Known of God

Genesis 18:19 – “For I know him.”

Arlington National Cemetery’s website reports: The Tomb of the Unknowns, near the center of the cemetery, is one of Arlington's most popular tourist sites. The Tomb contains the remains of unknown American soldiers from World Wars I and II, the Korean Conflict and (until 1998) the Vietnam War. Each was presented with the Medal of Honor at the time of interment and the medals, as well as the flags which covered their caskets, are on display inside the Memorial Amphitheater, directly to the rear of the Tomb. The Tomb is guarded 24-hours-per-day and 365-days-per year by specially trained members of the 3^rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard). The tomb is inscribed with these words, "Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God."

Don’t you think it would be terrible to be unknown – to pass through this life – from this life – and remain unknown by any? That would be terrible indeed. But it is even more terrible to be unknown of God. In our text verse, Abraham is being recognized by God as a faithful man. The context of the verse tells us that God knows that Abraham is faithful and will teach his children to be faithful. But isn’t that a wonderful testimony – to be known of God. There are other personages in the Bible that have a similar testimony:

Enoch – Ge 5:22 – “Walked with God”; He 11:5 – “Pleased God”

Noah – Ge 6:8 – “Found grace in the eyes of the Lord”

Abraham – Js 2:23 – “Called the friend of God”

Moses – De 33:1 – “The man of God”; Ne 10:29 – “The servant of God”

Joshua – Nu 27:18 – “A man in whom is the spirit”

David – 2 Sa 5:10 – “The Lord God of hosts was with him”

Job – Jb 1:1 – “Perfect and upright”

And many more …

In Psalm 139:23 the psalmist requests, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.” How many of us can be brave enough to ask this of God? We are usually too busy hiding sins – covering up faults – secreting wicked thoughts. We need to ask God to turn the searchlight of his Spirit on our souls and expose those secret sins – as the psalmist did in Psalm 19:12, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults” and v. 13, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins” and Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.” Then cry out to Him for forgiveness as the sweet psalmist of Israel did in Psalm 51, “Have mercy upon me, O God … wash me thoroughly … cleanse me from my sin … purge me with hyssop … wash me … make me to hear joy and gladness … hide thy face from my sins … blot out mine iniquities … restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” Nothing can be sweeter than to be known of God and have a right relationship with Him.

Quote – “When the dew of God’s Spirit saturates our spiritual nature, it makes the doing of God’s Will an easy matter.” – Dr. F. E. Marsh

"Lord, Thank you for knowing me for caring for me.  I can always count on you to be there by my side when the going gets rough. O Lord, I'm so unfaithful to you, but you're so faithful to me. Amen."