Knowing God Through the Psalms
One night around 2am, with shaky hands and tears running down my cheeks, I struggled to believe the truth I had always known. God led my husband to reach over, turn on his light, and pick up his Bible. He turned to Psalm 46 and read this psalm to me. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Focusing on who God is turned out to be exactly what my heart needed at that moment.
Knowing God is the heart of Bible reading. So let me encourage you to start with this psalm: Psalm 46. It says:
1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
I really love verse seven: “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” God is described as the “LORD of hosts” which means He is the ruler over an angel army. Think of how powerful He would need to be to be a leader of angels!? This powerful God is “with us.” This phrase means He is close, present, and near to us in a very personal way. God is also called the “God of Jacob.” Jacob was a real man, and God was his personal God. He knew this man’s name and this personal God is our refuge. A refuge is a shelter from protection. Something that is a protection needs to be powerful. So Jacob’s personal God was powerful.
When we study the attributes of God through the Book of Psalms we can find God both powerful and personal. In our lives, we need a God who is both. We need a God who is big enough to handle our questions and concerns. He needs to be big enough to control our lives. We also need a God who personally connects to our hearts and is “small” enough to hear our every thought.
Tweet ThisI would encourage you to dive into the psalms!
You can do it TWO ways!
First, I have my Summer of Psalms devotional here. It walks you through 40 days of psalms and is a beautiful notebook for you to keep track of notes and prayer.
Or you can download a workbook that is designed to keep track of everything you can learn about God in the Psalms! It is FREE and available here.
Sarah E. Frazer is a writer and Bible study mentor at sarahefrazer.com. She is the wife of Jason and mother of five who all serve as full-time missionaries in Honduras. Her passion is to encourage women to fall in love with the Bible. Sarah is the author of several Bible study resources for women. She shares tools for deep-rooted Bible study at sarahefrazer.com. Follow her on Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/sarah_e_frazer) and join her free prayer challenge at sarahefrazer.com/prayer
I have decided to read the entire bible by the end of the year. God touched my heart personally when I was pregnant two years ago. I opened my heart fully to God, and he is now an every day constant in my life. Although my son passed on his birthdate 8-18-18, God gave me the strength to get through it and has continued to bless me each and every day. Doing several devotionals each day, I pray over them. I color God’s word and scriptures. It brings me lots of joy. I speak to God often. So, after deciding that I want to read book by book, this bible study popped up on the weather app that is a book by book tutorial/study guide for the bible. I had just told my dad the day before of my goals. This morning, I said, today I am going to focus on Psalms. And this popped up, your challenge. Wow, He is all around me and hears my every thought. Amen.
Thank you for sharing that Melissa!