Psalm 147:2-6
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
What does it mean that God is omniscient? It means that God knows all! Here is how Psalm 147:2 through 6 describes it:
The LORD...heals the brokenhearted and binds up their
wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls
them all by name. Great is our LORD, and mighty in
power; His understanding is infinite. The LORD lifts
up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
Let’s take this Scripture phrase by phrase. But I will not take the phrases in order, for we will establish God’s omniscience first, and then apply it – all according to what these verses say.
- Psalm 147:4 – “…He counts the number of the stars….” The idea is, God counts exactly the number of stars! How many stars are there in the universe? According to the website, scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3775#:~:text= The%20number%20of%20stars%20in,stars%20in%20the%20 observable%20 universe!
Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has approximately 100 bil-
lion stars in it, but...There are about 10 billion
galaxies in the observable universe! The number of
stars in a galaxy varies, but assuming an average of
100 billion stars per galaxy means that there are
about 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000 (that’s 1 bil-
lion trillion) stars in the observable universe!...
This amount is about equal to the number of grains
of sand on ALL of the beaches on planet Earth!
And that is in the observable universe! We can probe into space with telescopes about 13.7 billion light years! How many stars, how many galaxies are beyond what we can probe is anyone’s guess!
God is omniscient!
- Psalm 147:4 – “…He calls them all by name.” “Jim, Harry, Scott, Mildred, Sally, Patricia, Starlette (that one fits!)…” and on and on, every star is named! There aren’t that many names to go around, are there? But God does it, naming every one…..and remembering every name! He must have one stupendous mind!
God is omniscient!
- Psalm 147:5 – “Great is our LORD….” His greatness is beyond description! But I will try to give a few Biblical examples. Here are twelve Scriptures:
✡ Deuteronomy 10:17 – “For the LORD your God is
God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God,
mighty and awesome....”
✡ I Samuel 7:22 – “...You are great, O LORD God,
for there is none like You, nor is there any
God besides You....”
✡ Nehemiah 9:32 – “...our God, the great, the
mighty, and awesome God....”
✡ Psalm 47:2 – “...the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.”
✡ Psalm 95:3 – “...the LORD is the great God, and
the great King above all gods.”
✡ Psalm 147:5 – “Great is our LORD, and mighty
in power; His understanding is infinite.”
✡ Jeremiah 10:6, 7 – “...there is none like You,
O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great
in might). Who would not fear You, O King of
the nations?”
✡ Jeremiah 32:18 – “...the Great, the Mighty God,
whose name is the LORD of hosts.”
✡ Malachi 1:11 – “...from the rising of the sun,
even to its going down...My name shall be great
among the nations....”
✞ Luke 1:32, 33 – “He will be great, and will be
called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God
And He will reign over the house of David for-
ever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
✞ Hebrews 4:14 – “...we have a great High Priest
...Jesus the Son of God....”
✞ Revelation 15:3 – “Great and marvelous are Your
works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your
ways, O King of saints!
God is omniscient!
- Psalm 147:5 – “…our LORD…is…mighty in power….”
✡ Toward the beginning of this Gem it says “...He
counts the number of the stars....” But He also
created them in the first place! Here is what
is written in Isaiah 40:26: (New American Stan-
dard Bible).
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has
created these stars, The One who leads forth
their host by number, He calls them all by
name; because of the greatness of His might
and the strength of His power, not one of
them is missing.
✡ According to Genesis 1:3, “Then God said...” and
whatever He said came to be! So by His Word all
creation came into being!
✡ Jeremiah 32:27 – “Behold, I am the LORD, the God
of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for
Me?”
✡ Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have
made the heavens and the earth by your power
and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard
for You.”
✞ It is by His Word that God created everything!
What (or who) is His Word? According to John
1:1 and 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God....
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us
....” The Word is Jesus Christ! Now what does
it say about God’s power through the Word, His
Son Jesus Christ?
➔ John 1:3 – “All things were made by Him,
and without Him nothing was made that was
made.”
➔ Colossians 1:16, 17 – “For by Him all
things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth...all things were
created through Him and for Him. And
He is before all things, and in Him all
things consist.”
➔ Hebrews 1:1-3 – “God...has appointed...
His Son...heir of all things, through
whom He made the worlds; who...[is] up-
holding all things by the word of His
power....”
God is omniscient!
- Psalm 147:5 – “…His understanding is infinite.” So great is God’s understanding that we are told in Proverbs 3:19, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.” Here are two other Old Testament Scriptures that speak of the LORD’s understanding:
✡ Isaiah 40:28 (International Standard Version)
– “The LORD is the eternal God, the Creator of
the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired
or weary; and His understanding cannot be
fathomed.”
✡ Jeremiah 51:15 – God “...made the earth by His
power; He has established the world by His
wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His
understanding.”
What does it mean for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? He understands us completely!
✡ Psalm 139 is worth a close reading. Here are
some portions:
➔ Verses 1through 4 – “LORD, You have
searched me and known me. You know my
sitting down and my rising up; You un-
derstand my thoughts afar off. You
comprehend my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
but behold, O LORD, You know it alto-
gether.”
➔ Verses 7 through 12 (International Stan-
dard Version) – “Where can I flee from
Your spirit? Or where will I run from
Your presence? If I rise to heaven, there
You are! If I lay down with the dead,
there You are! If I take wings with the
dawn and settle down on the western hori-
zon Your hand will guide me there, too,
while Your right hand keeps a firm grip
on me. If I say, ‘Darkness will surely
conceal me, and the light around me will
become night,’ even darkness isn't dark
to You, darkness and light are the same
to You.”
➔ Verses 13 through 16 – “For You have formed
my inward parts; You have covered me in my
mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous
are Your works, and that my soul knows very
well. My frame was not hidden from You when
I was made in secret....Your eyes saw my
substance, being yet unformed. And in Your
book they were all written, when as yet
there were none of them.”
✞ The Bible sums it up in John 2:24 and 25: “...
Jesus...knew all men, and had no need that any-
one should testify of man, for He knew what was
in man.”
✞ In Matthew 6:31 through 33, the Lord Jesus fin-
ished His discourse on worry and faith this way:
Therefore do not worry, saying, “What
shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”
or “What shall we wear?” [or anything
else we might worry about!] For after
all these things the...[unbelievers]
seek. For your Heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things. But
seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you. (emphasis mine).
✞ The Lord even knows how many hairs are on your
head (and that number is always changing)! (see
Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7).
God is omniscient!
- Psalm 147:6 – “The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.” He does this with perfection and without mistake because, as it says in John 2:24 and 25, “…Jesus…knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” Here are some other Scriptures about God’s perfect knowledge and judgment:
✡ Psalm 7:9 – “...the righteous God tests the
hearts and minds.”
✡ Jeremiah 17:10 – “I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind, even to give every man accord-
ing to his ways, and according to the fruit of
his doings.”
✞ Romans 2:16 – “...God will judge the secrets of
men by Jesus Christ....”
I want to be among those whom He lifts up!
God is omniscient!
We need to get to the first part of our featured Scripture, for this is the most personal part! We have spent a good deal of time showing God’s omniscience. Now, let’s apply it!
- Psalm 147:2 – “The LORD…heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
✞ In Luke 4:18, Jesus read from the scroll of
Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue, quoting
Isaiah 61:1:
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, be-
cause He has anointed Me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to
heal The brokenhearted, to preach deliv-
erance to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty
those who are oppressed, to preach the
acceptable year of the LORD.
This is the summary of why the Son of God was incar-
nated into human flesh! He came to “...heal the bro-
kenhearted and bind up their wounds...”!
✞ In order to do that, Jesus (God come in the
flesh) has to know by omniscience...
➔ ...who is brokenhearted and wounded!
➔ ...in what way they are brokenhearted
and wounded!
➔ ...what is the best ‘divine medicine’
for those broken hearts and open wounds!
➔ ...how to best apply that ‘divine med-
icine’ for the quickest healing!
✞ By the way, everyone’s broken heart and wound-
ed life is the damage caused by sin! That’s why
Paul wrote in I Timothy 1:15, “...Jesus came
into the world to save sinners....”
➔ So ask Jesus to be your Savior! No
fancy prayer is needed. The shortest
prayer in the Bible is fine! When
Peter started sinking after he took a
few steps on the water of the Sea of
Galilee (see Matthew 14:24-29), “...
he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’
And immediately Jesus stretched out
His hand and caught him.” (Matthew
14:30, 31). Jesus will stretch out His
hand and catch you, too! Just cry out
to Him!
➔ Make Him Lord of your life also!
➣ Read His Word, the Bible, and
obey His leading!
➣ Ask Jesus to teach you to pray!
➣ Join a good Bible teaching
church!
➣ Give of yourself, your time,
your effort, your money!
➣ Share with others what Jesus
has done (is doing) for you!
Remember what the Lord said in John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.“
God is omniscient!