Walking with the Wise #456: What We Need To Know

“These also are proverbs of Solomon 

which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out.

As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,

so the heart of kings is unsearchable.”

—Proverbs 25:1-3

God has made Himself known to us in two ways—through general revelation, which is nature (ex. Psalm 19:1-6) and through special revelation, which is Scripture. He doesn’t reveal everything about Himself to us—only what we need to know. As the Scripture says,

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”—Deuteronomy 29:29.

The only way we can learn about God is through what He has revealed to us. Without that, we have nothing. Creation and reason can only take us so far—we need God to reveal Himself and speak to us through His written Word. Today’s proverb captures exactly that—God makes Himself known to us. Therefore, we should rejoice! It is to His glory to reveal Himself to us—but it is also to His glory that He conceals things—things too wonderful for us, too unbelievable for us to grasp or understand.

Though we believe in God, we long to understand. It’s tremendous that an earthly ruler such as a king would seek to understand God, His creation, and how the world is ordered. Nevertheless, if a leader were to know all things, he still wouldn’t be able to process all of the things going on within his own fallen heart. We are complex creatures and with many different hurts, habits, and hang-ups. We are evil at our core, permanently scarred by the devastating, debilitating, and deplorable effects of the fall of man. We are a bevy of emotions, experiences, personalities, and affected so much by our upbringing, environment, and education.

Our own hearts are mysterious to us, and if we can’t understand everything about ourselves, how could we possibly think that we would understand the God who made us?! It’s good to understand who God is, for by studying Him, we learn about who we are. And we can see from His Word that we are sinful—rebellious, fleshly, and at war with Him. But, through Jesus, we learn how much He cares for us, how much He loves us, and how far He was willing to go in order to bring us to Himself. Remember today, that God cares for you. He has kept some things to Himself, but what we need to know He has shown us—and that He loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us, in order to bring us to Himself. Amen.