“Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend…Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people” Exodus 33:11,13.

We are told that David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), but it appears that Moses’ had that which David sought. What greater privilege could anyone enjoy than having God speak face to face as a friend!

We see something of Moses’ heart in what he requests of God: “I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight.”

Let me know Your ways that I may know You. There is something very practical in Moses’ request. In human relationships, if we are to know something of a person, we must first know something of their ways - their thoughts, habits, priorities, etc. And so it was with God: Moses wanted to know His intentions, plans, and purposes for the nation He had called Moses to lead. To be an effective leader, Moses needed to know the very heart of the God who had called him to lead. In this, he knew, he would find God’s favor.

Something of God is to be known through nature (Romans 1:20), and thus the assertion by some that they can worship God in nature. This is true as far as it goes. God may be discovered there, but if our desire is to know His ways so as to truly know Him, then it behooves as to read of His heart’s desire in what He has written. As has been said, the Bible is God’s love letter to His people. And so, as those whose desire is to “know Your ways that I may know You,” we read and study, not as a merely intellectual pursuit, but to better know and love its Author.

Moses went on to passionately request, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” Exodus 33:18. What he was ultimately shown was almost more than this mere mortal could bear, and yet what greater could request could one make? May we be shown His glory as we seek Him in what He has created, written, and revealed through His Son (John 14:6).

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