Knowing God by J.I. Packer

Week 3: The Majesty of God — Chapter 4

Read Chapter 4 of Knowing God ("The Majesty of God"). Key Scripture: Isaiah 40:12–31; Psalm 139.

Packer argues that the church's central sickness is a shrunken vision of God — this chapter is the cure.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Packer opens by lamenting that modern Christianity tends to think of God as a "cosmic bellhop" — always available, never overwhelming, existing to meet our felt needs. Where do you see this small-God mindset expressed in contemporary worship, prayer, or preaching?

2.Isaiah 40 is the Scripture Packer most leans on in this chapter. Walk through the imagery: God measures the waters in the hollow of His hand, marks off the heavens with a span, holds all nations as a drop in a bucket. What does this cascade of images do to your sense of God's size relative to your current anxieties or problems?

3.Packer insists that a high view of God's majesty is not meant to make Him feel distant but to make our trust in Him feel utterly secure. How does the greatness of God function as a comfort rather than a terror for the believer?

4.Packer connects Isaiah 40's vision of God's greatness to the promise that "those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength." Why is waiting — rather than striving — the appropriate response to the majesty of God? What makes waiting so difficult in practice?

5.Packer notes that when we lose a sense of God's majesty we tend to become anxious, proud, or self-reliant. Which of those three tendencies do you most recognise in yourself when your vision of God has shrunk?

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Closing Prayer

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O Lord, we confess that we have made You too small — domesticated You to our preferences, reduced You to a need-meeter, and worshipped a God too much like ourselves. Forgive us. Open our eyes to Your immensity — You who hold the oceans in Your hand and call the stars by name. Let the greatness of who You are drive out our anxiety, humble our pride, and make our faith in You feel as solid as the universe You sustain. In the name of Jesus, who is the radiance of Your glory, Amen.

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