So, what do you know?

Submitted by RR on Fri, 20/12/2019 - 15:56

We live in a world where we have never had such easy access to so much information. Twenty-four hour news channels, news, fake news (so much more respectable than lies and propaganda), opinion, speculation… But, I wonder, how much do we really know? We are urged to know our rights (knowledge of our responsibilities is, of course, a terribly last-century idea) but that’s not the sort of knowledge I have in mind. No, rather I’m thinking of what the Bible calls wisdom. “The fear (reverence, awe) of the Lord,” says the Psalmist, “is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10) King Solomon reminds us that the fool dies for lack of wisdom. (Proverbs 10:21)

Not that we can know everything. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the works of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29) So there are things that we can know, and by chewing them over, pondering them, we can make them our own.

Job did that, and he concluded: I know that my Redeemer lives (Job 19:25) and I know that You can do everything (Job 42:2).

I know whom I have believed (2 Timothy 1:12).

And the Apostle John: We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).

But Jeremiah looked at ‘knowing’ from a different standpoint when he said: O Lord, You know. (Jeremiah 15:15). I can almost hear the sigh of relief in the midst of his dejection and confusion!

Our knowledge is always imperfect, incomplete and unreliable. God’s knowledge, on the other hand, is perfect and infinite. All-wise, all-loving, He is working out His purposes and nothing can thwart them: I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. (Isaiah 46:10)

There is stability in that!

Here, then, for chewing purposes, are just a few of the things that the Lord knows:

He knows His sheep (John 10:27)

He knows the way that I take (Job 23:10)

He knows the thoughts that He thinks towards me (Jeremiah 29:11)

He knows my frame (Psalm 103:14)

He knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19)

He knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation (2 Peter 2:9)

I’m sure you can think of many more. Bon appétit!

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.

Nahum 1:7

Day by day the manna fell;