The Attributes of God - The All-Knowing God - 1 Samuel 16 (Sermon 6)

Introduction

All children go to school as soon as they are old enough.

• They begin a quest for knowledge that goes right through to adult life.
• There is so much to learn that it is impossible to gain knowledge of every subject.

Today, there are thousands more students in our Colleges & Universities.

• All share the same aim of gaining further knowledge and more qualifications.
• There are more Mature Students than ever before.
• Anyone who refuses to learn new things, will be out of a job

We now have many older people who have joined the University of the New Age.

• Once people retire, they want to travel & learn more about other places & cultures.
• They have more time to study that subject they have always wanted to learn about.

The problem is that people seem to forget a great deal of what they have learned.

For the believer, the quest for knowledge involves a lifelong study of God's Word.

The Psalmist Prayed with a deep longing for a true knowledge of God (Ps 119:66; 73-74):

- True believers don't simply want to know facts about God.

- They want to have an Experimental Knowledge of God Himself!

- The problem is that we don't always put our knowledge of God into practice.

Remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Romans:

"I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not

the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep doing … So I find

a law at work. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For I have an

inner delight in God's Law; but I see another law at work in the members of my

body, waging war against the law of my mind & making me a prisoner of the law of

sin at work within my members" (Romans 7:18-23).

• Our quest for knowledge, whether it be temporal or spiritual, is not always successful.

• It is even less successful when we translate Head Knowledge into Heart Knowledge.

The Glorious Hope for the Believer in this quest for True Spiritual Knowledge, is that we have a God who is called the All-Knowing One - the God who Knows All Things.

1. God taught the Apostle John that he Possesses Infinite Knowledge.

In his First Epistle John had a great deal to say about Knowledge.

• He refers to believers as those who have a Knowledge of the Truth (2:20-21).

• They have a Knowledge of Righteousness & Forgiveness of Sin (2:29; 3:4).
• They have a Knowledge of God's Love & of the working of the Holy Spirit (3:16 & 24).
• God has given his children a deep level of Spiritual Understanding (5:20).

It is in this context that John makes a profound statement about the Knowledge of God:

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

This then is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we can set our hearts at

rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our

hearts, and he Knows Everything - A.V. God Knoweth All Things" (1 John 3:18-20).

All of us have times in our Christian lives when our hearts condemn us.

• Despite our doubts, the Lord God still Knows that we belong to him.
• The Apostle John tells us that we can know this truth because God Knows Everything.

This is what the Theologians call Omniscience

• It comes from Two Latin words Omni meaning 'All' & Science meaning 'Knowledge'.

Richard Strauss sums up this Great Doctrine, by saying:

"God has perfect knowledge of everything - past, present, and future -

both of what is actual and what is possible."

In the Old Testament, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, learned about the

All-Knowing Nature of God through the circumstances surrounding his birth:

• The writer of 1 Samuel opens his history book by telling us about Hannah's plight:

"Elkannah … had two wives … Hannah & Peninnah.

Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none … Elkanah loved her, and the Lord had

One day, Hannah was praying in the temple, pleading with God to give her a son:

• Eli the Priest saw her lips moving but could hear no sound coming from them.
• Eli made the assumption that Hannah was drunk with wine, & he rebuked her (1:12-14);

But, Hannah replied:

• Eli assured Hannah that the Lord God of Israel had graciously granted her request.

• The Lord would certainly answer her prayer.

What was the Greatest Lesson that Hannah learned through this experience?

Note how she opens her prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord God, Yahweh:

"My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts

over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord;

there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God. Do not keep talking so

proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who Knows,

and by him deeds are weighed" (1 Sam 2:1-3).

Hannah realised that God had Full Knowledge of her Every Thought.

• The Lord Knew that Hannah was in deep agony of soul.

• The Lord Understood exactly how deeply hurt she had felt.
• The Lord knew all about the way in which Peninnah, her wicked rival had taunted her.

Hannah praised God, saying: A.V. "For the Lord is a God of Knowledge" (2:3)

Thomas Watson points out that the Hebrew word for Knowledge here is actually in the PLURAL: Literally, 'For the Lord is a God of Knowledges'.

• Our God is the Lord God who Knows Everything about Everyone.
• He knew what was in the Mind of Wicked Peninnah;
• He also knew every thought that entered the mind of righteous Hannah.

• He has a complete knowledge about every detail of every kind of subject.
• There is not a single fact about the whole universe that the Great Creator does not know

Human beings have finite minds that can only contain a finite amount of knowledge.

• The greatest mind can only grasp a very small portion of everything there is to know.
• Someone might have a deep knowledge of one particular subject;

But that same person will be completely ignorant about many other subjects.

• No matter how much people learn, they cannot possibly know everything!

• No matter how much people gain in knowledge, they are only scratching the surface.

God is very different - He is the All-Knowing One who possesses Infinite Knowledge:

• Because God is Eternal, he must Know Everything Immediately & Simultaneously.
• He never learns anything new by observing a series of events that occur over time.
• Because God is Unchanging his Knowledge never varies - It cannot change.
• God's Knowledge does not increase and it cannot decrease.
• God never has to say: "I remember learning about that";
• God never has to say: "I must have forgotten about that."
• God's Knowledge is Constant & Unchanging.

A W Pink says about the Doctrine of the All-Knowing Nature of God:
"God is Omniscient. He knows everything; everything possible, everything actual;

all events, all creatures, of the past, the present, & the future. He is perfectly

acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell.

Nothing escapes his notice, nothing is hidden from him, nothing is forgotten by him.

Well may we say with the Psalmist, 'Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is

high, I cannot attain it' (Ps 139:6). His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never

changes, never overlooks anything."

The Scriptures tell us that God's Knowledge is Perfect & Complete:

The Psalmist says:

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his Understanding has No Limit

A.V. His Understanding is Infinite" (Psalm 147:5).

This is the lesson that Job learned during his great suffering.

• Job's suffering was so great and so intense he began to wonder whether God really knew all the details of what he was going through in his life.

• Elihu helped Job to learn this lesson by asking him an important question:

"Do you know how the clouds hang poised,

those wonders of him who is Perfect in Knowledge?" (Job 37:16).

Isaiah argued (40:12-14) that God has Never Needed to Learn Anything from Anyone:

"Who has understood the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as a counsellor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?"

The implication of this rhetorical question is very obvious:

• No-one can teach God anything. He is Self-existent in Knowledge & Wisdom.
• The Lord God possesses Infinite Knowledge - It is impossible to add to his knowledge!
• The sense is that God is Supreme in his Knowledge.
• No-one can be God's counsellor; because his Divine Will is Perfect;
• No-one can enlighten him, because he already possesses Absolute Enlightenment.
• No-one can teach God the right way to do anything; because he is Perfectly Holy.
• No-one can teach him the path of understanding; because he is Perfect in Wisdom;

• God is Independent of the Knowledge & Wisdom of mere men.

We need to remember that God's Knowledge is NOT an Acquired Knowledge.

In other words, God has never had to sit down and learn anything.

Stuart Olyott says:

"So far as Knowledge is concerned, God Knows Everything. His Understanding is

Infinite. For ourselves, we have to learn one thing at a time, and our knowledge is

always small. There is no such thing as learning so far as God is concerned. He

Knows all things as they really are, all at once. There is no limit to his Understanding.

It is a mystery to us how this can be so. But nothing is a mystery to God. There is

nothing which he does not fully Understand. There is nothing of which he is ignorant

or uncertain and of course, this means that he cannot be deceived."

This truth is a great encouragement for believer's to PRAY, just like Hannah prayed

Hannah believed that God Knew Everything about her.

She believed that the God of All-Knowledge knew how to answer her prayer.

• Job, the Psalmist & Isaiah learned that God's Knowledge is Perfect & Complete;

There is no cause to fear that the prayers of the righteous will not be heard.

• No tears or anguish of soul go unheard by the All-Knowing God.
• God Knows the Thoughts of our innermost hearts.
• He can Understand Prayers that we cannot find words to utter.
• There is no danger that the prayers of the individual saint will be lost in the millions of prayers that rise to the Throne of Grace every day.

The Prophet Isaiah says (Is 65:13-14):

We are considering the All-Knowing Nature of God:

1. God taught the Apostle John & Hannah that he Possesses Infinite Knowledge
2. God taught Samuel & King David that he Knows our Hearts

• God demonstrated his power of mind-reading & heart-searching when

Samuel appointed David as the future king of Israel

When Samuel saw Eliab towering over all the other sons of Jesse, he said:

"Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord" (1 Samuel 16:6).

It was in this context that God taught Samuel about his All-Knowing Nature:

"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the

outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Samuel wanted a man who would be a mighty warrior;

• He wanted a man who stood head & shoulders above everyone else.
• Samuel had not learned very much from the appointment of Saul, and

the way in which Saul did evil in the sight of God.

The Lord God told Samuel that he looked at people in a very different way:

• The Lord wanted a man whose heart yearned to Serve the Living God.
• He wanted a man who had a deep desire to do the Will of the Almighty God.
• Therefore, when seeking a king, the Lord looked into the hearts of men.

God knew that there was something different about David:

• He saw the heart of a man who loved the Lord God of Israel.
• He saw the heart of a man who longed to help and please other people.
• He saw the heart of a true shepherd who would care for the Spiritual Flock.

King David was to learn this SAME TRUTH in a very different way, some years later:

• David learned that nothing can be concealed from the All-Knowing God!

• David longed to build a temple in honour of the Living God, Yahweh.

Listen to the way in which King David praises God for hearing this request:

"How Great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God

but you … And who is like your people Israel - the one nation on earth that God went

out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform

Great & Awesome Wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before the

people, whom you redeemed from Israel? You have established your people Israel as

your people forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God" (2 Samuel 7:22-24).

• We read how: "The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went" (2 Sam 8:18).

After these Great Victories, we read of how Satan sorely tempted David:

• In the Spring, when kings go out to war, David remained in Jerusalem.
• He sent his commander, Joab, out to war to finish off the Ammonites.
• Then, in his folly, David committed adultery with Bathsheeba.
• He compounded his sin by having Uriah, sent to the forefront of the battle (ch 12).
• He was ready to commit murder, to cover up his sin of passion.

Then, David learned that God Sees the Actions & Thoughts of all men & women:

• Nathan told David a story of a rich man who stole the ewe lamb of a poor man,

despite the fact that he had thousands of sheep & cattle of his own.

• David was furious, and said that the man should die for this detestable deed.

Nathan said to David:

"Thou art the man" (2 Sam 12:7).

• The All-Knowing God saw the heart of David when he was full of praise & adoration.
• But, God also saw that same heart when it was full of sinful passion.
• David took great pains to cover up his wickedness,

but the All-Seeing & All-Knowing God, knew all about his sinful heart.

The message of the Lord to David, was the same as that given to Israel through Moses:

"Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

David learned this lesson about the All-Knowing God so well, he could say (Ps 139:1-6).:

"O Lord, you have searched me & you know me. You know when I sit & when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out & my lying down;

David taught this SAME LESSON about the All-Knowing God to his son Solomon:

"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with

wholehearted devotion & with a willing mind, for the Lord searches our heart &

understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by

you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever" (1 Chronicles 28:9-10).

• The secrets of our hearts are like an open book to the Lord.
• He searches the hearts of all men, the hearts of kings & the hearts of their subjects alike.
• When our hearts are full of Praise to God, the Lord sees our hearts.
• When we try to hide our deceitfulness & sinfulness, the Lord still sees our hearts.
• Absolutely nothing escapes the All-Seeing & All-Knowing God!

The wise King Solomon tells us (Proverbs 15:3):

"The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked & the good."

Thomas Watson says:

"The Lord knows all things in & of himself, & he needs no witnesses to inform him."

We must not only obey the Lord in an outward manner.

We must obey the Lord in our hearts, as well as in our actions:

• Remember how the Scribes & Pharisees tried to restrict the commandment concerning murder to the actual deed of murder alone (Matthew 5:21).
• If they refrained from this, they considered that they had kept the commandment.

Jesus disagreed, and said that this commandment had a much wider application.

• The one who is angry with his brother is also in danger of God's judgement (5:22).
• The command goes even further:

John Stott, comments on this passage, saying:

"Now these things - angry thoughts & insulting words - may never lead to the

ultimate act of murder. Yet they are tantamount to murder in God's sight. As John was

later to write: 'Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer' (1 Jn 3:15). Anger & insult

are ugly symptoms of a desire to get rid of somebody who stands in our way. Our

thoughts, looks & words all indicate that, we 'wish you were dead'".

This teaching is based on exactly the same principle the Lord taught to David:

• The Lord looks on the thoughts of the heart as well as on outward actions.

We are considering the All-Knowing Nature of God.

1. God taught the Apostle John & Hannah that he Possesses Infinite Knowledge.
2. God taught Samuel & King David that he Knows our Hearts.
3. God taught his people that he also Knows the Future:

• Jesus told us that his Father sent the Holy Spirit with a particular purpose:

• John, in his Revelation (1:1), says: The Lord God knows "what must soon take place."

The Lord God said through the Prophet Isaiah:

• The Lord God has Known how things will turn out in the world since before time began
• He Knows the Beginning from the End, because it is all part of his Glorious Purpose.

The Lord God Knows the Future of Nations.

The Lord taught this lesson to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon:

• Nebuchadnezzar asked the pagan magicians, enchanters, sorcerers & astrologers to

tell him about the Content & Interpretation of his dream.

• They argued that such a task was too difficult:

"There is not a man on the earth who can do what the king asks" (Daniel 2:10).

But, there was a man, called Daniel, who believed in a God who Knows Everything:

"No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he

has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who Reveals Mysteries. He has shown

King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come" (Daniel 2:27-28).

Nebuchadnezzar saw a vision of the statue of a man.

• Its head was made of gold, its chest & arms of silver, its belly & thighs of bronze,

its legs of iron. Its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

• A rock struck the various parts of the statue until it was completely broken up.
• Then the rock itself became a huge mountain & filled the earth.

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that this was a vision of the Rise & Fall of Great Empires.

• These empires are usually thought to be those of the

Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks & Romans.

However, the main point is that 'God knows what will happen in days to come'.

Nebuchadnezzar said:

"The Great God has shown the king what will take place in the future… Surely your

God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and the Revealer of Mysteries, for you

were able to reveal this mystery" (Daniel 2:45-47).

People often talk about what they will do in the future:

"Tomorrow, I will go to work … Next week I'll go out for a meal.

Next year, I intend to travel the world."

• In reality, we don't really know what will happen to us in the future.
• We are cannot even be absolutely sure what we will do tomorrow.
• Lack of finance, poor health, or even death can soon change our best plans.
• Only the Lord God Knows for sure what will happen in the next millenium.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of a pagan nation, declared:

"I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored.

Then I praised the Most High; I honoured & glorified him who lives forever. His

Dominion is an Eternal Dominion; his Kingdom endures from generation to

generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases

with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his

hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35).

The Psalmist declares (Psalm 47:2-3; 66:7):

"How Awesome is the Lord Most High, the Great King over all the earth!

He subdued nations under us, peoples under his feet … He rules forever by his

Power, his eyes watch the nations - let not the rebellious rise up against him."

The Prophet Isaiah says:

"Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales,

he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust … Before him all the nations are

as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing"(Is 40:15-17).

There are so many Prophesies in God's Word, it would take us years to study them.

• One thing is certain, the Perfect Knowledge of God is exemplified in every prophesy.
• In the Old Testament, scores of predictions concerning the History of Israel were fulfilled in the minutest detail.
• Often the prophesies were fulfilled hundreds of years late, but they are always fulfilled.

Hundreds of prophesies foretold many aspects of the our Lord's earthly ministry.

Time and again we read such phrases as this:

"This is what the prophet has written …

Then what was said through the prophet was fulfilled" (Matthew 2:5 & 17).

• True prophesies can only be given by the One who Knows the End from the Beginning.

• All Prophesy is fulfilled by the One whose Divine Purposes will be fully accomplished.

A W Pink said:

The Lord Knows the Future of Nations: He also Knows the Future of Individuals

• The Lord God has a Personal Knowledge of our lives.
• For example, he Knew before Jeremiah was formed in his mother's womb that he would be a prophet to the Nations (Jeremiah 1:5).
• He Knew before Paul was born that he would preach Christ to the Gentiles(Gal 1:15-16)
• He Knows Everything because everything is part of his Perfect Plan (Ephesians 1:11).

One of the most profound Doctrines of Scripture for every believer,

is the Foreknowledge of God in relation to Salvation:

"He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his

sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in

accordance with the pleasure of his will … He made known to us the mystery of his

will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect

when the times have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on

earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:4-10).

The Plan & Purpose of God with regard to salvation is so certain, Jesus said:

"I give them Eternal Life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of

my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch

them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one" (John 10:28-29).

The All-Knowing God can be absolutely certain that All his Purposes will be fulfilled.

• God's Absolute & Infinite Knowledge is a Great Comfort for all believers.
• The growing Christian should not view this Doctrine as a threat.
• It should challenge us to grow in grace in readyness for Christ's Return.
• It is a great source of comfort & encouragement, as well as a source of warning.