From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part three of a series. Read part two.

"In times of perplexity [the Christian] says with Job, 'But He knows the way that I take' (23:10). It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to my friends, but 'He knows'!"

Editor's note: As Arthur Pink noted in the last article, every Christ-rejecter has good reason to tremble before the probing eye of God. But for the believer, it is a very different matter. 
 

To the believer, the fact of God's omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort. In times of perplexity he says with Job, "But He knows the way that I take" (23:10). It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to my friends, but "He knows"! In times of weariness and weakness believers assure themselves, "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). In times of doubt and suspicion they appeal to this very attribute, saying, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23,24).

In time of sad failure, when our actions have belied our hearts, when our deeds have repudiated our devotion, and the searching question comes to us, "Lovest thou Me?", we say, as Peter did, "Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee" (John 21:17).

Here is encouragement to prayer. There is no cause for fearing that the petitions of the righteous will not be heard, or that their sighs and tears shall escape the notice of God, since He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no danger of the individual saint being overlooked amidst the multitude of supplicants who daily and hourly present their various petitions, for an infinite Mind is as capable of paying the same attention to millions as if only one individual were seeking its attention. So too the lack of appropriate language, the inability to give expression to the deepest longing of the soul, will not jeopardize our prayers, for "It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).

Editor's note: To these wonderful thoughts we would add these words of the Spirit through the Apostle Paul, in which He tells us of the continual conversation among the Persons of the Godhead on behalf of the saints:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts [that is, our Lord Jesus] knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:26-31)

Next: God's Timeless Knowledge

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