A Heart to Know Him

I wonder if the cry of our heart is like that of the Psalmist or the prophet Jeremiah. They both had a deep longing to know God through an experience that was rooted in their heart.

Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Psalm 86:11 NIV)
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. (Jeremiah 24:7 NIV)

In English, we only have one word for "knowing" and we use it in a variety of different ways: we know about something, we know where something is or we may know a person intimately. The single word doesn't always give us the exact sense or real meaning of what is being said. Other languages distinguish between knowing a fact and knowing something through experience. Knowing God's faithfulness and love is not simply being aware of a fact, it's the reality of knowing him through our experience of him.

King David seeks that in Psalm 86. He wants his heart to be changed so completely that he can fully experience God's faithfulness. He wants to really be able to rely on it and allow it to change him from the inside out. Jeremiah catches hold of the longing in God's heart as he declares that we might have a heart to know him, a heart that experiences who God really is.

An undivided heart, a heart to know him will take us on a journey. It will lead us to discover things not just about God, it will lead us to discover who he really is. The knowledge we acquire will be much more than facts and principles, it will be an experiential knowledge of the love of God and of his full nature, personality and character. It will take us to the place where, like the apostle John, we can say that "we know and rely on the love that God has for us" (1 John 4:16).

This truth is often hidden by the clutter in our heart. My encouragement is to rid yourself of the clutter in order that your heart can fully experience him.