There must be some misunderstanding

by: Carole L. Haines

Forget not all His benefits, Day 5

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits.” (Psalm 103:1-2 NASB)

“There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake.” These are lyrics from a song by the band Genesis, which I love. It’s amazing how quickly we can go sour in our spirits when we feel misunderstood. It’s a helpless feeling and one I wish I could completely avoid. But our humanity brings us to this place with each other often. We can misunderstand texts and emails especially because we can’t personally respond or see the facial expression and hear the tone of voice of the one sending it. I had that happen this morning. I used to get all bent out of shape over such things, but I am learning to step back, take a deep breath, and surrender it to the One who never misunderstands me, God Himself.

Last time in our study on FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS, we encountered the Woman at the Well in John 4. Now here is a woman who knows what it means to be misunderstood. We can tell by the conversation that she has with Jesus that she is a seeker of truth, and desires to know God. So how did she end up where she was. Let’s look at a little bit about her.

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:16-17 NIV)

We are still looking at the spirit part of our humanity, Pnuema. If we are to worship God from the place of “all that is within me,” we must face all that is there, in our innermost being, pleasant and unpleasant. This phrase is only used 4x in the entire Bible, let’s look at all four.

“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? (John 38:36)

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. (Proverbs 20:27)

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38)

This study is going deeper than I intended. God is so good to use such a broken vessel as I am.. I am writing this live, and publishing it as I discover more. In the above Scripture we notice that several things can be discerned within our innermost being.

A. The questions in Job seem to imply that the answer is God, It is God who puts wisdom in our innermost being. It is God who gives understanding to our mind.

B. Psalm 51 is probably the most famous treatise on confession known to man. It is David’s response when confronted with his sins against Uriah and Bathsheba. Here David reveals that God desires truth in our innermost being, and in our hidden parts he makes us know wisdom.

C. I find the verse in Proverbs to be the most fascinating: “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.” God uses our spirit as the lamp into which He shines His light and searches all our innermost being.

D. In the only place that this phrase is used in the New Testament, Jesus tells us that when we believe in Him, out of our innermost beings with flow Rivers of Living Water.

Amazing, O how deep and wide God’s powerful Word is. It searches us, exposes us; leading us to confession and repentance, which then cleanses and heals us. Let’s sit with those truths awhile today, and let me close with Paul’s Exclamation from the Book of Romans:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33)