Truly Knowing God
An all-creatures Bible Message

Truly Knowing God
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
7 February 2021
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 147:1-11
Isaiah 40:21-31
 
Truly knowing God is probably something that we may never completely know, because He may not want to reveal that much to us, but we can know everything He has revealed to us.
 
This kind of understanding and knowledge only comes to us when we are truly born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, and really want to listen to Him and live in His heavenly will here on earth as it is in heaven every moment of every day.
 
If we do not want to live this way, or we don’t want to give up some of the things and ways of this world, we run the risk of never truly knowing God and perhaps even of ever going to heaven.
 
This brings us to the situation in the world today, because the vast majority of the people seem to be living in the corrupt ways of this world, the most obvious of which is observing what they eat.
 
If what they are eating contains any animal products it means that they are still contributing to the pain, suffering and death of those animals, and since there is no pain, suffering or death in heaven they are part of the world system and not the heavenly will of God.
 
Furthermore these people, who include many church goers and pastors, are not only contributing to the violence that causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year, but they are contributing to more air pollution than all of transportation put together.
 
Additionally, they are subjecting themselves to many chronic illnesses, that increase healthcare costs, as well as creating the breeding grounds for many worldwide viral infections, which all seem to stem from animal agriculture.
 
With these things in mind, let’s look at Psalm 147:1-11…
 
1. Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.
 
This goes on all day long in the hearts and souls of truly born again people who live in the heavenly will of God.
 
2. The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
 
Jerusalem and Israel have been built up over the past several decades, but not all of the people are living as God wants us to live.
 
Additionally, we believe that today this includes Christianity, and over all Christians have a long way to go to equal what the Jewish people have done in Israel.
 
3. He heals the brokenhearted,
And binds up their wounds.
 
He definitely does this with true believers, but more often than not, many of these people get caught in problems of the world such as what we are experiencing with COVID-19.
 
4. He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.
 
Since God created the stars and all of heaven it seems obvious that He would have numbered and named them, as He does with us.


5. Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.
 
We need to think about this in the spiritual realm for God is all spirit, and think about the great power that went into creating everything that exists in the whole universe, and what a tiny speck we are in it.
 
6. The LORD supports the afflicted;
He brings down the wicked to the ground.
 
And as we said above, sometimes the Godly people get caught in the conditions that the corrupt people of this world have brought upon themselves, such as global warning and food-borne illnesses.
 
7. Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre,
 
This is easy for the peacemaking children of God to do, and we have observed many worldly people fake this.
 
8. Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
 
Obviously, only God.
 
However, this doesn’t mean He makes it happen every time.
 
All of these things could just as easily happen because of the mechanisms which God set in motion when He created the earth.
 
This is all part of truly knowing God.
 
9. He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens which cry.
 
Yes, He does, but it could happen for the same reason we stated about the previous verse.
 
10. He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.
 
Part of truly knowing God is recognizing the fact that the Lord takes pleasure in those who love Him and live in His heavenly will here on earth as it is in heaven.
 
11. The LORD favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.
NASB
 
Fear is really the opposite of love, so if we love the Lord our God with every part of our being, then we reverence Him and don’t fear Him, for we know that His lovingkindness is all around us.
 
Let’s now take a look at Isaiah 40:25-31 and see how truly knowing God plays a part in our understanding of this passage.
 
25. "To whom then will you liken Me
That I should be his equal?" says the Holy One.
 
We have a tendency to think of God in terms of looking like us, but we need to remember that God is all spirit and not physical.
 
This is also part of truly knowing God.
 
26. Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power
Not one of them is missing.
 
The heavens are beautiful, and they tell of the mighty creation power of God, but there are other things going on that the prophet doesn’t fully understand.
 
Maybe none of the stars that Isaiah could see are missing, but parts of the universe are quite violent, and some of the stars get sucked into black holes and some explode.
 
Look at all the craters on the moon; they have been created by violent impacts from asteroids or rocks.
 
27. Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?
 
If we truly know the Lord we also know that nothing that we do is hidden from Him; therefore the people who say these things, really don’t know Him.
 
28. Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
 
Isaiah is questioning the people who really don’t know who God really is.
 
He is most likely questioning them because they are living in the corrupt ways of this world, like most of the people of today.
 
They may know who He is, but they don’t truly know Him, for if they did, they would know that what Isaiah said is true.
 
29. He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
 
I have experienced this in my own life, and it was not only physical strength, but mental ability as well.
 
30. Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
 
But there are times when I’m running on high octane God power, and I can outperform some of these young people.
 
And I still experience this even though I am over 80 years of age.
 
I also believe that this is all part of truly knowing God.
 
31. Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
NASB
 
I hope and pray that we all know this, for it’s true.
 
It is all part of truly knowing God.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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