Our Omniscient God Series

Our Omniscient God

Many years ago, little Johnny Sylvester was kicked in the head by a horse and doctors were fearful that he might not make it. Johnny told his father, “I wish I could see Babe Ruth hit a homer before I die.” A telegram was sent off to the New York Yankees in St. Louis, where they were playing the Cardinals in the 1926 World Series. A few days later, Johnny received autographed balls from both the Yankees and the Cardinals, including one the Babe had inscribed with these words, “I’ll hit a home run for you in Wednesday’s game.”

Instead of hitting one homer, he hit 3! The doctors called the effect on the boy’s condition a miracle. Some months later, during spring training, an uncle of the boy approached Ruth and thanked him profusely. Babe Ruth smiled and said, “You’re very welcome.” After the uncle left, Babe turned to the reporters who were standing around and asked, “Who in the blankety-blank is Johnny Sylvester?”

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t forget who we are? By the way, Johnny died ­ at the ripe old age of 74!

Definition of Omniscience

Last week we learned about God’s omnipresence ­He is everywhere present at the same time. This morning, we’re focusing on God’s omniscience ­ He is all-knowing. In classical theology the doctrine of God’s omniscience means that God knows all things, past, present and future, real and potential, and He knows them all at the same time. He not only knows what was, and what is, He also knows what will be. On top of that, He knows everything that could be but is not.

There are few doctrines that are so explicitly taught in Scripture as that of God’s omniscience. Let’s consider just a few:

1 Samuel 2:3: “…the Lord is a God who knows…”

1 John 3:20: “God…knows everything.”

Psalm 147:5: “Great is our Lord…His understanding has no limit.”

Proverbs 15:3: “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”

Friends, God knows everything ­ everything possible and everything actual; all events and all creatures, in the past, present and future. His knowledge is absolute, innate, full, complete, and free. God is perfect in knowledge. He knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. He never discovers anything, he is never surprised, never amazed. He never wonders about anything, nor does He seek information or ask questions. And He knows how everything fits together.

Think About Love

I want you right now to think about a time in your life when you felt truly loved. It may have been a moment with a parent, with a child, a friend, or your spouse ­ or it may have been a time when you felt truly loved by God. Whatever it was, think back on it. What do you see? What made you feel loved?

While the circumstances in these love moments are different for each one of us, there are at least two common threads woven into the fabric of each one.

-We were known. Someone knew us at a level deeper than the norm. They knew things about us that no one else knew.

-We were accepted. With all that they knew about us, the one who loved us chose to come toward us and remain committed to us.

For love to be complete, we need to be both known and accepted. Both need to be there. To be accepted without being known is shallow. To be known but not accepted is terrifying. Complete love must have both.

That’s what we’re going to be talking about this morning. There is no one who knows us more thoroughly than the God of the universe ­ and there is no one who accepts us more completely than Our Omniscient God.

We’re going to finish our three-part study of Psalm 139 this morning. Let me tell you where we’re headed:

I. God knows us completely (1-6)

II. God thinks of us constantly (17-18)

III. God searches us conclusively (23-24)

God Knows Us Completely

The first truth from Psalm 139 is that God Knows Us Completely. No one knows us more thoroughly than the God of the universe.

Let’s read Psalm 139:1-6 together:

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain.

David is saying, “God, you know me completely. You’ve made a detailed inquiry into my life. You know all of my actions; all of my words, all of my thoughts; you not only know what I’ve done, you know why I did it. You know it all!”