Daniel 11:32 is an amazing verse for our day.  In the New King James Version, the second half of that verse reads "the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits."  It was never in God's mind when He created mankind, that we should be "just ordinary."  He intends for us to do great things.  When Daniel wrote that, he was prophesying of some of Israel's darkest days.  In the midst of those days, God's people would shine!  In the days that we live, the horrendous natural disasters hitting Japan, the devastating battles in Northern Africa and the Middle East, the economic difficulties here in the US, there is need all around us for a people who shine.

What precedes shining is knowing Him.  For the Hebrews, "knowing" God wasn't casual knowledge about Him, an intellectual grasp of a supernatural Being.  The Hebrew word is yada.  Yada is an intimate knowing of God, the Person, Abba, Father.  It is a face to Face, close, personal relationship with Him that goes far beyond what is in my mind toward Him.  When I yada Father God, my heart is engaged in knowing Him, worshiping Him, loving Him with my thoughts, emotions, with all that is within me.

David demonstrates yada in Psalm 6.  "Do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure."  Hear his desperation.  He couldn't stand Father being angry with him for a moment.  Is this the cry of my heart?  Do I just read the words of David, or are his words the cry of my heart?  "O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul, also, is greatly troubled.  But You, O Lord,--how long?"  

His relationship with Father wasn't all on David.  David knew, "the Lord heard the voice of my weeping.  The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer."  Today is the day to intimately know (yada) Father.  We draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us.  What emerges from this intimate relationship are great deeds, "even greater works than these", Jesus said.