How do you know Him?

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exulted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Know – “Yada, yada, yada.” The common slang expression doesn’t carry quite the same meaning as its original Hebrew verb, yadah. In slang, it’s almost like “and so on, and so on”. But the Hebrew verb has a much deeper meaning; one that we simply cannot ignore when it’s used in this verse. God commands us to know Him. That means it is entirely possible, desirable and expected. He even tells us what steps to take in order to reach this incredible goal. Let go of the world.

Now the only question left is this: what does yadah mean?

Yadah has about the same broad range of meaning that we attach to “know” in English. We can know everything from facts to people. We can perceive, discern, learn, experience, and discover under the umbrella of “know”. But in this verse, yadah carries us into a world of intimate knowledge; knowledge that comes from relationship and experience at the deepest level. That’s why yadah is also the verb for sexual intercourse (Adam knew Eve). There is a sense where my knowing someone passing by the facts, passes over the acquaintance and passes into a bonded unity. God instructs me to seek that level of intimacy with Him. Until I come to that place, I am “married” in name only. God wants more. And so do I.

The state of intimacy in my marriage usually reflects the state of unity with my God. If I allow the pressures and cares of the world to interfere with intimacy with my spouse, I drift away from the essential unity of marriage. Without shared intimacy in all of its forms, marriage becomes mutual productive acquaintance, not bonded unity. God is not interested in my acquaintance. He has known me as an acquaintance since my conception. He wants more. He wants bonded unity. Just like a marriage partner, His desire for relationship with me extends beyond household obligations, raising children and vacations together. He wants me to know Him in the deepest possible way; the same way that He knows me. Every secret, every fear, every hope, every failure, every thought, every word, every deed – all of it shared with the Lover of my soul.

Do you know Him? Or is yadah only “yada, yada, yada” to you?