When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you (Psalm 50:21).

One of the great mistakes I make is to believe God is like me. Or, to believe that his silence is tacit approval for whatever way I choose to live my life.

I often hear, “Well, I just can’t believe God meant that,” or “I believe only in a loving god,” or “the god I believe in wouldn’t act that way.” But when we believe in only a god we comprehend, we create an idol, an image, a Disney-god of our imagination.

When I think I know exactly what God is like, then I know I’m exactly wrong. The psalmist writes: His greatness no one can fathom.

I’m guilty. Deep down I want a god I can understand, a god that’s safe, a god I control. One that’s presentable in polite company and helps me look reasonable and educated. I carefully curate the god I pull from my pocket.

Fortunately for all of us that god does not exist. So much better to ponder the God we discover throughout the entirety of the Scriptures, from start to finish, Old Testament and New. Wrestle with the descriptions of the Lord and his treatment of people. Invest in his words. Only then do we grow towards a richer knowledge of the Lord.

Rest assured, God is not exactly like us.

Psalms 50 & 145 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by jet dela cruz