What is God like? Omniscient

“Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counsellor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14)


So far we’ve thought about God’s transcendence, His independence and His immanence. That is, God is far above all, separate from all He has made, and yet remains intimately involved in caring for all He has made. What a glorious God we have! And, what’s more, the Bible shows us again and again that God is omniscient – He has infinite and perfect knowledge of the whole created universe in a way that just blows our minds. But why does that matter?


Where do we see the truth of God's omniscience in the Bible?

At the top of this post you’ll find a quote from Isaiah 40:13-14. It’s the basis for verse 2 in the song, Behold our God:

Who has given counsel to the LORD?
Who can question any of His words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?
Behold our God…

This illustrates God’s perfect and infinite knowledge in a general sense: He knows everything about everything. That’s quite something, if we consider how little we know despite the years we have spent learning and researching our interests. Think of your favourite subject: God knows more about that subject than you will ever know! Think about your family: God knows more about even those closest to us than we will ever know. God even knows us better than we know ourselves.
And that’s what David is getting at in Psalm 139, a moving poetic description of God’s perfect knowledge of us. He knows when we go to bed and when we wake up; He knows where we are and what we’re doing; He even knows what we will do before we know it ourselves! (See Psalm 139:1-5, 16). How does David react? By declaring, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,” (Psalm 139:6). In other words, he’s not freaked out by God acting like “Big Brother”. Rather, he’s comforted that he can never catch God by surprise.

Why does this matter?

Perhaps you struggle with the idea that God knows everything about you: what about those things you don’t want anyone to know? But look at it this way: God knows everything there is to know about you (including things you don’t even know yourself), and He still loves you with a perfect and complete love. There is nothing you can do or say, nothing in your past that can come to light, that will put God off you. Isn’t that a relief?

And here’s one more reassurance that comes from God’s complete and perfect knowledge of everything: it means we can trust His perfect wisdom. For instance, we can trust that God will answer our prayers in the best way for us because He knows infinitely more than we do. As Tim Keller wrote on prayer, “God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything He knows.” Isn’t that wonderful? When we pray, we are asking for help from THE expert, the One who knows perfectly what’s going on, and knows perfectly what to do about it. God’s omniscience means we’re in good hands – so we can rest easy in His everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27). Praise God!