Psalm 50:21 These things you have done and I kept silent;
you thought I was altogether like you.
But I will rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.

To my knowledge I’ve never underlined this verse in my Bible before, but it really struck me just now. God, speaking through the Psalmist, is calling the wicked to account, giving them an opportunity to repent lest they be destroyed, and He points out a fatal fallacy that trips up many people. We tend to look at ourselves and think, “this is what God’s like,” instead of looking to God and thinking, “He is my Creator and worthy of all my love and obedience.” Even the Bible uses many anthropomorphic expressions to describe God, because otherwise we would have no frame of reference, but that doesn’t mean He is like us in our weaknesses and lusts. That’s the kind of deity portrayed in Greek and Roman mythology, not to mention many other religions, but it certainly doesn’t apply to the Creator of the Universe. As He pointed out to Isaiah, His thoughts and ways are incalculably higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:9) People do all they can to try to pull God down to their level, and it just doesn’t work. On the other hand, God chose to come down to our level, in the Person of His Son, so that we could know Him better. One of the miracles of the incarnation is that Jesus was fully human, yet did not succumb to the weaknesses that come with the territory. Down through the centuries the devil has put out the lie that Jesus was as lustful and devious as we are, and modern media have put that into books and movies, but it remains a lie. We cannot escape God’s command to “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)

This is an issue I deal with all the time, sometimes openly and more often in people’s assumptions. I need God’s wisdom to counter it, because my own can’t do the job. This is a problem not just for non-believers, it’s a problem for Christians as well. If our conception of God is too much like us, we will fail to believe He can do so much more than we ever could. That’s a big problem, because if God is no more trustworthy than we are, why should we trust Him? I need to seek to help people understand that God is so much higher than we are, but He loves us anyway. They need to have both parts of that firmly in their hearts, if they are to stand effectively as His children.

Father, I address You so frequently like this that sometimes I forget what a miracle it is that I can do so. Forgive me. Help me also remember how much higher You are than I am, and therefore rejoice in Your grace, mercy, and love. Help me convey Your Gospel more and more effectively to more and more people, so that Your family may grow more and more as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!