“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14)
A few years ago in an RE class a 10-year-old girl asked how she could know that God existed. This was in the context of an exercise showing how we could determine that a person existed long ago.
This was the first really encouraging sign we had seen in the few weeks we had been taking RE. God had provoked this girl’s curiosity to the point that she asked the question. It was not unlike the question I posed when I was about that age, “If God exists then it must be possible to know Him in a person way.” The day before the RE class, in my personal devotion, I had been meditating on Psalm 19 which covers the three main ingredients of the answer to her question.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (v 1). Whether we gaze into the night skies or the deepest depths of the sea, into the forests or in the deserts, on the mountain peaks or in the river valleys, or even under the plants and mulch in our gardens, there we see His handiwork. The greater part of God’s creation is never seen by mankind and yet it sings His praises and glorifies Him. The small part we do observe does reveal to us the beauty and wisdom of the Creator and gives us reason to believe there is a Creator.
However, this is insufficient to save us from sin and death and bring us into a personal relationship with Him.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure. The statutes of the Lord are right.“ (vv 7, 8). The second revelation of God is through His Word which by His great grace we have available to us in our own language. The Law reveals our sinfulness and God’s holiness and mercy and grace lead us to the Saviour by and through whom we may be saved.
“Cleanse me …” (v 12) God’s mercy to mankind is that He is able to cleanse and forgive all our sin. This is of course only possible in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the third aspect of knowing God (Hebrews 1:1-3). Without the cross and Christ’s shed blood we cannot know Him.
As for everyone this young girl had the witness of the world around her that declared the existence of a Creator. The Word of God delivered to her by God’s people is also a witness in order that she discover that she can have, but does not yet have, an intimate relationship with that Creator. The Word of God reveals how that is possible through Jesus Christ.