Psalm 139
Isn't it frustrating to make a proposal and then learn that your superior is not capable of making a decision? All he says is: "I'll take that under advisement," or "I'll take note of it." Our Father in heaven, in contrast, never has to take anything under advisement. He never merely takes note of an event. God knows everything, and His knowledge relates to how He acts. Not only does He know everything, therefore, He also knows precisely how everything fits together.
The chasm between divine wisdom and even the greatest human wisdom is as infinite as the distance from east to west. Thus, God declares in Isaiah 55:8,9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
To help us appreciate God's omniscience, let's first start with the fact that God the Holy Spirit knows perfectly the mind of the Triune God. No one else can or does. This is stated in I Corinthians 2:10,11, "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."
Because God knew His own mighty power, He knew He could create things. Because He knew His own wisdom, He knew the beauty of His perfect works. Because He knew His own holiness, He knew evil must be punished. Because He knew His own justice, He knew the sins of His elect must be paid for. Because He knew His mercy, He knew the need for His salvation plan. Because He knew His grace, He gave His only begotten Son Jesus even before the world began. And because He knew His own glory, He knew how to share that glory with His people.
Being the Creator, God also knows everything else: everything possible, everything actual. He knows all events and all creatures, of the past, present, and the future. He is absolutely acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, on earth, in the sea and in hell.
Old Testament teaching
The all-knowing attribute of God is taught throughout the Bible. Let's start with the Book of Job, one of the earliest books in time. Taunting Job for having challenged His justice, God asks rhetorically:
Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine? Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge? How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind? Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and
as a molten looking glass? (37:14-18)In fact, the whole Chapter, 37, as well as several other chapters in Job, contrasts man's limited knowledge with the omniscience of God. And the man Job also affirms that God knows everything about him, including all his sins. He says, "For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity" (14:16,17).
In Deuteronomy, Moses finds this attribute of God most reassuring. He says to the Israelites: "For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing" (Deut. 2:7).
Incidentally, God sees the ways of the unsaved as well as believers. Psalm 33:13,14 states, "The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth."
David's confession. One classical passage that speaks about God's wisdom and omniscience is Psalm 139. David begins by admitting that God's knowledge is of a searching nature:
O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways (vv. 1-3).God's thorough knowledge ransacks us. God indeed knows when we
sit or rise; there has never been a time when we were not known to God. He even penetrates to the interior reaches of our minds. "For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether" (v. 4).That God knows our actions, our words, our locations at all times so overwhelms David that he, moved by the Holy Spirit, remarks in verse 6, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it."
Then he moves on to discuss possible counter-examples in verses 7-10:
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.No matter where we go, God sees us. Even in total darkness, we cannot hide from Him. Verses 11,12:
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.Worthy of praise. Finally, David concludes that because God knows all aspects of His creation from the least to the greatest He is due the highest praise. The God who created persons in their mothers' wombs and knows all human beings from the moment of their conception deserves great honors. Verses 13-16:
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.Moreover, God also knows the very end of every human life because the sum of all our days were marked out by Him before the first one began. Verses 17,18:
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.New Testament teaching
In the New Testament, the omniscience of God is alluded to in the very first sermon our Lord makes. Citing the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, Jesus tells His disciples not to worry about their life. The Father knows what they need even before they ask, He reassures them. Implicit in that teaching is the truth that if God knows the future and has it under control, then we can surely rest in Him and trust Him to do His will. God knows what we need and knows what all people need long before any
of us ask him for it.For those who think that they can fool God, the Bible demonstrates God's omniscience through an historical event recorded in Acts 5 regarding Ananias and Sapphira.
The early church has just seen an example of magnanimous giving when Barnabas sells a plot of land and turns the money over to the apostles. Shortly thereafter, Ananias and Sapphira also sell a field and make a large donation. But there is one major difference: they keep some of the proceeds back for themselves.
The Scripture emphasizes that they are free to keep some or even all of the money for themselves. But they want to impress others of their generosity, and so they let it be known that they are giving the whole proceeds. But God sees right through their pretense and strikes both of them dead.
Nor is God fooled by outward appearance; His wisdom penetrates even to hearts. To the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus says in Matthew 23:27,28:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.God not only knows all things as and after they happen, He also knows all things before they happen. Moreover, He guarantees that they will happen. Scores of passages prophesying the first coming of our Lord Jesus, for example, have been fulfilled. And
unfolding right before our eyes in recent decades are many end-time signs given in the Bible. For example: the return of Israel as a nation among nations. God asserts His knowledge of things to come as a manifest evidence of His Godhead.Life Applications
How should the fact that God is omniscient impact our life? For starters, because God knows it all, we know He is totally trustworthy. Realizing that our knowledge, no matter how vast, is really nothing compared to God, we humble ourselves before Him. And seeing how fallible we are, we greatly appreciate God's wisdom.
As every corner of Scripture illustrates the divine perfection of omniscience, we should also have a great respect for the Word of God. No part of Scripture has ever been proven in error. We can depend on the Bible to give us proper guidance for our daily life.
When we are tempted to sin, remember this: it will not be in secret. And when you do sin, whether in action or in thoughts, it occurs in the presence of the all-knowing and holy God. Not only that, He even knows all the rationalizations we will come up with, and all the excuses we will make. Remember also, every sin we commit adds to the sufferings that our Lord Jesus must endure on the cross.
Reassurance. On the positive side, God's super knowledge assures us of His perfect control over our future. He, who ordains every day of our life and works all things together for the good of those who love God, is in full charge of our every tomorrow. The next time you wonder if God can provide for you and your family, keep in mind that God knows exactly what you needin fact, He knows and effects what's best for you. That's why we can face the future and not worry.
As believers chosen by grace, most of all, we need never to worry about our eternal destiny. The omniscient God knew long ago that we are sinners unable to help ourselves, so He has let His Son Jesus take our punishment in full. And because He knew we would never seek Him on our own, He has even given us the faith to trust in Him. So, like David, we can sing, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." o