A Word about Deconstruction

The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord. (Psalm 9:9-10)

Deconstruction is a popular term today among those who are supposedly leaving their faith and questioning the reality of God. In truth, I think they are actually deconstructing their skewed ideas about God, because if they truly knew Him in the vital day-to-day experiences of life, they could never walk away. In this Psalm, David talks about knowing God’s name. This is not merely knowing about Yahweh; in the culture of that day, knowing His name meant truly “knowing” Him, or, as David further expounds, trusting in Him. Knowing is a watered-down word in modern English, just as the word trusting has been stripped of its power. “Knowing and trusting” God is more than knowing facts about the Lord or holding a false view of who He is. Knowing and trusting Him means experiencing Him and relating to Him more deeply and personally than you do anyone else. It is not about seeing Him; we know that air is real whether we see it or not, because if we are deprived of it, we react violently. If you knew Him in the biblical sense, deconstruction would create a crisis akin to sinking in the ocean, fighting to the surface, and bursting forth to gulp the air that your soul can’t live without. Consider the context of verse 9: persecution and trouble. He is a refuge for those who trust in Him. It is fascinating to me that the ones who “deconstruct” are those who live comfortably in the West and who are driven by culture, anxiety, and desire. Those who are dying for their faith in places like Nigeria never “deconstruct.” Instead, they cling to the God they “know and trust” even more tightly as their refuge in times of trouble. Many would have you believe that the concept of suffering is what makes them believe God is either not real or not good. Yet, those in the Lord who do suffer would say otherwise. They would say that it is in the suffering that He meets them as their refuge. They, instead, fully appreciate a God who entered the world with us and suffered unimaginably on the cross for us, in order to deliver us rather than abandon us. They would never abandon the One who never abandons them. Think about that.