Ps. 40:5  Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:  If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

    Hear the passion in David’s words as he calls out to God with amazement that God’s thoughts are toward his children.  Did David ponder these words as he sat beneath the stars with his contented sheep resting in peaceful sleep?  Or perhaps he has just come in from a victory in the battlefield; or is he sitting down to lunch with his family when a sweep of emotion comes over him.  At another time the same rush of emotion comes to him and he puts words to the wonder that God is deeply involved in the lives of his people. “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.  From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.  He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works” (Ps. 33:13-15).  The passion mounts in Ps. 139:2-6.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.   Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.  . . . How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Lord, this knowledge is just too much!  Who would believe it!

    Job expresses the same realization of God’s thoughts toward him, “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?  For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings” (Job 31:4: 34:21). 

    The wisest of all men, King Solomon, also declares that God sees and knows the ways of all men.  “For,” he says, “the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings” (Prov. 5:21).

….We can only glorify and enjoy God in the dimensions in which we know Him.  The person who knows God as Creator of all nature, can glorify Him and enjoy His creation, but have no concept of a personal Holy Spirit who abides with him and desires to communicate with him as a friend and guide. …

….There are many who know Jesus as their Redeemer. That, I suppose, is most important but He also wants to be known as the Source for all our needs….

Yes, God knows the very thoughts and intents of our heart.  He longs to hold us close, as Jesus expressed in the analogy of a hen and chickens (Matt. 23:37), “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”  Hear the voice of God as he appeals to His children to draw closer!  Draw close enough to hear the beat of His heart, to feel the heat of his love, to smell the aroma of his presence and to touch the breast that breathes life anew. 

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I am publishing parts of my manuscript, “To Know His Name,” as a page. I will be posting excerpts from it as blog posts. If you would like footnoting and are interested in further reading on the topic, you can go to my “Home” and click on the page name, top index. This post is from the Introduction.