Our Awesome God Series: OUR OMNISCIENT OR ALL-KNOWING GOD
PSALMS 139: 1-6
There is an old Norwegian tale of a boy who found an egg in a nest as he was climbing up the rocky cliffs near his home. He took it home and placed it with the eggs under a goose; it hatched out--a freakish creature! Its deformed feet, unwebbed, claw like, made it stumble as it tried to follow the little geese. Its beak was not flat; it was pointed and twisted. Instead of having lovely cream-colored down, it was an ugly brown color. And, to top it off, it made a terrible squawking sound! It seemed to be a genetic freak--so ugly and disfigured.
Then, one day a giant eagle flew across the barnyard. The eagle swept lower and lower until the strange, awkward little bird on the ground lifted his head and pointed his crooked beak into the sky. The misfit creature, feeling a kinship to the eagle, then stretched his wings and began to hobble across the yard. He flapped his wings harder and harder until the wind picked him up and carried him higher and higher. As he began to soar through the clouds, he discovered an amazing fact: he was born an eagle, but he had been trying to live like a goose.
We are born to soar. Christians are children of God. The tragedy is that too many of us have never discovered our divine heritage, so we are living a barnyard existence instead of soaring above the mountain peaks of life. Until we know who we are and what we are, we are destined to live far below our potential. But once we see our spiritual heritage, then we know that the sky is the limit for us.
Psalm 139 is a meditation upon the omniscience and the omnipresence of God. As the writer acquaints us with God, he points out the unique relationship we have with Him that makes us special. Realizing this can literally lift us to new heights in our living. To understand the depths of God's love for us and the completeness of His redemption of us, we must understand the depths of God's knowledge of us. Our amazing God cares about us so deeply that He has minutely researched us and knows everything about us (CIT). The all-knowing God totally knows and completely understands each individual.
Ps 139:1 states that God knows us b/c He searches us. “O Lord, Thou have searched me and known me.”
“Search” literally means to dig deep & was applied to the search for precious metals. God has examined our thoughts, motives, agonies, angers, triumphs, ethics, pains, pleasures, ideas, imaginings, studies, feelings and intellectual pursuits. God is a heart and mind searching God who completely knows us.
How awakening it is to understand how intimately acquainted God is with each person. He knows us far better than a simple ransacking looking for contraband. The Lord knows us as thoroughly as if He had examined us minutely and pried into the most secret corners of our being. He does not pry--all His creation is unfolded before His eye, is wide open to His view. No matter how hard we may try to cover up, all stands stark naked before Him.
Two couples vacationing in England were driving along the shore of a large body of water. As they were discussing whether it was THE ENGLISH CHANNEL or the Falmouth Estuary, they saw two women walking along the sidewalk.
"Joan, pull over there and I'll ask those ladies if this is the English Channel," said Max. He rolled down the window and said to one of the women, "Excuse me, ma'am, is that the English Channel?" She glanced over her shoulder and said, "Well, that's part of it."
That woman's answer also applies to people. Like the English Channel, a large part of who we are lies unseen by others and even ourselves. When we realize this, we can more lovingly and honestly relate to people and to God. Although the actions of others may be annoying and even unkind, if we knew all the reasons behind them we might be more tolerant and merciful. And in our relationship to God, we are humbled as we realize that He is fully aware of those hidden motives for which we need His mercy.
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!”
David was overwhelmed by the knowledge of God's all-knowing yet all-loving response to him. It created within him a desire to be pure before God in every part of his life (Ps. 139:23,24). And that's the kind of attitude we all need.
Sometimes we don't let people get to know us fully because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won't like. But God already knows everything about us, even to the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), and still He accepts and loves us. God has known us through every situation, in every trial-- limiting, protecting, loving, and guiding. He knows us and still loves us completely.
V 2 teaches that God know what we do & what we think. “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.”
God knows our most common and casual acts to our most rare and deliberated deeds. Our most needful and necessary movements are noted by the Lord and He understands the inward thoughts which regulate them. Whether we are sitting down to consider or rising up to act, we are seen, known and read by Yahweh.
He understands our thoughts, declares His full acquaintance with every emotion, feeling, concept, idea, doubt, perplexity (conscious or subconscious) we experience, no matter how unknowable they are to mortals. Thought [common Hebrew word rea'] is invisible to sight and even the thinker may not be cognizant of the shape it is assuming. Yet God has it under consideration, and perceives its nature, its source, its drift, its result with impartiality. Even the invisible and unrealized is transparent before His penetrating glance. And this God cares for us and wants to be our friend and teach us and guide us.
The X-15 was one of the FASTEST PLANES in the world. It could fly at a speed more than twice that of a bullet blasted from a high-powered rifle.
The plane was taken aloft under the wing of a huge B-52 bomber and dropped at an altitude of about 135,000 feet. It then would fly back to its base, some 300 miles away.
In a room of electronic devices, thirty engineers controlled every moment of the flight, the pilot responding only to their orders. He could not fly visually, and they, in turn, could not see the plane 25 miles high and 300 miles out, yet the coordination was perfect.
Is not this a feeble picture of the Christian guided by God? He moves by faith, tuned in to God by prayer so that he knows where he should go and what he should do (Acts 17:28).
The thought of v 2 is expanded from sitting down to contemplate & rising up to work in v 3. “You scrutinize my path (journeying) and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.”
Journeying is direction and lying down is leisure or resting. God thoroughly looks at our journeying and lying down at both our active and passive parts of life. They are all scrutinized. Scrutinize [Heb zarah] literally is winnowing or sifting [Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1175). Nashville: Thomas Nelson]. God is so intimately aware of all our ways that He has literally sifted our seconds to insure our well-being.
God is intimately acquainted with us as if He has always lived with us. He is entirely familiar with all my ways. My condition and conduct, the total of my behavior, both private and public. He knows what rule we walk by, what we walk toward, and what company we keep. Nothing is concealed from God, nor surprising to Him nor misunderstood by Him. Our paths may be habitual or accidental, open or secret, but the Holy One is well acquainted with all of them.
This should fill us with awe so that we sin not, with courage so that we fear not, with delight so that we excessively grieve not. Do you ever feel all alone? You are never alone. God is always intimately there. Do you ever feel no one understands? No one is going through what you're going through. You're wrong; God is going through it with you and will never allow you to experience more than you can handle or bear without Him.
It is a frightening discovery to the sinner to realize that every thought and deed is known to God. But how reassuring it is to the child of God to understand that he or she is under the loving eye and gracious hand of our heavenly Father! We can confidently say with Job, "He knows the way that I take" (Job 23:10).
V 4 reveals that God knows what we will say before we say it. “Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.”
While thought process is working to form a word, it is known to God. The unformed word, like a seed beneath the soil is completely known to the Great Searcher of hearts. Speech seems sometimes concealed even to the one speaking, but it is transparent to the Lord. God knows the what, the why, the attitude and intent before a word is uttered.
What a blessing this can be. Since as James says (3:1-8) the tongue is difficult to bridle, but needs to be, because it can be a flaming fire. We need God's continuous help in this area.
We may ask the control, the bridle, be set on our tongue by the One who knows what we will speak even before we speak it. We can pray Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."
The knowledge that the Lord is all-knowing should have a tremendous impact on what we say. David, thinking of the everywhere-present & all-knowing God, declared, "There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether (Ps. 139:4).
Lies, gossip, unkind remarks, off-color comments, angry words, irreverent speech, and disrespectful use of the Lord's name should never come from our lips. Rather, we should speak only those things that God approves of. Our desire should be that which was expressed by David in Psalm 19:14; "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!"
Remember, God is listening.
Verse 5 indicates that we are surrounded by the loving hand of God. “You have enclosed my behind and before and laid Your hand upon me.”
[The Hebrew word tsur here; it can mean “to bind,” “encircle,” or “lay siege to.” Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 139:5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.] . All of Personal life falls within divine limits, behind, before and over. God goes before us and behind us, as His hand guides us. He is present in care and concern (Jn. 10:27–30). [‘You cup your hand over me’ is a picture which reveals that it is all for my protection and comfort [Motyer, J. A. (1994). The Psalms. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 578). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.].
The word enclosed implies a rock wall that would protect one from the blast of the wind from all directions. God surrounds us. We cannot turn back and so escape Him for He is behind us. We cannot go forward and out run God for He is before us.
Behind us is a God recording our sin or in grace blotting out all remembrance of them. Before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds and providing for all our needs. If the way ahead looks rough, tough or black--remember God is there to help you through. And if we would backslide, God is there to catch and sustain us.
God is very near with the palm of His hand upon us to strengthen, to uplift, to provide His care, power and protection. O to experience the caress of the hand of God. It assists us when we head into affliction, or despair and in making ourselves acceptable.
We cannot find our self in anyplace or condition outside the reach and touch of God's gentle power.
The Psalmist confesses in verse 6 that grasping the wonder of God’s marvelous extraordinary interest and care is inaccessibly beyond him. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination. Compared with our minuscule knowledge, how great is the knowledge of God. He made all things and therefore must be fully acquainted with their properties and functions. His eye at the same instant, surveys all the works of His immeasurable creation.
He observes not only the huge complicated system of the universe but the slightest motion of the most microscopic enzyme. At this moment He is listening to the praises breathed by grateful hearts and reading every decedent though which passes through the polluted minds of the fallen race of Adam. At one point He surveys the past, present and future, the creation, cross and second coming. Eternity past and an eternity future are before Him at the same moment.
“It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” To be aware that Yahweh knows everything about the psalmist is knowledge that surpasses his comprehension, and even his imagination [Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1175). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.]. Our mind has no ability with which to measure the infinite (Rom. 11:33). We cannot admire it enough for it cannot conceive of its fullness (Isa. 55:8-9).
In CLOSING
God is omniscient--He knows everything about us: our acts (v.2), our thoughts (v.3), and our words (v.4). There is nothing, absolutely nothing, about us that God does not know. This fact was more than the psalmist could comprehend (v.6). It literally blew his mind to realize that God knows us so utterly and completely.
God know us in such detail because He wants to be close to us. He knows because He cares about you deeply and wants to minister to you personally. “He is not satisfied to be simply the reigning King, exalted in heaven, enthroned before a sea of angels. He desires to have a personal relationship with us on the deepest level” [Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 470). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.].
Have you ever seen a Model T Ford up close? Looks pretty simple, doesn't it. Just crank up the motor (literally), hop in, and drive off. No fuel injectors to clog up. No air conditioner to break down. No electrical system to short out.
But if you were driving one of those marvels of automation down the road in 1915 and it conked out on you, you were stuck. You couldn't call AAA to come haul you to the neighborhood service station, because there weren't any.
One Model T owner back then got out of a jam in an unusual way. When his car died beside the road, he got out and made all the adjustments he knew how to make. Yet his car wouldn't respond. Just as he was about to give up, another car pulled up. The back door opened and a tall, thin, energetic gentleman got out and offered to help. He tinkered under the hood for a few minutes and said, "Now try it!" Immediately the engine started. Then the man introduced himself. "I'm Henry Ford," he said. "I designed and built these cars, so I know what to do when something goes wrong with them."
Do you sometimes feel a little like a broken-down Model T? Like there's something wrong with you that can't be fixed? Maybe it's a frustration you are experiencing. Or perhaps it's a physical difficulty that continues to bother you. Or a cherished relationship that is falling apart.
If so, it's time to hand things over to the One who designed you. Put your life in His hands and say, "Lord, You know me. You made me the way I am for a reason. Please take my life and make it work for You."
When your life needs fixing, you should go back to the Master Designer. Will you do that? He is waiting. Maybe you want to come and become a member of this fellowship of believers. Or maybe you have never had a life changing, life altering relationship with Jesus. You can begin one today.
