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November 28, 2010 |
| Omniscience | ||
This lesson covers a psalm that talks about God's qualities of omniscience (knowing everything) and omnipresence (being everywhere at the same time). Traditionally it is believed the psalmist was King David but there are reasons to doubt this. Whatever the case, the psalm is valuable to us.
Psalms are poems that were meant to be sung. But poems present a real problem for translators and that results in problems for the readers. In style poems tend toward abstraction and symbolism and therefore rely heavily on the reader having the same reference framework of beliefs, culture and experiences. If the translator has little in common with the poet it can be hard to translate the poem.
Poems also sometimes exchange clarity for rhyme and meter. But neither rhyme nor meter can be translated so the translator does his best to clearly describe the meaning.
In this psalm the psalmist is speaking of himself to God but what he says is also true of us and the lesson will be presented as if the psalmist was talking about us.
The verses used are primarily from the NIV. To help us get the best understanding of the psalmists meaning the lesson will also draw from the Aramaic translation.
The psalm consists of 24 verses organized into 4 groups of 6 verses. The first group talks about God's omniscience.
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
In verse 1 the psalmist says that God has searched us and known us. This is a theme that we see in many other places in the Bible. God is able to see right to the core of our being and know us not for the clothes we wear, or the image we present to others, but as we truly are.
God knows all the things that we do. But more importantly he knows the thoughts that drive the things we do - why we do what we do. The Aramaic translation says it this way "[…] you have understood my reasonings"1 2.
And God knows all of this without having to figure it out or guess. Where a human might watch the actions of a person to determine why the actions were taken and what the person is like inside, God is not like that. God knows the insides first.
Verse three continues with more examples of God's omniscience. But now instead of talking about the things we do in the present the psalmist talks about the future, the plans we make and the things that will happen to us. Again from the Aramaic "My way and my steps know you and all my ways you have investigated".
Verse four tells us that God knows what we are about to do before we do it. The example uses speaking but is applicable to all the things we do. Here the Aramaic says that as soon as my tongue begins to move, you already know what I will say.
Verse five isn't very clear in any translation. The NIV and others interpret it to mean that God surrounds us or hems us in and his hand protects us. The Aramaic sounds more like God has known us from our beginning to our end and his hand guides us. This is more consistent with the theme of omniscience seen in the other verses.
In verse six the psalmist wonders at such great knowledge and exclaims that he cannot even grasp the idea of such knowledge.
Luke 12:2-3 says "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs." Given a God that knows everything we think, do, and say, how should we live our lives?
In the second group of verses the topic is God's omnipresence.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Considering the previous group of verses, in verse seven the psalmist is wondering where we could go to get away from the omniscience of God.
Verse 8 in the NIV interprets the psalmist as describing physical dimensions. But other translations make it clear that the depths referred to is Sheol, the place of the dead, a spiritual place. The Aramaic uses spiritual dimensions for both the higher and lower places. It presents the verse as "If I shall ascend to Heaven there you are and if I would descend to Sheol also there you are".
In verses 9 and 10 the psalmist says that even if we could fly to the farthest known place, God would be there to guide us and hold us.
Even the darkness and night in verses 11 and 12 cannot hide us from God. Darkness is nothing to God. He knows what happens in the darkness as well as he knows what happens in the light.
The third group of verses talks about how God knows us in such detail. He is our creator after all.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 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.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand-
when I awake, I am still with you.
We take the birth process for granted sometimes I think. We forget all the complicated interactions that must take place to produce a baby and yet we are required to understand none of it. The process is automatic. And I think that we forget that it is God who is doing the creating and that the result is a new life in God's world, a new life loved by God.
If we take a moment to think of all the things in our bodies that have to continue to work in order for us to continue to live, we could become fearful that our bodies could fail us at anytime. But - for the most part - all the body's machinery continues on despite the work and injuries we put our bodies through. Our bodies are wonderfully made.
Before we were yet formed God knew the days of our lives, where and when we would start, what we would do and how we would die. God's vast knowledge is beyond our understanding but even more amazing is that he loves us, creatures who are in no way his equal.
How precious are the thoughts of a God like that.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Verses 19 through 22 are somewhat of a mystery. They seem out of place because the psalmist has been describing the greatness of God up to this point. In essence the psalmist is saying God's enemies are his enemies. But the point seems to be to show that he does not walk in their ways or have any desire within him to do so. Their evils against God disgust him. So this group of verses is really about the psalmist and his relationship with God.
Having described God as omniscient and everywhere, in verses 23 and 24 the psalmist implores God to search him and test him to find any flaw he has and to lead him on the correct path. This should be the attitude and desire of every Christian as well. It isn't always easy to look on our flaws and it usually is a battle to overcome them but that is the way of the Christian.
1. What do you find especially wonderful about our bodies?
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2. The psalmist says "Your eyes saw my unformed body". This
appears to be a reference to an embryo. But even at this stage of development
the psalmist refers to it as "my body". How does this relate to abortion?
???
3. The psalmist speaks of God knowing everything about us,
seeing everything we do, and guiding and holding us no matter where we are.
Does God's close attention to you make you feel comforted or uncomfortable?
???
1 Aramaic Psalms
2 Prophetic perfect verb tense http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=298. Usually lost in English translations. Example: "I have given you (Israel) this land"