Naming the Stars

He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:4-5

So often in life we know what happened…we just don’t know why or how.  When a student studies their hardest and fails the test anyway.  They know the facts…they just can’t figure out why it happened.  In many such cases we are never allowed to know more than the bare facts of the situation.  Yet for God there is no information let out.  From the greatest of things, unimaginably far away, God is intimately acquainted – knowing each star by the name which He gave it.  When it comes to the subtlest minutiae of our social situations or the inner workings of our hearts…God knows all the factors and has a perfect understanding.  So when things seem beyond your understanding you can rest in the fact that while our understanding is always limited…the Lord of our lives understands completely what is going on…and how it is affecting us.

Omniscience

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
²You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.  Psalm 138:1-4

The thought that God knows all things is likely quite familiar.  After all, if He is God, it stands to reason that He alone has the capacity to know all things.  There is no twist ending to a movie, nor a mystery that God needs to untangle…he knows it all.  But the focus of this passage is personal.  David takes great comfort in knowing that God knows more than just his actions…but God knows everything that David will think – and long before David thinks it.  God knows where he will go, and God knows exactly what David is going to say…long before he says it.  Two points…God knew everything you would think, say, and do long before He saved you and yet He chose to send His Son Jesus Christ to save you anyway.  There are no surprises for God that will throw off His salvation for those who know Him by grace through faith.  The second point is this…God wants to know about your thoughts, he knows what you will say, but waits to hear you say it.  The God of the universe knows all about you, and he is interested in you personally.

Sovereignty

“…the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:18-21

A nation is said to be sovereign when no other nation has the final say, or control over its affairs or working.  When a nation is ruled by a single person with the unquestioned rule we find that person can justly be called the sovereign…or the sovereign ruler.  It doesn’t mean that the sovereign nation controls every detail of the life of her citizens it means that whenever the governor of that nation weighs in there is no one with the power or authority to challenge that ruling.  So it is with the Lord.  God’s sovereignty does not mean that God is controlling every through breath or decision made on earth…though He surely knows all things.  God’s sovereignty tells us with great clarity that nothing can stand in the way of God declared will.  This includes his plan for the ages, His judgment upon sin, and even His perfect sovereign provision of our Salvation in His Son Jesus Christ.

Close at Hand

 “Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD,
“And not a God afar off?
²⁴Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the LORD;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD. Jeremiah 23:23-24

When you picture a lawman from the old west there is only one place to imagine that he would have his gun.  Right on his hip, in its holster.  Police officers today keep their weapons in the same place…why is that?  It is not because it is the most comfortable place…it is because it keeps their protection right next to their hand.  The Lord here describes himself as ‘near at hand’…and the Hebrew Poetry Pattern gives us the repetition that God is “not afar off”.  What does God want us to know about himself?  He is near, and present with us.  There is no place where we can escape his gaze, and no possibility that we could ever be outside of his knowledge and care.  This is as true in the moments when we may wish to hide our rebellion from Him as it is during the moments when we feel most alone.  When you cry out to the Lord, He is always near at hand.