"If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart." — Psalm 44:20-21
"He knoweth the secrets of the heart." The doctrine underlying this text is that of Divine omniscience. That is a sixty-four dollar word that simply means, God knows everything. Hastily stated, it is not particularly striking, but upon careful reflection it is positively staggering. It is a declaration of infinite knowledge of everything in every place through all of time, past , present and future—one more evidence of our incredible God!
The patriarch Job had a sense of it when he said, "… He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold [Job 23:10]." Solomon understood it when he wrote, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good [Prov. 15:3]." The Lord Jesus alluded to it when He said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered [Mat. 10:29-30]." And the writer to the Hebrews is very explicit when he says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do [Heb. 4:12-13]."
This doctrine is of great practical value. The first benefit is the reassurance it affords the believer in times of trouble. As with Job, so with the believer in our day; wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, and however you may be tempted to despair because your plight seems either unknown or overlooked by others, even in the family of God, it is reassuring to know that He knows and that He cares for you. Jesus afforded this comfort by way of a parallel doctrine, omnipresence, when He said, Lo, I am with you alway." When Abraham's concubine Hagar was driven by Sarah into the "waste howling wilderness" after the birth of Ishmael, the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain, or a well and communed with her and counseled her to return to her master. The place of that encounter was subsequently called, Beerlahai-roi, or translated, "The well of Him that liveth and seeth me." The eye of the all-seeing God knew where she was when no other eye beheld her. And so it is with you today; you are never "all alone."
There is another value in this doctrine. It may serve to afford the discerning believer restraint in time of temptation. The knowledge that God is everywhere present and fully cognizant of all things can be a great deterrent to sin in our lives, especially "secret sins," as it makes us aware that nothing is secret with Him. There are temptations in our lives that we would not concede to if we knew that others were watching. Those temptations are heightened if we think no one is watching. We can be much helped if we cultivate an awareness that the God that "lives and sees me" is watching, and we do not want to be ashamed before Him at His coming.
That there are no secret places with Him, is made wonderfully evident in David's words elsewhere:
"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee [Ps. 139:1-2]."
In the end here is nowhere to hide from God, but to hide in Him. Is He Savior and Lord in your life?
For our temporal welfare and eternal good,
"Pastor" Frasier
"He knoweth the secrets of the heart." The doctrine underlying this text is that of Divine omniscience. That is a sixty-four dollar word that simply means, God knows everything. Hastily stated, it is not particularly striking, but upon careful reflection it is positively staggering. It is a declaration of infinite knowledge of everything in every place through all of time, past , present and future—one more evidence of our incredible God!
The patriarch Job had a sense of it when he said, "… He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold [Job 23:10]." Solomon understood it when he wrote, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good [Prov. 15:3]." The Lord Jesus alluded to it when He said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered [Mat. 10:29-30]." And the writer to the Hebrews is very explicit when he says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do [Heb. 4:12-13]."
This doctrine is of great practical value. The first benefit is the reassurance it affords the believer in times of trouble. As with Job, so with the believer in our day; wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, and however you may be tempted to despair because your plight seems either unknown or overlooked by others, even in the family of God, it is reassuring to know that He knows and that He cares for you. Jesus afforded this comfort by way of a parallel doctrine, omnipresence, when He said, Lo, I am with you alway." When Abraham's concubine Hagar was driven by Sarah into the "waste howling wilderness" after the birth of Ishmael, the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain, or a well and communed with her and counseled her to return to her master. The place of that encounter was subsequently called, Beerlahai-roi, or translated, "The well of Him that liveth and seeth me." The eye of the all-seeing God knew where she was when no other eye beheld her. And so it is with you today; you are never "all alone."
There is another value in this doctrine. It may serve to afford the discerning believer restraint in time of temptation. The knowledge that God is everywhere present and fully cognizant of all things can be a great deterrent to sin in our lives, especially "secret sins," as it makes us aware that nothing is secret with Him. There are temptations in our lives that we would not concede to if we knew that others were watching. Those temptations are heightened if we think no one is watching. We can be much helped if we cultivate an awareness that the God that "lives and sees me" is watching, and we do not want to be ashamed before Him at His coming.
That there are no secret places with Him, is made wonderfully evident in David's words elsewhere:
"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee [Ps. 139:1-2]."
In the end here is nowhere to hide from God, but to hide in Him. Is He Savior and Lord in your life?
For our temporal welfare and eternal good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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