I remember reading a story about a small-town prosecuting attorney. When he called his first witness to the stand in a trial, who was a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, “Mrs. Jones, do you know me?”
She responded, “Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I have known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you are a rising big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.”
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, “Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?”
She again replied, “Why, yes, I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He is lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can’t build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him.”
At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, “If either of you asks her if she knows me, you will be jailed for contempt!”
This story reminds me of King David’s story. He learned the truth that God fully knows us the hard way.
But his repentant acknowledgement of God’s fully knowing him, is what made him the great servant-leader that he was. And in response to the truth that God knows him fully and perfectly, he wrote a song of thankful praise. It is Psalm 139, a favorite of mine.
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. Your hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:1-6).
Yes, God knows our every word spoken and every action done. And he also knows what is behind our words and actions. He sees through our masks and behind our self-justifications and self-deceptions, manipulating people and events for our own advantage, desires, and lusts.
It is overwhelming for me to think that God would know me as He does, that God would be as involved in the specifics of my daily living as He is. And so I say with David, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand.” (v.6).Yes, God knows us thoroughly and completely, and yet, He dearly loves us.
In his book Experiencing God, Henry T. Blackaby writes, “God is far more interested in a love relationship with you then He is in what you can do for Him.”
Sadly, such ‘love relationship’ is the road less traveled by many Christians. We more often tend to relate to God with our hands, that is, by what we do for Him, rather than relating to Him with our heart.
Some of the most profound teaching in the whole Bible is found in the 4th chapter of John’s first letter. It contains the whole theology of John’s understanding of God as he writes to instruct the early Christians.
In verse 8 of this chapter, John tells us that “God is love.” Those three little words get to the heart of what John believed about God. They tell us that God is pure self-giving love. God cares. Indeed, God cares deeply about you and me.
That is the reality John points to when he writes in verse 9 that “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.” And in verse 10 he adds, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” AND NOTHING WE CAN EVER DO WILL STOP GOD FROM LOVING US.
David concludes his prayer of praise with, “When I awake, I am still with you.” David takes comfort in being able to rely on God’s safekeeping, fearlessly falling asleep in the presence of God and joyfully waking up in the presence of God. And so can we!
For King David, God’s fully knowing of his inner self, gave him comfort and security, and a reason to stand in worshipful awe and praise God. What about us? Does the truth that God fully knows you, frighten or comfort you?
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 15, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
Comments on: "God Fully Knows Us" (1)
Very good Ray; I enjoyed reading that one. I feel so blessed, God knows me!
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