BBC Sermon Cast

Psalm 106 is a lengthy psalm, which can be analysed in a number of different ways. For our purposes, we will see that it reminds us of five essential truths that every believer needs to know about sin and salvation. The great depths of our sin and the still greater depths of God’s grace should cause us to praise Him and to cry out to Him to pour out His grace on His chosen ones.

Paul’s prayerful concern for the Ephesians was that they be granted spiritual insight for an experiential knowledge of God, and that they pursue this together. It is a corporate concern for the corporate welfare of the congregation. For this reason, we cannot speak of knowing God without at the same time addressing the need to maximise the church. In other words, the knowledge of God, which makes life worthwhile, is a team effort. If we will know God we must prioritise and maximise the church; and to the degree that we properly maximise the church, we will grow in our knowledge of God.

Psalm 105 gives us all a wonderful opportunity to reflect on God’s faithfulness to all His people, including us. As we remember His matchless grace and mercy, His care and provision, our hearts must be turned to spiritual exercises of praise and worship.

As we have been learning, the prayer of Ephesians 1:15–23 reflects what should be the pursuit of every Christian: to know God. To the degree that we do so, we will be equipped with hope, encouraged as heirs, and empowered for holiness. And these cannot be hid. It will show.

In this study, we will note two requirements for knowing and showing God to a world that desperately needs to see a God who deserves to be honoured.

Creation gives us a small glimmer of our great God. Psalm 104 exhorts us to continually praise our great creator God, who is also our provider. The psalm ascribes everything that people might ascribe to other gods to Yahweh, the one true God.

To know God experientially is to love God. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know God—to love God—together. This is to be our prayer too. Because God loved us first (1 John 4:10), we will only grow in our love for Him as we learn more of His love for us. And we learn about His love by serious scriptural reflection.

As we examine this portion of Scripture together, we find two evidence of God’s love for us: (1) He has chosen us to a heavenly privilege; and (2) He has equipped us with holy power.

We are surrounded by an ocean of need. As followers of Christ, we are deeply concerned. We want to help. We desire to be constructive. We want to alleviate suffering. We want to “rescue the perishing.” But let’s be frank: The prospect of actually meeting such needs seems overwhelming. And so, like the disciples, when we see those in need we are prone to “send them away.” We just don’t see any immediate solution which we can provide.

It’s not that we don’t care; we simply do not think, realistically, that that there is anything we can do about it. When the multitudes are hungry, and all we can scrounge up is a few scones and sardines, “what are they among so many?” Unless, of course, you factor in Jesus. Let’s learn from this well-known account some lessons for reaching out to those in need.

Paul was aware of how quickly believers can lose their focus, and so he let the Ephesians know that he was praying that they would continue to be Christians; that is, that they would continue grow in their experiential, thorough, deep, full knowledge of God. As he did so, he reminded them that this continued growth must take place together.

Psalm 102 is “a prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.” The psalmist was undergoing a multifaceted affliction (physical, emotional, relational, spiritual), which drove him to prayer. At the same time, he was concerned about the national affliction of his people, Israel. We today need to learn to pray likewise for ourselves and for our churches.

One commentator on Ephesians says of the prayer in vv. 15–23: “The only gifts desired for these converts were gifts of a spiritual order, meaning a better acquaintance with God Himself.” What more could you and I possibly need? Knowing God is what life—in fact, eternal life—is all about (John 17:3). It may take some difficulties to help us learn this lesson, but whatever it takes to grow in our knowledge of God is worth it.