Knowing the God Who Knows All

Psalm 147:5 ESV

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

He knows instantly, and with a perfection of fullness that includes every possible item of knowledge concerning everything that exists or could have existed anywhere in the universe at any time in the past or that may exist in the centuries or ages yet unborn.

“Who can enumerate all the beings and events, which are incessantly before His eye, adjusted by His wisdom, dependent on His will, and regulated by His power!” —John Newton

God knows all things and cannot add new knowledge, therefore He cannot learn.

God knows all things instantly, effortlessly, therefore He does not reason through matters.

God knows perfectly the present situation, therefore He does not need advising.

God does not forget past events, therefore He does not need reminding.

God is flawlessly aware of all future events, therefore He does not need warning.

God cannot be mistaken, therefore He does not need correction.

Why is understanding these statements important? There is a difference between being brilliant and being all-knowing. God’s knowledge is in a different category than ours. It is not simply like ours but multiplied beyond description. Though we cannot fully comprehend this type of knowledge, by God’s help we can bow before it in astonishment and adoration!

God’s knowledge is infinite

Psalm 147:5 ESV

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Isaiah 40:28 ESV

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

God knows Himself

Romans 11:34 ESV

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

Isaiah 40:13–14 ESV

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? 14 Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

1 Corinthians 2:11 ESV

11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

God knows all things in all times

Isaiah 41:22–24 ESV

22 Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. 23 Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. 24 Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.

God knows all about you

Jeremiah 17:9–10 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Psalm 19:12 ESV

12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

1 Samuel 2:3 ESV

3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

Job 31:4 ESV

4 Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?

Job 34:21–22 ESV

21 “For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. 22 There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.

Psalm 7:9 ESV

9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!

Psalm 33:14–15 ESV

14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

Hebrews 4:12–13 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Psalm 139:1–6 ESV

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.