To Search and Know

A new computer has introduced me to the world of cloud computing. It used to be that you had to store all your files on your physical computer, or at least backed up by some sort of gizmo you could buy. But now you can send all your files over the Internet to vast storage places operated by different companies that reserve some space for you. You can add to it any time you like, and later search for what you need to finish projects. It’s like sending information into a hovering cloud in the sky that guards it, only releasing it when you give it permission. Much of the knowledge of the world is now stored in virtual clouds. It’s amazing and very convenient.

The ability of God to know everything about us is also amazing. He doesn’t have to retrieve files from a cloud to check up on us, nor does he need special permission to find ways to help us when we need it. God is omniscient, possessing a full array of knowledge about all things at all times.

David expressed this in Psalm 139. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

David’s words are not meant to frighten us. He is merely praising God for who He is and how He cares for us. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them” (v17).

– Tim Johnson