KAREN MITCHELL: God Know Us
Karen Michell
Who knows you best? Most of us feel like we know our spouses well enough to predict their responses and reactions most of the time. We even find ourselves, on occasion, finishing their sentences. In reality, we do not know them completely, nor do they know us completely.
Our minds and thoughts are so complex I doubt we even understand ourselves. So then, who does know us best — our very being, the good, the bad and the ugly? God does! And He loves us unconditionally.
God knows everything about us! The Psalmist David penned these words: “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” (Psalm 139:1-4 NIV). Isn’t that amazing and wonderful? David added, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (Psalm 129:6).
David continues by saying there is nowhere he can go that God is not there. In verses 13-15, he acknowledges that God knew him before he was even formed and had created his innermost being, having knit him together in his mother’s womb. He praised God because he knew quite well that all of God’s works were wonderful. “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand…” (Psalm 139:17-18). That should be a wow factor to us!
What does such marvelous knowledge mean to us personally? For one thing, it is of tremendous encouragement and comfort to know that the Creator of the universe knows and understands every aspect of our lives. We don’t fall beneath the cracks and are not deemed useless or unworthy. His love for us is unfailing!
Because we are human and live in a sinful world, such knowledge can also be somewhat daunting. He knows where we go, what we say and what we do. We cannot hide from Him. Therefore, we should be careful in our deeds and actions — what we watch, what we read and the entertainment we choose. The things we say should be gracious and uplifting, not thoughtless or unwholesome in any manner. Paul tells us in Col. 3:12-13 (NIV), “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” A plaque hanging on the wall in my childhood home had this message: “If wisdom’s ways you wisely seek, Five things observe with care, To whom you speak, Of whom you speak, And how and when and where.” It is good to remember that.
We fail at living a life that is always pleasing to God, but pleasing Him should always be our desire. David finishes Psalm 139 by saying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). God already knew David’s heart and thoughts, but this was his prayer. In light of God’s knowledge, he wanted his life to be an open book and, therefore, pleasing to him.
It isn’t just His knowledge of us that makes us desire to live a life pleasing to Him, but in prayer and Bible reading, our knowledge of Him gives us all we need to live a life of godliness. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (II Peter 2:3).