Beyond Me

O LORD, you examine me and know me.

You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;

you are aware of everything I do.

Certainly my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O LORD, being thoroughly aware of it.

You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.

Psalm 139:6 (NET)

We are journeying verse by verse through Psalm 139. To read last week’s reflection, click here.

I am writing this from above the clouds right now, so far beyond the surface of the earth that the temperature is minus 71 degrees Fahrenheit. We are somewhere over Eritrea, if the moving globe map on the seatback in front of me is accurate. I can comprehend these things because the mind of humankind is powerful. Our body of knowledge is on a grand scale. God has allowed the minds He made in His image to do exploits.

I remember the day over 25 years ago in Kenya when we said goodbye to the family that had adopted us and given us a home for two years in their small village. The chief elder asked us how long the journey back to our American family would take. My husband drew a globe in the sand, tracing a path from Kenya to the USA as he explained we would take an airplane for many hours. The old man shook his head and, after awhile said, “Can you not afford a matatu? It would be so much faster.” Matatus are the traditional vans Kenyans use to travel, often packed to the brim with animals, people, and every kind of luggage. I once rode in one whose axles were tied together with ropes. The farthest our respected father had traveled was two hours north by matatu to strike a bargain for new goats. He couldn’t comprehend the distance we were about to journey across continents and oceans to see our parents again. He offered the best solution he had.

Today, from remote Kenyan villages to the mountains of Tibet, humans are oriented to the size of Earth. Our understanding is outpacing our experience, but we can comprehend knowledge far beyond the small circle we call home. If our wizened village elder were alive today, he would probably have access to the internet and the world it brings to the bush, thanks to car batteries that make charging phones possible.

The things we cannot comprehend are growing fewer by the minute.

But there is One whose knowledge we neither comprehend nor fathom, One whose understanding is so far beyond us it makes the 37,977 feet I’m flying at right now seem like the air between my fingers when I press them together.

I find it a relief that He knows. He knows, He knows, He knows! And all will be well, because He knows.

The Lord knows you and me, and He loves us.

Knowing that, I can face a world in which knowledge is expanding exponentially every day, ironically causing a reduction in true knowledge. When’s the last time you drove to a new place without a GPS? Followed a delicious recipe without Pinterest? Designed a website without poring over digital color palettes? Fixed something without consulting a YouTube video?

As we grow in knowledge, we are shrinking. What a terrifying thought it is to consider humanity stripped of digital access to understanding. How big or small would what we actually know be? What measure of confidence would we have in the absence of instant answers?

Yet God, who knows us completely, whose #knowledge is beyond our comprehension, reigns. #comfort Share on X

He has examined us and knows us. He is aware of everything we do. There is nothing the Lord does not know. He is the fullness of all knowledge, and a healthy respect for this unfathomable fact is the beginning of wisdom. *add link

May we grow in wisdom, even as knowledge overtakes the world.

Lord, thank You for knowing more than I can comprehend. What a comfort to trust You. Amen.

@audreycfrank

Photo by Caleb Minear on Unsplash