73. Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

74. Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in your word.

75. I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

76. Let your steadfast love comfort me
according to your promise to your servant.

77. Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
for your law is my delight.

78. Let the insolent be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with falsehood;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.

79. Let those who fear you turn to me,
that they may know your testimonies.

80. May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
that I may not be put to shame!

TO KNOW AND BE KNOWN

“The informational is transformational only when it is relational.” This simple phrase has helped me for decades to wrestle with deeper truths about the importance of relationships over tasks. Relationships are foundational to a life of flourishing. Furthermore, because we are human beings — not human knowings or human doings — our identity needs to be anchored in God and mediated through our relationship with His Son, the Messiah. Relating rightly with God and others is therefore foundational for transformation and growth and this requires knowing God, not just knowing about God.

Verse 75 offers a compelling, but complexifying, invitation to look beyond the informational to the relational. Specifically, it forces us to look squarely in the face of our own affliction and suffering and contend with our understanding of our circumstances (which we cannot always control) and our reactions (which are under our control). This requires not only thinking rightly, but can push us to the deeper level of knowing and relating rightly to a sovereign God amidst our circumstances.

The Hebrew word for “to know” is yadah and begins with the letter yodh (י). David opens verse 75 with the word Ya-da’ti (יָדַעְתִּי). This word begins with the smallest Hebrew letter yodh and David uses this word to describe his “knowing” two things. First, God’s judgments or rules are righteous. Second, David’s afflictions somehow flow from God’s faithfulness. Now, put aside for a moment the nagging question of whether God is the author of evil. This question is often a distraction from going deeper than merely seeking right thinking about God with right information to a deeper and more transformational wrestling for relating rightly with God. Flourishing in your relationship with God requires a faith-filled heart of surrender and submission to His higher ways which is not easy…but it is good (tov).

This same root verb yadah, to know, is used in Exodus 2:25. The English Standard Version captures the Hebrew well, “God saw the people of Israel — and God (yadah) knew.” Other translations add qualifying words that point to what God knew but the Hebrew points to God’s intimate and relational engagement. This deepest level of “knowing” is clearly seen in the way this same word is used to refer to having sexual relations. Genesis 4:1 describes Adam “knowing” Eve in a most holy and intimate way, not just knowing about her or only having access to information about her. He knew her.

It is this same deeper level of knowing that Jesus describes in John 17 when He prays for us to know each other and to know Him so we could all be one with, and truly know, our Heavenly Father. Beloved, let your afflictions, and your joys, drive you deeper into the arms of the One who knows you best and loves you most!

Hebrew Treasure excerpt written by Thomas Boehm.
From The Psalm 119 Journey by Steve Allen, ©2022.
Used with permission.