God Is Omniscient

The Attributes of God
God Is Omniscient
Ps 139:1-6


Introductory Thoughts

v We now come to an attribute of God which is widely known about, but which is not widely appreciated for its meaning.
v God knows everything—He is omniscient.

v Many people have the attitude that God knows what is going on, but they seem to believe that He really doesn’t care.

§ ** “Boy, if the preacher knew what I was doing…”

§ Boy, if mom and dad knew what I was doing…”

§ Oh, if my wife (or husband) knew what I was doing…”

§ Get this—GOD knows what you are doing, saying, planning, etc. God knows everything about you, and you are not fooling Him.

§ If your pastor, parents, or spouse knowing about what you are up to bothers you more than God knowing what you are up to, then you have the universe turned upside down in your mind.

§ The fact is, God knows you intimately, He knows your every move, and you cannot escape His eye of omniscience.

· After taking a brief look at the bare fact of God’s omniscience, we are going to Biblically examine the doctrine through a passage that takes us inside and makes us confront our all-knowing God face to face.


1. The Knowledge of God is Infinite—Psa 147:5 "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."

a. Language—“infinite” means “without number.” We can put no quantity nor any limitation on God’s Knowledge.

b. He knows Himself; He knows what He is going to do— Acts 15:18 "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."

(1) The subjects of election, predestination, God’s knowledge, etc. really upset some folks.

(2) But you must understand that the Bible is definite about this—God knows what He is going to do—He is not waiting to see what will happen, and He did not look down through history to see what you would do!

(3) God is ahead of the planning curve!

(4) But you do not know what God is going to do!

(5) But you DO know what He has told you to do—you need to be about the business that God has given you to be about, and not about trying to second guess Him!

c. A human illustration—

(1) If your spouse comes up with a plan for finances, he or she might say to you, “I’ve got this handled, just trust me, you do this and that, and I will make sure my plan works out.”

(2) What will you do?

(a) You might say, “Well, if you are going to do it, just do it, and I will sit back and watch. If you have it all in hand, you just do it!”

(b) More likely, however, you are going to say, “No, I want you to tell me what your plan is; I want to know what you are going to do.”

(3) Why do you do that?

(a) You do that because you want to know before it is done.

(b) You want to have a say in your role in the plan.

(c) And you want the opportunity to put your two cents worth in.

(d) But if you trusted them completely, you might say, “OK, I trust you. I’ll do what you told me, and trust you to do what’s right.”

(4) Now, God has said to us: “I have this plan to save the lost, “Here is what I want you to do.” (The Great Commission) ; Mat 28:19-20,

(5) However, some people say, in regard to God’s clear statements: “Well, if you are going to do it, I will sit back and watch.” Or, they will say, “No, I want to know that I am going to have a say in this thing.” But, if we trust God, we will say, “OK, I’ll do what you told me, and I will trust you to do what’s right.”


d. The extent of God’s Knowledge—

(1) God knows everything that ever has been or ever will be—Dan 2:20-27
(2) He knows every act of every person, every thought of every heart. There are no secrets kept from God.

Ezek 11:5 "… Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them."

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 him with whom we have to do."

(3) He knows our sins—Psa 90:8 "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance."
(4) He knows every thing that could have been, and all that happens in the universe is either what He has caused, or what He has allowed. God is never taken by surprise. God, you see, is God.

2. The Basic Fact of God’s Omniscience, personally applied—Psa 139:1 "O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

a. God’s unique knowledge—Only God Really knows us.

(1) You don’t fully know yourself.
(2) I don’t fully know myself.
(3) We can’t even trust our innermost thoughts—Jer 17:9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
(4) But God knows—10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

b. God’s Personal knowledge—Let’s get personal right off the bat—God knows you (me too). There is nothing about us He does not know.

(1) He knows your thoughts
(2) He knows your sins
(3) He knows your desires
(4) He knows your innermost heart
(5) He knows your plans and agendas
(6) You cannot hide from Him—you have no right to privacy with God.

c. God’s Total Knowledge—When we say “God knows Everything,” we are talking about ourselves too.


(1) If you are playing church today, God knows it.

(2) If you are harboring hatred and resentment against brothers and sisters, God knows it.

(3) If you are involved in sins that no Christian should tolerate in their life, God knows it.

(4) If you are, right now, planning a sin, God knows it. You just are not going to fool God.

(5) If you are planning to rebel against Him, against the leadership of this church, against your spouse, against, your parents, God knows it!

(6) If you have some little conspiracy going on, at work, in the home, at the club, at church, God knows all about it.

(a) Num 32:23 "… be sure your sin will find you out."
(b) Psa 17:3 "You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; …”

(c) Jer 12:3 "But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me, And You have tested my heart toward You…”

(7) If you are a mature believer, you want God to search you in this way, you want His searchlight on your soul, you want His soul surgery to heal you of your sin.

(8) Psa 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

i (7) But if you are not a mature believer, or if you are not really saved at all, then you don’t want to be searched, you don’t want the scalpel of God’s spiritual surgery in your life, you don’t want God that close.

d. God’s Intimate Knowledge—GOD knows about everyone, but He KNOWS His people

2 Tim 2:19 "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.

John 10:3 “… he calleth his own sheep by name… 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine… 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:






3. Some Details of God’s Omniscience—2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

a. YOU—(the word is “emphatic in Heb…” BKC)

b. The Most Mundane Activities are in His Sight—2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;

(1) “I am observed when I quietly sit down, and marked when I resolutely rise up. My most common and casual acts, my most needful and necessary movements, are noted by thee…” (Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 259, Vol 3)

c. What is unknown and invisible is clear to God— You understand my thought afar off.

Mat 9:3-4 "And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"

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 him with whom we have to do."

(1) You cannot see the thoughts of another person.

(2) You really cannot see your own thoughts, though you can sometimes visualize pictures in your mind, you cannot see the thoughts.

(3) And you don’t know for sure what you are going to think next—if you knew, you would have already thought it!

(4) You may be about to think:

(a) An unclean thought

(b) A pleasant thought

(c) An alarming thought, like, “Where did that train come from?”

(d) A profound thought

(e) A stupid thought

(f) But whatever you are about to think, you don’t know it yet—as soon as you know it, you’ve already thought it.

(g) But God sees your thoughts “afar off.”

d. Whether we are awake or asleep, God knows—3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,

“My path and my pallet, my running and my resting, are alike within the circle of thine observation. Thou dost surround me even as the air continually surrounds all creatures that live. I am shut up within the wall of thy being, I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge. Waking or sleeping, I am still observed of thee. I may leave thy path, but thou never leavest mine. I may sleep and forget thee, but thou does never slumber, nor fall into oblivion concerning thy creature.” (Spurgeon, Treasury)

(1) Comprehend—the original word can also be understood as “to winnow,” as one sifts and winnows wheat.

(2) “…He distinguishes actions; He discerns and separates the good from the bad, or the goodness of an action from the evil and imperfection of it, as in winnowing, the wheat is separated from the chaff….” (Gill’s Commentary)

(3) 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, Every step we take, every wink of shuteye we have, God is there, and He knows what is in our hearts. There is neither right of privacy nor way of privacy from Him.

e. God Knows us better than we know ourselves. And are acquainted with all my ways.

“God knows all the evil ways and works of His people; He takes notice of them, and chastises for them; and all their good works and approves and accepts of them; He knows from what principles of faith and love they spring, in what manner they are performed.” (Gill)

Rev 2:2 "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:"

Rev 2:19 "I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first."

(1) First, God knows the motives and intents

(2) He knows if we are working from a law principle or a love principle.

(3) He knows what is easy, what is hard, what is pleasant, and what must merely be endured.

f. God knows the words we say. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

(1) HE knows our words before we say them. Isa 65:24 "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
(2) Luke 19:31 "And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him." Luke 19:33 "And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?"

(3) And He knows the motivation for our words—Luke 11:15-17 "But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth."


4. The Blessed Effect of God’s Omniscience—5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.

a. God’s Protection—The Holy Hedge—“…5 You have hedged me behind and before…”

(1) Behind—God “watches our back…”

(2) Before—But God watches our front as well, He takes the point position.

(3) God has us hedged up all around.

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land…”

b. God’s hand on your life—When?

(1) Jeremiah—Jer 1:5 ""Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.""

(2) Paul


Acts 9:15 "But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel."

Gal 1:13-15 "For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,"

(3) Lydia—God moved his apostles out of their way and ignored entire regions of the world in order to take the word to Lydia and God opened her heart.

5. The Mystery of God’s Omniscience—6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it."

Job 42:3 "You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

Psa 40:5 "Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered."

Psa 131:1 "LORD, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me."

a. In the original, the word “wonderful” is emphatic, it is an exclamation which starts the sentence: “WONDERFUL! This knowledge is…”

b. God wants us to know that He knows, or He would not have told us.

c. But God want us to know that we are not going to fully understand this, either.

d. If you react to this doctrine of scripture with emotional or mental distress, if this bothers you, join the club.

(1) It bothered David (the author of this psalm) at first!
(2) David could not comprehend it!
(3) It is like he is saying, “God, this makes my head hurt!”
(4) It’s like the college student that was in his first higher math class. Halfway through a particularly tough lecture, he raised his hand and asked the professor, “Sir, may I be excused, my brain is full.”)
(5) David says, “I can’t handle this, God, it is too far above me to comprehend this!”

e. This is beyond almost any other incomprehensible thing. God’s omniscience? I have no clue at all how—it is beyond me to understand how He knows everything—Like David, this is too marvelous for words.

f. However, there is at least one thing more incomprehensible.

(1) He knows me, and has always known me.
(2) He knows my sin, my weakness, my feet of clay
(3) He knows every wicked thought and intent I’ve ever had.
(4) He knew me before there was anything to know.
(5) But He loved me, chose me, died for me, called me, saved me, and is keeping me—I cannot understand that kind of God—but I can love Him and praise Him for it. Rom 5:6-9 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…”