Our Omniscient God


Psalm 4
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2  O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3  But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.
4  Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5  Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
6  There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7  You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8  In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

One of the aspects of the faith we don’t focus on very often is the confidence that we have in Lord. More often we use the word trust. But the feeling generated by David’s words in this Psalm is more like confidence. David cries out to God and expects an answer because he has gotten one in the past. He is confident in God because of their relationship.

And that begs the question: are we also that confident? As I ponder that question for myself I come to two answers. No, I’m not confident that God will do what I ask Him too because I’ve had numerous times in my life when He didn’t! But I am confident that He will always do the best and right thing for me or whoever I’m praying for at the time. Once again the faith presents us with a tension. Of course there are times when I wish God would just see things my way and do what I ask. But He is far more loving and generous than that. Since He is able to see more than I, His choices are always the better ones. I am confident in that. I’m still going to go to Him in prayer and ask Him to do things for me. I’m still going to present my ideas. That’s what a relationship looks like. It’s taken a long time (because I’m a stubborn person) but I am finally willing to surrender (most of) my plans into His hands and confidently expect Him to handle any situation I have with far more creativity and grace than I could ever conjure up. I will not claim complete success with this yet, but my confidence grows each day. In peace I both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

That confidence leads to a place of peace. That formerly discussed confidence is not born in a vacuum. It is born from the peace that passes understanding. It is born out of trust and a certain blindness. That blindness is real for all of us. We cannot see into the future. We cannot possibly know all of the aspects of any situation or circumstance, so peace comes from understanding that God does not dwell in that blindness, for nothing is left unknown to our Omniscient God. That truth brings peace, for I am never left to my own devices when I remain in the Lord.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more