Psalm 103:7 NKJV
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
Revelation and Relationship
MY NOTES
Psalm 103:7 (NKJV)
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
David shifts his song of praise from what God has done for him personally to what God has revealed about Himself. “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.”
This verse is about revelation—about God choosing to make Himself known. When Moses led Israel through the wilderness, the people saw what God did—His acts: the plagues in Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the manna and quail, the pillar of cloud and fire. Those were powerful, visible demonstrations of His might and mercy. But Moses experienced something deeper. God showed Moses His ways—the thoughts, intentions, and character behind those miraculous acts.
Seeing God’s acts inspires awe. Knowing His ways builds relationship.
That’s the difference between watching the works of God and actually knowing His heart. Israel saw His power, but Moses heard His voice. Israel witnessed His justice; Moses learned His mercy (Exodus 33:13). God trusted Moses enough to draw him closer, to reveal why He does what He does.
Through the Holy Spirit, we are invited into the same kind of intimacy Moses had. We aren’t just meant to be spectators of miracles; we are called to be friends of the Miracle-Worker. God restores us by revealing Himself to us. As one commentator put it, “He gives us all good by giving us knowledge.” He doesn’t want us guessing about what He thinks of us; He wants us to know His ways so we can walk in them.
What God once whispered on Mount Sinai, He now speaks through His Spirit in our hearts: “This is who I am—merciful, gracious, patient, and full of love.”
The Teacher and the Student
Notice the personality of God in this verse: “He made known.” Moses didn’t figure God out through a high IQ or deep meditation. God became his instructor. We can only know God because He has chosen to pull back the curtain. Whether through the written Word (the pen of Moses) or the living Word (Jesus Christ), God is the one who initiates the conversation. He is the Father who takes the time to explain the “why” to His children, not just the “what.”
Knowing God’s Acts vs. Knowing God’s Ways
Think of it this way:
- To know God’s acts is to witness what He does.
- To know God’s ways is to understand who He is.
There’s a moment in Exodus 33 when Moses prays, “Show me Your ways, that I may know You.” (v.13). That’s not head knowledge—it’s personal intimacy. Moses wanted a heart tuned to God’s heart.
We can experience that same closeness through Scripture and the Holy Spirit. When you open the Bible, God is not just displaying His actions—He’s revealing His ways. He’s saying: “This is who I am, this is how I love, this is why I save.”
If God’s acts inspire worship, His ways inspire trust. When we understand His ways—His steady mercy, His patient justice—we can rest even when life doesn’t make sense.
The psalmist reminds us that knowing God’s ways isn’t just for prophets; it’s a gift of grace available to anyone who seeks Him with all of their heart.
Key Takeaways
- Intimacy vs. Observation: You can see God’s hand (His acts) without knowing His heart (His ways). God invites you to go deeper than just being a spectator of His blessings.
- Revelation is a Gift: We cannot discover God on our own; He must reveal Himself. This is an act of sovereign grace and condescending love.
- The “Why” Matters: Knowing God’s “ways” helps us trust Him even when we don’t understand His current “acts.” It gives us a foundation for faith when life doesn’t make sense.
- Jesus is the Ultimate Revelation: Moses saw the types (the lamb, the rock, the serpent), but we see the Reality. To know the “ways” of the Father, we look at the face of the Son.
Cross References (NKJV)
Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.
Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
Prayer
Abba Father, Thank You that You don’t hide from us, but You invite us to know Your heart. Lord, I don’t want to just be a spectator of Your acts; I want to know Your ways. Like Moses, I ask: “Show me now Your way, that I may know You.” Open my eyes as I read Your Word. Let the Holy Spirit be my teacher today, guiding me into the secrets of Your grace. Help me to see not just what You do, but the heart behind it. I ask You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Things to Think About:
- Think about a recent “act” of God in your life (a blessing, a rescue, a provision). Beyond the gift itself, what does that act tell you about God’s character?
- Do you feel more like the “children of Israel” (watching from a distance) or like “Moses” (invited into the cloud)?
- If you could ask God to explain one of His “ways” or reasons, what would it be? Bring that question to Him in prayer today.
- In what ways has Jesus made the Father’s “ways” known to you personally?
Proverb for Today
Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Proverbs 4:1-6 NKJV
Daily Scripture
For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25-27 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
The commentaries emphasize that God’s self-revelation is a profound act of grace. While the children of Israel witnessed God’s outward acts—miracles and deliverances—Moses was granted intimate insight into God’s ways, including His character, laws, and providential methods. This divine instruction recorded by Moses serves as a foundational blessing for the church, transforming spectators of power into students of God’s nature, teaching believers how to walk with Him and what to expect from Him.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“He made known his ways unto Moses.” Moses was made to see the manner in which the Lord deals with men; he saw this at each of the three periods of his life, in the court, in retirement, and at the head of the tribes of Israel. To him, the Lord gave specially clear manifestations of his dispensations and modes of ruling among mankind, granting to him to see more of God than had before been seen by mortal man, while he communed with him upon the mount.
“His acts unto the children of Israel.” They saw less than Moses, for they beheld the deeds of God without understanding his method therein, yet this was much, very much, and might have been more if they had not been so perverse; the stint was not in the revelation, but in the hardness of their hearts. It is a great act of sovereign grace and condescending love when the Lord reveals himself to any people, and they ought to appreciate the distinguished favor shown to them. We, as believers in Jesus, know the Lord’s ways of covenant grace, and we have by experience been made to see his acts of mercy towards us; how heartily ought we to praise our divine teacher, the Holy Spirit, who has made these things known to us, for had it not been for him we should have continued in darkness unto this day, “Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?” Why hast thou made us “of the election who have obtained it” while the rest are blinded?
Observe how prominent is the personality of God in all this gracious teaching—”He made known.” He did not leave Moses to discover truth for himself, but became his instructor. What should we ever know if he did not make it known? God alone can reveal Himself. If Moses needed the Lord to make him know, how much more do we who are so much inferior to the great law-giver?
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Enduring Word
He made known His ways: Another aspect of God’s greatness is His self-revelation. God could be content to hide Himself, but instead He wanted to make known His way and His acts. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
He made known his ways unto Moses – This is another ground of praise – that God had “revealed his will,” that this had been done in an indubitable manner to Moses; and that these revelations had been recorded by him for the instruction and guidance of his people. The word “ways” here means his laws; his methods of administration; the principles on which he governs mankind, and the conditions on which he will save people. There is no higher ground of gratitude to God than the fact that he has given a revelation to mankind.
His acts unto the children of Israel – His methods of doing things have been made known to them; and his acts – his interpositions – have been in their favor.
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John Gill
He made known his ways unto Moses,…. The ways in which he himself walks, the steps and methods which he has taken to show forth his glory; his way in creation, and the order of it, as in Genesis 1:1, for though, by the light of nature, it might be known that God created all things; yet, without a revelation from him, it could never have been known in what manner he made them, and the peculiar work of each of the six days, in which they were made; this was made known to Moses; as also his way in providence, which sometimes is in the deep, and past finding out: Moses was made acquainted with the methods of divine Providence, with many special instances of it, relating both to himself in his infancy and in riper years, and to the people of Israel in their march from Egypt to Canaan’s land; and the Lord likewise made known unto him his way of grace and mercy, life and salvation, by Christ, which he desired to show him, and he did, Exodus 33:13. Christ was made known to him, as the seed of the woman that should break the serpent’s head, as God’s salvation, old Jacob waited for: he was shown him in the types of the passover lamb, the brazen serpent, and the rock in the wilderness, and in other things; the way of atonement, by the sacrifice of Christ, was made known to him through the sacrifices which he from God enjoined the people of Israel: hence he wrote of Christ, and of what he should do and suffer; and so fully, that the Apostle Paul said no other things than what he did, John 5:46 moreover, the Lord made known to him the ways in which he would have him and the people of Israel to walk; the way of his commandments, his statutes and ordinances; which were made known to him, to deliver to them, and was a peculiar favor, Psalm 147:19,
his acts unto the children of Israel; his works, his wonderful works; his plagues on their enemies the Egyptians; his redemption of them out of the house of bondage; his leading them through the Red sea as on dry land; his feeding them with manna in the wilderness, protecting them from their enemies, bringing them into the land of Canaan, and settling them there; see Psalm 78:11.
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Matthew Henry
He has revealed himself and his grace to us (v. 7): He made known his ways unto Moses, and by him his acts to the children of Israel, not only by his rod to those who then lived, but by his pen to succeeding ages. Note, Divine revelation is one of the first and greatest of divine favors with which the church is blessed; for God restores us to himself by revealing himself to us, and gives us all good by giving us knowledge. He has made known his acts and his ways (that is, his nature, and the methods of his dealing with the children of men), that they may know both what to conceive of him and what to expect from him; so Dr. Hammond. Or by his ways we may understand his precepts, the way which he requires us to walk in; and by his acts, or designs (as the word signifies), his promises and purposes as to what he will do with us. Thus fairly does God deal with us.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“He made known his ways unto Moses.” When Moses went up to Mount Sinai and tarried there with God the space of forty days, we may well think that God in that time, revealed many secrets to him; and particularly “made known his ways;” (Exo 33:19); not only his ways in which he would have us to walk, but his ways in which he walks himself, and the course he holds in the government of worldly affairs; why he suffers the wicked to prosper, and why the godly to be oppressed. These “ways” of his he made known to Moses; to the children of Israel, only “his acts.” He showed them his wonderful favours to themselves in the wilderness, and that was his righteousness; but he showed them not his ways, and the course he held in them: they saw only the events of things, they saw not the reasons of them, as Moses did.
—Sir Richard Baker.
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