In our series looking at our identity as the people of God, we looked tonight at the fact that we are known by God. Paul mentions this in Gal 4:9-11 as he tries to teach the Galatians that salvation is by faith alone and there is no need to celebrate special times and dates or be circumcised in order to be accepted by God. We often speak of us knowing God, but the fact that God knows us is even more revolutionary, for it gives us stability, worth and significance.

Names are hugely important in the Bible; God says through Isaiah, ‘I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’ (Is 43:1) Moreover, God does not just know our names (which in the Bible implies He knows all about us), He has enabled us to be called by His name. (Is 43:7) He will, moreover, give us a new name (see Is 62:1-2, Is 65:13-15, Rev 2:17), again, an indication of a deep personal knowledge and relationship. Our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Luke 10:20); we cannot be forgotten by God. (Is 49:15-16)

Psalm 139 is probably the most comprehensive account of God’s intimate knowledge of us, from conception onwards. In this psalm, David celebrates God’s knowledge of us and reminds us that we are not an accident. We are not unwanted, even if our parents did not plan for us! God made us and knows everything about us: ‘all the days ordained for me were written in your book  before one of them came to be.’ (Ps 139:16)

Jesus describes himself as the good Shepherd and says that he knows us, his sheep, and that we know his voice. (John 10:5-15) He likens His knowledge of the sheep to His knowledge of God the Father, and we see that ‘being known by Jesus produces an intimate and abiding relationship between Jesus and the individual believer modelled on the relationship of Jesus and His Father.’ (‘Known by God’, Brian S. Rosner, P 137) This intimacy and individual knowledge make a huge difference to us in our impersonal and isolated world. We have significance because we are known and loved by God. This is our core identity, which does not change. Since we are known by God, let’s not turn back, as the Galatians were tempted to do, to what we knew before or to things that simply cannot satisfy. Let’s allow God’s knowledge of us and love for us to shape us into the people He has made us to be and let’s hold our heads up high, for we are known by the King of Kings and welcomed by Him each day.

We meet Nathan the prophet for the first time in 2 Samuel 7. A prophet was one who proclaimed God’s words to people; he also recorded events that happened during David’s reign (1 Chron 29:29) and was involved in the music worship of the time (2 Chron 29:25), but little else is known about him apart from this chapter and his clearly spoken word of admonition later in David’s life. Obviously he is important in being God’s spokesman to David at critical times in his life.

Nathan appears to have had a good relationship with David, but his primary calling is to speak forth what God says to him, and this he does without reserve. A prophet’s job is not always an easy one, for there are times when speaking God’s word will go against what people want to hear. Nathan does not shirk this responsibility, but acts with courage and conviction. Despite initially endorsing David’s idea (“Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” 2 Sam 7:3), he is prepared to go back to him the next day when God has spoken to him and give him ‘the word of the Lord’, even if this might have seemed a dangerous thing to do. (Kings don’t always respond well to revision of their plans, let alone rebuke.) But Nathan knows that this is his job. He must speak out what God gives him. He is not afraid to admit that he has got it wrong; his only concern is to bring David what God has told him to say.

We too need the courage and convictions of Nathan. Our responsibility is to speak God’s word, whether this is popular or well received or not. We have to be prepared to wait on God and listen to Him more than anyone else.

It’s a fact of life that ‘no’ is often the word we like least! One of the shortest words in the English language, it’s nevertheless a word we associate with negativity and the crushing of our plans. My youngest granddaughter, aged 19 months, puckers up and sobs in frustration the minute she hears the word. You would think we had refused her every opportunity for happiness simply by uttering the word, rather than saved her from danger!

In 2 Samuel 7, we see how David responds when God says ‘no’ to his plans to build God a temple. At first sight, his request seems laudable, a great idea, but God reminds him that He has no need of grandiose dwellings (see 2 Sam 7:5-7) and has far bigger plans for David than David could ever have for him. (2 Sam 7:8-16) David ultimately is humbled by God’s great plans and learns to respect His wisdom. His ways and thoughts, after all, are so much greater than ours. (Is 55:8-11)

It’s hard when God says ‘no’ to us. We find it bewildering and confusing, especially when our ideas want to glorify Him. Bob Deffinbaugh reminds us, ‘No matter how pious my plans for God and His work appear to be, they fall far short of the purity of thought and motive God requires. In the final analysis, there is nothing we can do for God in our own strength. It is God who must accomplish great things through us, and very often in spite of us.’

This chapter reminds us that God’s ‘nos’, painful though they are, may be necessary, but always lead to a better ‘yes.’ (2 Cor 1:20) May we learn, like David, to humbly accept whatever God tells us and to wait patiently before the Lord.