God’s Knowledge
Today’s reading: Psalm 139:1-144:15
My selection: Psalm 139:1-6
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
My reflections: In the Westminster Confession of Faith (Ch. 2) we read “[God’s] knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature,so as nothing is to Him contingent, or uncertain.”
I find it comforting to know that God cannot be surprised by anything and cannot learn anything He did not already know. In today’s reading, we see how this general characteristic of God extends to us personally.
God knows our every move, our thoughts, and our words before we say them. We are not robots, but He does exercise His control over us, providentially allowing or preventing the steps we would take and the decisions we would make. We are free (sort of) and responsible but we are not alone and we do not function in a vacuum. Like David here, who found these thoughts “high”, we certainly do not always understand God’s purposes for allowing or preventing our proposed paths but many of us recognize His care and goodness in their outcomes.
My challenge: Rejoice today in His complete knowledge of you. Walk before Him confidently but wisely.
Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 145:1-Proverbs 1:7