God Knows ALL!!

Now, it’s time to go back to where I was! A few weeks ago I started in Proverbs, planning to do a series. Then I came to verse 7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Here’s what I said about it:

“Part of fearing and reverencing God is knowing and acknowledging that God, as our Creator, knows it all, and that our puny thinking and understanding is very limited.” (Click here to read the whole article, “What Does It Mean to Fear God?“.)

Then the next part is surrending to the God Who know and to His mercy. “If we don’t have His mercy, we have His wrath.” We’ve certainly seen that in the past few entries, about those who’d hardened their hearts.

Well, so far we’ve looked at:

• how God knows our hearts and it’s intentions;
• how He sees and knows the affliction of His people;
• how He knows the heart of the wicked (which took me on a detoured study about hard heartedness.)

This all brings me back to a verse I quoted earlier, and which is the next one as I follow this topic through the Bible.

“Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.”

This is part of a prayer that Hannah prayed when she offered her only son, Samuel, to God. And he ministered with Eli in the temple. (Read chapter 1 to find out the backgroud.) But as I read the WHOLE prayer, I was surprised to find that it sums up all I’ve been saying so far. Here it is in the New Living Translation:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
The Lord has made me strong.
Now I have an answer for my enemies;
I rejoice because you rescued me.
No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.

“Stop acting so proud and haughty!
Don’t speak with such arrogance!
For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done;
he will judge your actions.
The bow of the mighty is now broken,
and those who stumbled are now strong.
Those who were well fed are now starving,
and those who were starving are now full.
The childless woman now has seven children,
and the woman with many children wastes away.
The Lord gives both death and life;
he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.
The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up.
He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s,
and he has set the world in order.

“He will protect his faithful ones,
but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
the Lord judges throughout the earth.
He gives power to his king;
he increases the strength of his anointed one.”
(1 Samuel 2:1-10)

Hannah had at last come out of her humiliation, and God had raised her up to be the mother of a mighty prophet in Israel.

And regarding the wicked, we’ve seen that pride and arrogance, and the lack of reverence and fear of God, seem to go hand in hand. So may I conclude that pride is the root cause of rebellion against God? Also pride is the majoy thing that stops us receiving God’s blessings and His best.

But, praise the Lord, that even in our pride, God is still gracious and merciful, but in a different way. He will leave us to our own resouces so that pride can do its work in us. He will allow it to bring us to the end of ourselves and to our knees, where we cry out, “HELP!!!” Didn’t we see that so often with Israel?

He allows circumstances to bring us to down to a point, where He breaks our stubbornness. To a point where we are in a position where He CAN bless us.

Here’s some more Scriptures:

“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18, NLT)

“You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.
“Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, ‘The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?’
“But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
“So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.
“Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].
“[As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].
“Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. (James 4:4-10, Amp.)

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. But you would not, and you said, ‘No! We will speed [our own course] on horses!’
“Therefore you will speed [in flight from your enemies]! You said, We will ride upon swift steeds [doing our own way]! Therefore will they who pursue you be swift, [so swift that] one thousand of you will flee at the threat of one of them; at the threat of five you will flee till you are left like a beacon or a flagpole on the top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill.
“And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!” (Isaiah 30:15-18, Amp.)

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.”
(Psalm 119:71-72)

“I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” (v75)

“Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life.
I am Yours, save me;
For I have sought Your precepts.” (v. 92-94)