“With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With the blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.” Psalm 18:25, 26
Psalm 18 was written by King David after he had experienced the Lord in many ways and on many occasions. One who has only heard or learned about God could not write in such a way. He didn’t just know about the Lord, he knew the Lord personally and intimately through revelation and life’s experiences. Many people learn about God but few know Him in life experience.
We tend to see others and God as we ourselves are. The Lord says, “You thought I was altogether like you” (Psalm 50:21). The devious person will see God as shrewd; the legalist will see Him as a dictator; the compassionate person will see God as compassionate and the merciful will see Him as merciful. What we think of the Divine Nature can be seen in the way we relate to others.
The Bible is given to us by God to correct us where we are not thinking correctly on many things but especially in regard to Him. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). As we learn about God from the Scriptures and accept the teaching the Holy Spirit changes us into His likeness. When we read and receive such God-breathed words as, “But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” Titus 3:4-6), we melt in our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to change us. Then we will see God as merciful, loving, gracious and righteous. “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2). We don’t have to wait until heaven to see Jesus as He is. Through believing God’s word and experiencing Jesus Christ in daily living we are being transformed into His likeness (Romans 12:2) and have in our minds a more accurate understanding of His nature.
Our theories about Jesus Christ are tested in our life experiences. When they don’t seem to match we are forced to go back to Scripture. If they do match we rejoice in having a more intimate understanding of Him and fellowship with Him.
An unbelieving world may say that it is blind faith or brain washing but the one who not only knows about God but has also experienced Him personally through Jesus Christ will not be moved by such folly (Psalm 14:1).
We will tend to see God and other people as we are ourselves. Only through God’s word can we discover the truth about Him and ourselves and then He will ensure we go through the appropriate tests and trials to conform us to His likeness. The experiences of life will either confirm we are correct or drive us back to His word for correction. When it appears that God is not meeting our expectations it may be because we have a wrong view of Him and therefore wrong expectations.