God Knows and Sees All (Psalm 139)

Too Wonderful for Me: "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me" (Ps 139:1). "Search me, 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" (Ps 139:23-24).

• Do you want your children, parents, spouse or friends to know your every thought and desire just like God?

Is it scary that God knows everything about you? No one can ever escape from God, yet the psalmist finds nothing to fear or regret from such a "scary" truth.

Psalm 139 is a combination of high spirituality, serious theological thought and strict moral application, as it teaches that:

1. God knows all [omniscient (1-6)], 
2. God is present everywhere [omnipresent (7-12)], 
3. God is all powerful as the Creator [omnipotent (13-18)] and 
4. God is holy (19-24).
   

This is not just solid theology, but is intensely personal. The psalmist expresses his awe that God knows him to the minutest detail (1 Sam 16:7):

1. Omniscience is God's complete knowledge of him (1-6).
2. Omnipresence is God with him in every place (7-12).
3. Omnopotence as the Creator is God's sovereign ownership of every part of him (13-18).
4. Holiness (19-24) is God's will for him to be like God (Lev 19:1-2).

Who God is:

1. God the all-knowing (1-6). God's omniscience.
2. God the all-present (7-12). God's omnipresence.
3. God the all-creating (13-18). God's omnipotence.
4. God the all-holy (19-24). God's judgment and David's obedience. [If anyone is against the teaching of God's judgment, then they're saying that the person who killed their loved one should not be judged and punished for doing so.]  

God is omniscient [knows everything] (1-6) and omnipresent [everywhere at once (7-12). Is this a threat (Ps 139:5) that makes us feel that we need to hide from God (Gen 3:7)? Or a comfort (Ps 139:10)? When we know that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness (Phil 3:9) we can bear to let God expose us and to overcome our distorted self-deceived self-views, which are confused and biased. God's love enables us to accept the unpleasant truth.

1. Longman III, Garland. 2008. The Lord Knows Me! A. The Lord's discernment (Ps 139:1-6). B. The Lord's perception (Ps 139:7-12). C. The Lord's purpose for individuals (Ps 139:13-18). D. Prayer for Vindication (Ps 139:13-24).
2. Keller. 2015. You discern (1-12). When I awake (13-24).
3. Kidner. 1975. 1. The all-seeing (Ps 139:1-6). 2. The all-present (Ps 139:7-12). 3. The all-creative (Ps 139:13-18). 4. The all-holy (Ps 139:19-24).
4. Motyer. Psalms. 2016. No escape. No regrets. No hiding place.
5. Stott. 1988. The All-seeing Eye of God.

Omniscience:

1. God knows everything that happens in the universe (Job 28:24; 31:4; 34:21-22; Prov 15:3; Mt 10:29-30).
2. God knows our secret thoughts (1 Chron 28:9; Ps 44:21b; Jer 17:9, 10; Heb 4:13).
3. God knows the future (Ps 139:16; Isa 41:21-24).
4. God knows "what ifs," the "middle knowledge" (Mt 11:21; Eze 3:4-6; Eph 4:11).
5. God cannot learn because of his knowledge is complete (Rom 11:33-34: Isa 40:13-14; Ps 147:5).

Do you ask God questions or do you question God?

If God knows what I will do, does that mean that I have no choice? That's fatalism. But God's foreknowledge does not equal fatalism. William Lane Craig: "There is a difference between something being logically prior and something being chronologically prior." 

Foreknowledge. God knows before (Ac 26:5). To [strict] Calvinist, it means God fore-loved. God cannot love you for your deeds, faith, for anything coming from you.

Ac 7:51