Twelve times.
That’s how often the author of Psalm 71 (supposedly David) cries out familiarly to God.
O LORD. O my God. O Lord. O God. O Holy One of Israel.
It’s personal.
When we approach God, is he personal to us, too?
The Lord doesn’t want us just to know about him. Knowledge alone is never enough (1 Corinthians 13:2; James 2:19; 1 Corinthians 8:1-3).
He wants us to know him—for personal reasons. So we will love him. Be loved by him. And love others.
I want to mean it personally when I recite Psalm 71:
- In you, O LORD, do I take refuge. (Psalm 71:1)
- For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. (Psalm 71:5)
- O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! (Psalm 71:12)
- I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 71:22)
I don’t have a keep-your-distance, hands-off, passive Savior.
My God is the one who came in the flesh and lived with us. The one who gave us the right to be born his children. The one who says we can know God when we know Jesus.
And because we know him—not just what he is, but who he is—we have greater peace, greater joy, greater love. We live in him; he lives in us.
Forever we can call out to him, “My God!” over and over and over.
I take that personally. Because God is very personal indeed.
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What’s a favorite scripture you take personally?
I’m still working on memorizing Psalm 71. Not easy, but easier today at the beach where my God is SO apparent.
