Attributes

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.  (Psalm 139:1-4)

It seems like ages ago, but do you remember watching the news reports back in January of how China was dealing with the coronavirus?  It was like watching a movie.  But then, all of a sudden, we were surprised to learn people in the US were coming down with it.  We were surprised to learn how quickly it spread and how deadly it was – especially to the elderly.  We were surprised to learn most of our society had to go into lockdown mode.  And now, at the end of April, we stand looking into a very unknown future.  

But this came as no surprise to God.  He is omniscient.  This means He literally knows everything.  And everything He knows, He knows perfectly. And everything He knows perfectly, He knows absolutely exhaustively.  

God’s omniscience is a great comfort to us at this time when the future seems so uncertain and so unknowable.  

As we contemplate God’s omniscience, here are three things to consider:

God’s knowledge is intuitive and simultaneous.  As creatures, we learn things by observation, reasoning, etc. God, however, does not learn; He simply knows.  And what He knows, He knows instantaneously – all things at once.  Nothing can take Him by surprise.

God's knowledge is independent and infallible.  He does not receive His knowledge from anyone or from anything external to Himself.  He is the source of truth and God is always correct in what He knows.

God's knowledge is infinite and He knows the future. God knows absolutely everything including all we are going through.  Psalm 139:1-4 comforts us that no secret of the human heart, no thought of the mind, or feeling of the soul escapes His gaze.  Additionally, He knows all that is to come for He declares what is to come. God alone knows the future, for God alone has ordained it.

So, what do we do in light of this?  We must acknowledge that He is the Lord of the future and we are not.  We must make our plans humbly for we “do not know what tomorrow will bring”.  We ought to say instead, “if the Lord wills, we will live and do this and that” (James 4).  And we must trust in God’s promises for the future.  Not one of His promises and judgments can fall to the ground.  He will accomplish all that He has ordained.  We rest in His sovereign hand.