“Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed." (1 Samuel 2:3 NIV)
"I know her."
"I know that family."
"I know how to do that."
"I know where that is."
I "know" these people and things...by which I mean I am aware of their existence or have some general knowledge or familiarity with them.
But the God Who Knows does so in a way that is all and only His. He knows us intimately, inside-out. He knows fully. He knows without error or absence of information. He knows the beginning and the end and every mark along the way.
In the face of so much we don't know in this life, what God does know should comfort us like nothing else.
He knows the plans He has for us...and they are good: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope ' " (Jeremiah 29:11).
He knows how we are formed...and loves us: "For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is" (Psalm 103:14, 17a).
He knows the way we take...and refines us through it: "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).
He knows our hearts...and leads us in the way everlasting: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23,24).
He knows us, His sheep...and lays down His life for us: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:14,15).
Look at the reciprocal knowing of John 10:14. It is not just the Shepherd who knows His sheep but His sheep who know Him! The sheep have deep familiarity, knowledge, and trust born out of that knowledge for the Shepherd, just as He has for them. This, dear friends, is our goal: to know the Shepherd who knows us. And then to be able to make our own declaration of knowing, just as Job did (19:25): "I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth."
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!