Omniscience and Sovereignty
Psalm 33v13-15
23rd August 2024
We continue our study of Psalm 33.
Psalm 33v13-15
From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth -
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
I find it very comforting that God sees everything. God is omnipotent - all powerful - and therefore can plan everything, as we've seen. He’s also omniscient – He can observe everything. When you’ve been deeply hurt or disappointed, you may sometimes feel like praying, "Oh Lord, did you see what that person did?" The answer is always "Yes". Nothing escapes God's notice. Nothing happens behind His back. He never sleeps. No-one ever deceives God, or outflanks God, or cons God.
On the other hand, it’s sometimes a bit uncomfortable to know that His eyes are on me all the time, especially when I let Him down.
Proverbs 5v21
A man's ways are in full view of the Lord,
And he examines all his paths.
And God doesn’t only see what people do; He knows what we think. Another Psalm says:
Psalm 139v4
Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord.
God isn't surprised by what we say and do. He’s the one who forms the hearts of all. He formed us in our mothers' wombs (Psalm 139v13) and He continues to form us. He's certainly changed my heart. I love Jesus. I didn’t used to. I love Jesus because God worked in my heart to cause me to love Him. Over time, He is changing me so that I love Him more and more, and so that I increasingly love righteousness and hate wickedness. Thank God!
God forms the hearts of every human, not just the Christians. Exodus 9v12 tells us that Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses and Aaron and allow the Israelites to leave Egypt because "the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart". Thus we begin to understand that we are chosen by God, and other people are not. As God said to Moses in Exodus 33v19, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Paul quotes this in:
Romans 9v15-16
... He [God] says to Moses, ""I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.
And he later says:
Romans 9v18
Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he
wants to harden".
God has decided what He’s going to do, and who for. How blessed we are that God chose to have mercy on us! What grace we have received, that we really didn't deserve! As we read in Psalm 33v12, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord".
And, as we said before, God works with our free will to achieve His purposes. He can do this because He's omnipotent and omniscient. He can do anything He chooses to do, and He knows everything, including the state of our hearts, better than we know our own. He knows what we want, and what we will choose in any set of circumstances, better than we do. He knows exactly what we're thinking, what we desire, and what we will choose to do. He knows exactly what it would take for us to think differently, to want different things and to make different choices, and He does what is necessary to achieve His purposes through our free will:
Philippians 2v13
... it is God who is at work in you to will and to act according to his good
pleasure.
Some will complain that God actively working with our free will, forming us so we will make choices in accordance with His eternal plan, somehow detracts from our free will. But we all affect each other's choices all the time. You may have been about to drink water before I offered you a glass of champagne, you may have intended to eat the last chocolate, but I got there first. God doesn't force us to do things, but He influences us, as we influence each other. He's just better at it.
Aren't you glad God is forming your heart? Don't you want to think the way God thinks? Don't you want to desire what God wants you to desire? Don't you want to do what God wants you to do?
All this is for our benefit and through His sovereign choice. It is one aspect of His grace and mercy towards us.