I Know That Full Well

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,’
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:1-18

The shepherd king and warrior was who he was because of his relationship with his Lord. Primary in the barrage of all David’s knowing – about politics and warfare and jealousy, temptation and failure and leadership- was his knowledge that he was known. Indeed, it was too wonderful for him, and precious.

In this life here below, knowledge comes at us from every side. There is generous and vying repast for every topic, occasion, and curiosity, all ours for the discovering, selecting, and taking. While discernment is important as we detect and come to conclusions about things, there is a supreme knowledge that God intends we prioritize, that of knowing Him and His knowing us. He who foreknew us since before creation knows us perfectly still. (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4)

That God knows the way we take should give comfort and assurance in difficulty. He not only supplies strength and refines in the journey, but brings to glorious end. He knows the depth of every heart pang, and translates them before the Father’s throne. He knows our secret sins, and brings them to light for cleansing. He knows what we need before we ask, yet invites our trust in asking. He knows us, and loves us immeasurably. (Job 23:10; Psalm 19:12; 139:23-24; Matthew 6:8; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Peter 5:10)

How does this knowledge fortify our faith and compel us to trust? How does it humble us and clarify our hope? What deeper love will we express in response?

Lord, help me know You and rejoice in Your omniscience full well, to Your praise.