How awesome, to see God at work! How awful, to see his works – yet completely miss what God is revealing about himself.

The Exodus generation did that.

They saw the Lord do amazing things, from very subtle acts to stunning wonders. They never had to ask, “Did God do that?” He wrote his signature across each of his works in letters even the most stiff-necked among them could read.

Yet they remained stiff-necked. Bitterly, they complained that God was mistreating them. They accused him of rescuing them from slavery in Egypt in order to wipe them out. They threatened to mutiny and go back. In their moment of greatest rebellion:

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” (Num. 14:11)

The rest of their lives, that generation bad-mouthed and stiff-armed the God whose first message to them, after delivering them, was this:

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. (Exodus 19:4)

→ The Lord God rescued them. To bring them to himself.
→ They saw it. And they completely missed it.
→ Ah, but Moses pressed in to embrace it all.

So we may know him

Eagerly, Moses asked the Lord what his people collectively did not:

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. (Exodus 33:13)

Teach me your ways.
So I may know you.
And find favor with you.

Moses’ heartcry echoed God’s. We know, because of how God answered:

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel. (Ps. 103:7)

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. (Deut. 34:10)

As Moses learned God’s ways, he came to know his Lord, personally, deeply. As to the people, did the Lord their God want to stop with showing them his deeds? No he did not. In Psalm 81, he lamented:

Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes … [I] would feed you with the finest of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. (vv. 13-14,16 ESV)

Today, we who are Christians may see God at work when others do not. Yet any time we stop there, we do what the Exodus generation did. We take a huge step in the right direction, and then stay stuck in limbo. We accept relationship with God, yet rob ourselves of his help, his grace, his peace.

The Lord does not want that for us. Always, he listens for the heart that cries: “Teach me your ways!” Always, he answers that heartcry. As he shows us his ways and leads us to walk in them, the Lord our God brings us to himself.

“God who” brings us to himself

I was just coming to see all of this when the Spirit of God began to highlight the “God who” phrases in English Bible translations. Suddenly, phrase after phrase that had blended into its context seemed to rise up off the page in sharp relief. I was intrigued, but clueless as to what the Lord wanted me to see, until I realized:

→ The “God who” phrases in Scripture often point to what God has done or is doing. They can show us God’s works.

→ These phrases can also give us insight into the heart of the One who does the works. They can show us God’s ways.

So, I set out on a search. Ultimately, I found (and recorded) verse after verse that contained the words, “God who,” “the Lord who,” “he who” (referring to God), or something similar. In each verse, I noted what words come next – and what they show us of God’s heart.¹

Some “God who” phrases are unique – appearing only once in Scripture. Some appear again and again. Some offer to teach us experientially what we already know mentally. Some startle us with insights we haven’t seen, or needed to see anew.

Now, I still love to pull up that list and see where God points me. I also love to notice when a Scripture passage I’m reading includes “God who” or a similar phrase. In either case, I’ve learned to pause, to look, to ask again, “Lord, show me your ways.”²

Each time, I’m like a thirsty person drinking deeply from an ice-cold spring. His living water leaves me refreshed and revived.

Ahhh. Want a sip?

Taste and see: Witnessing God’s works

Here’s a tiny sampling of the Bible’s “God who” phrases. Taste and see!

He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. (Deut. 10:21 NASU)

God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change (Ps. 55:19)
God, who lives forever and ever (Rev. 15:7)

The God who made the world and everything in it (Acts 17:24)
God, who created all things (Eph. 3:9)
God, who gives rain in its season (Jer. 5:24 NAS)
God who removes the mountains (Job 9:5 NAS)
God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (Isa. 51:15)

The God who gives breath to all living things (Num. 16:22)
God, who gives life to everything (1 Tim. 6:13)
God, who makes things grow (1 Cor. 3:7)

The God who created you (1 Peter 4:19 NLT)
The God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways (Dan. 5:23)

The God who sees me (Gen. 16:13)
God who probes minds and hearts (Ps. 7:9)
God, who knows the heart (Acts 15:8)
God who knows (1 Sam. 2:3)

God, who does not lie (Titus 1:2)
God who does no wrong (Deut. 32:4)
God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe (Deut. 10:17 NAS)
God who does what is right (Isa. 26:7 NLT)

God who judges the earth (Ps. 58:11)
God, who always judges fairly (1 Peter 2:23 NLT)

The God who performs miracles (Ps. 77:14)

God, who saves the upright in heart (Ps. 7:10 NAS)
God, who is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4)
God who gives endurance and encouragement (Rom. 15:5)
God, who comforts the downcast (2 Cor. 7:6)
God, who raises the dead (2 Cor. 1:9)

Take the risk: Walking in God’s ways

When you’re thirsty and someone puts water before you, tasting is good – to a point.

Tasting presents you with a choice: Do I drink deeply, or not? Tasting, and stopping there, leaves you still desperately needing what is life-giving. Ah, but drinking deeply requires risk. It requires trusting yourself to.

Below I’ve included a few “God who” phrases in context. They show us:

Knowing God’s ways
goes beyond tasting and seeing
what he has done.

Knowing God’s ways
requires trusting ourselves to him.

One of the first people in Scripture who took that risk? A forsaken woman named Hagar. Not an Israelite, slave of Sarah and Abraham, used and abused by two people of God, pregnant Hagar ran into the desert alone.

There, “the angel of the Lord” appeared to her, talked with her, guided her and made seemingly impossible promises to her. How did Hagar respond?

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Gen. 16:13).

Hagar saw that God saw her. She realized: The Lord sees and defends the forsaken. It’s his way! And she trusted and obeyed him.

To trust or not to trust

In the verses below, notice the “God who” phrases. Notice the different responses people may make to God and his ways.

This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it – the Lord is his name: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer. 33:2-3)

[God to Belshazzar:] You have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this … You did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways (Dan. 5:23)

[From Hannah’s prayer:] Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. (1 Sam. 2:3)

But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. (Isa. 26:7 NLT)

So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you (1 Peter 4:19).

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 15:5-6).

That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. (1 Tim. 4:10)

I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. (Ps. 57:2 NLT)

Any of us, at any time

A singer named Asaph wrote Psalm 77 to tell what happened when he felt abandoned by God. First, Asaph honestly, openly, described his distress to God. Then, in the big middle of his pain, he decided:

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes I will remember your miracles of long ago.

And then he sang:

Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
With your mighty arm you redeemed your people. (Ps. 77:11,13-15)

As Asaph recalled God’s works during the Exodus, he also remembered: The Lord’s heart is for his people. It’s his way! As Asaph reflected on God’s ways, he moved from distress to trust, from hopelessness to hope.³

Any of us, at any time, can stop short of seeing, believing and choosing God’s ways. In so doing, we grieve him. And we hurt ourselves.

Yet also, any of us, at any time, can set our hearts as Moses did, to know the God who has moved heaven and earth to bring us to himself.

Lord, teach us your ways. So we may know you. And may find favor in your sight.

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Image is of an oil-on-canvas painting by C. W. Eckersberg, 1815, that hangs in the National Gallery of Denmark. It depicts Moses and the Israelites, pausing, resting – just after the waters of the Red Sea miraculously divided for them to cross and then the waters returned and flooded Pharaoh’s army. See more about this painting.

This post replaces a post published Aug. 29, 2013, renovated Nov. 14, 2018, and originally titled, “God Who.” All that to say: I’m still learning!

See also

• The purpose of the wilderness
• It is God who has wronged me
• The Lord who breaks open the way
• One who stands in the gap
• Embracing the blessing of the Lord

Footnotes

1. Primarily, I used the New International and New American Standard translations. ↩︎
2. See David’s heartcry in Psalm 25:4. ↩︎
3. See all Psalm 77. ↩︎