‘If one thing lies at the basis of the whole biblical teaching about God it is that God knows all things.’ (J. Gresham Machen)

1. God Knows All Things

Nothing in all creation is hidden from his sight; his eyes are everywhere, 2 Chron 16:9 ‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth’. Psa 147:5 ‘his understanding is infinite’ ; Prov 15:3 ‘The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.’ Heb 4:13 ‘Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of his with whom we have to do.’

(a) Let us praise God for his perfect knowledge, Psa 139:6 ‘Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it’. Because God’s knowledge is perfect, we can be sure that he will always do what is right, and his judgement will always be correct, Gen 18:25. ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’

(b) Let us be humbled by God’s perfect knowledge, 1 Sam 2:3 ‘Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.’ Let us refrain from questioning God’s knowledge, or thinking that we know better, Isa 40:13f. ‘Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him to the way of understanding?’

(c) Let us value knowledge, since God is a God of perfect knowledge. Let us increase in knowledge resolutely but humbly, knowing that we can only ever borrow that which God had already known from eternity; we can only ever ‘think God’s thoughts after him’. Phil 4:8 ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ ‘All truth is God’s truth.’

2. God Knows All About Us

No detail is hidden from his penetrating gaze, Mt 10:29f “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.”

(a) He knows our limitations and needs, Psa 103:14. ‘He knoweth our frame; he remembreth that we are dust.’ Mt 6:8. “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

(b) He knows our secret thoughts. Psa 139:2 ‘Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off. Psa 44:21 ‘He knoweth the secrets of the heart’. ‘God not only sees men, he sees through them.’ (Matthew Henry) ‘Thoughts speak as loud in God’s ears as words do in ours.’ (Watson) We are, all of us, under God’s constant scrutiny. We are naked before him. We hold things back from other people so that our relationship with them is not put at risk. Our pretence may fool others, but we cannot deceive God. There is no skeleton in our cupboard that God does not already know about. Such scrutiny ‘fills us with uneasiness’ (Pink). Does it not make the guilty person tremble to think that the all-seeing eye of the Lord is ever upon him. ‘You cannot too often think there is a never-sleeping eye which reads the heart and registers our thoughts.’ (Francis Bacon). God ‘has a window to look into men’s breasts; he has a key for the heart; he beholds all the sinful workings of men’s spirits, as in a glass-hive we can see the bees working in the combs.’ (Watson)

(c) He knows our spiritual condition. Jer 16:17. “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.” But also, 2 Tim 2:19 ‘The Lord knoweth them that are his.’ When does God’s penetrating gaze cease to be a dreadful thing? When we can cover our spiritual nakedness. When Adam and Eve first sinned, and realised their guilt, they sought to cover their nakedness. God clothed them, using skins from sacrificed animals. This is the message of redemption, that we are naked in God’s sight and yet can be clothed by him at the same time. The clothing of Adam and Eve was merely a symbol of what was to come when Jesus Christ died for our sin so that our guilt might be removed. On the basis of this sacrifice, God clothes all who believe in Christ with the Lord’s own righteousness. Now we do not have to hide in shame, but can stand before him, Isa 61:10. ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall rejoice in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels.’

(d) He knows our destiny. With a single glance, God surveys all the future. Isa 46:9f ‘Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.’ Psa 33:18f ‘Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine; Job 23:10 ‘But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’ God not only knows what we are now, he knows what he is going to make of us. And most especially, he is determined to make us like Jesus Christ. Rom 8:29 ‘For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.’