park has dementia, I believe that God doesn’t forget His beloved daughter, grandma Park.
I am holding onto the words of 1 Corinthians 8:3 even though we don't know when God reveals Himself: “but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” Our hope is “now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (13:12). With this hope, I hope and pray that we grow up in the knowledge of God everyday.
He who is known by God,
James Kim
(While wanting to work hard to know God and know myself)