Then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men.
— 1 Kings 8:39
After Solomon finished building the Temple of God, he made a prayer to God — pleading that whoever comes to pray with respect to the Temple, the Lord would hear from heaven, which Solomon calls His dwelling place, and that He would forgive and render to each according to his ways.
It is at this point that Solomon highlights a truth worth meditating upon carefully. Solomon declares that God knows the heart of men — and then doubles down by explicitly stating that God alone knows the hearts of all the sons of men.
The Exclusivity and Extent of God’s Omniscience
Solomon first points out the exclusivity of God’s knowledge — that in all the universe, in all of the created order, across all of time, God alone is the one who knows what is in the hearts of men. But more than that, he also highlights the extent of God’s omniscience. God does not merely know the hearts of some people, or of a specific people group, or of people from a particular era. Rather, this God to whom Solomon is praying knows what is in the hearts of all men — without exception and without distinction.
Such is the God we worship. He is a God who knows exactly what is in the heart of every person. We see this reflected in the Gospel of John chapter 2, when John writes that Jesus did not entrust Himself to men because He knew what was in the heart of men.
The psalmist tells us in Psalm 139 that God already knows the thoughts in our minds before we even think them. The author of Hebrews reminds us that:
The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
— Hebrews 4:12
God’s omniscience is something we cannot fully comprehend, because as human beings we are so limited and finite in our knowledge. Our knowledge is confined by time — there are things we knew in the past, things we know now, and things we are yet to know because we have not yet entered the future. Our knowledge is not only limited by time but also by capacity. We can only perceive and process so much of the world around us.
There are things, for example, that are always limited to our sense perception — when we look at someone, we try to guess what might be going on in their mind based on what they are doing, saying, or how they appear. This is an extremely limited form of knowledge. Because of our fallen state, we find it very difficult to either relate to God or even begin to perceive His majesty. Here is a Being who knows everything — past, present, and future, large and small, minute and magnanimous. How would we even begin to process something like that?
A Terrifying Thought — For Some
This can be a terrifying thing to consider — that there is Someone who knows exactly what is in our hearts. The unregenerate person, the unbeliever, the one who is still dead in their sins, fails to process this truth and ends up suppressing it by trying to ignore the presence of God altogether. We see this in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
— Romans 1:18
The utter foolishness of this response is addressed just a few verses later, when Paul writes that professing to be wise, they became fools.
For the unbeliever, the idea that God knows their heart — knows everything they are thinking, planning, and have ever done — is indeed a terrifying thought.
A Comforting Thought — For the Believer
However, for the person who prays to God as Solomon describes — the one who has recognized their utter weakness and helplessness, who has understood that they cannot approach God on the basis of their own righteousness, and who has come to see their need for someone far more righteous than themselves — someone upon whom all their sin can be placed, and from whom a full and perfect righteousness can be received — for that person, the omniscience of God is a profoundly comforting truth.
These are the people who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, such that all their sin is imputed to Christ and punished on the cross, and all of Christ’s righteousness is imputed to them — so that when God looks from heaven, He sees them clothed in the full righteousness of Christ because of Christ’s finished work. For these people, the fact that God knows all things is not a cause for fear but for great comfort.
This is because the believer has nothing to hide from God. This is what the psalmist reflects upon in Psalm 139 — where shall I go from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I descend to Sheol, You are there also.
For the believer, God’s omniscience is not a terrifying thought — it is a comforting one. Here is a God who fully understands and knows everything about us. All our thoughts lie bare and naked before Him, and yet He still receives us in Christ.
In 1 John 3:20, John addresses the issue of a troubled conscience — that even when believers fall into sin and their hearts condemn them, what they must remember is that God is greater than their hearts, and that God knows all:
In whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
— 1 John 3:20
Meditating on God’s Omniscience
As we meditate upon the omniscience of God, may we not find reason to run from Him in fear. Instead, having placed our faith in Christ and trusted in Him for our full salvation, may we find the boldness and confidence to approach the throne of grace and ask for grace and mercy in our times of need.
For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.
— Psalm 139:13-14
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