Our All-Knowing God

“Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I stand up;

You understand my thoughts from far away.

You observe my travels and my rest;

You are aware of all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue,

You know all about it, Lord.

You have encircled me;

You have placed Your hand on me.

This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.

It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.”

Psalm 139:1-6 HCSB

The Wall Street Journal in December 2008 reported on some predictions that had been made about America for 2010. The predictions were made by Russian Professor Igor Panarin, who was the dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s academy for future diplomats, and a former KGB analyst. Because of his pedigree, many people paid attention to his predictions that the U.S. would fall apart in 2010. It did not happen. Professor Panarin obviously did not have all the facts and did not have all the knowledge to make an accurate prediction.

He is not the only one in history to have made wrong predictions however. Consider the following statements that were reported to have been made by some people:

·         “Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances”- Dr Lee De Forest, inventor of the vacuum tube and father of the television

·         “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy!”-Drillers who Edwin L Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

·         “It will be years-not in my time-before a woman will become Prime Minister”-Margaret Thatcher, 1969 (she later became Prime Minister in 1979)

There are many more examples that illustrate one common thing about us human beings: we have limited knowledge and grasp of facts or details about everything. We do not have all the detailed memory of the past. We do not know everything about the present and we certainly know almost next to nothing about the future.  

Psalm 139 however reminds us that God is not like us. The Psalm is a song of praise written by David to God in recognition of His omniscience (Psalms 139:1-6), omnipresence (verses 7-12) and omnipotence (verses 13-18). This week, I’m drawn to just focus on His omniscience.

Though the term is not found anywhere in the Bible, omniscience as an attribute of God is described in many verses of the Scriptures:

“Our Lord is great, vast in power;

His understanding is infinite”

Psalm 147:5 HCSB

“No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account”

Hebrews 4:13 HCSB

“…God is greater than our conscience and He knows all things”

1^st John 3:20 HCSB.

Our God has all knowledge. He is all-knowing. There is no detail or fact that is outside the scope of His knowledge. He knows all the minutest details of our external circumstances and characteristics including the very hair on our heads (Luke 12:7). He also knows the unseen, internal condition of our hearts (Psalm 139:4, Acts 1:24, Romans 8:27).

This understanding should bring us comfort and assurance, as we realize that we have a God who will never be taken by surprise by anything at all. He saw all our mess, knows all of our human frailties, our weaknesses and He chose to make His home in our hearts so He sent His Son to die in our place. It also makes me realize that I cannot hide away from Him-He even knows my heart! It draws my heart to trust Him even more-He knows even the future so I should stop worrying and rather put my faith in Him.

Muse with me on this Psalm this week and let us together remain in awe of our all-knowing God.

My song for the week is "He Knows My Name" by Maranatha Singers.