God Knows It All

Scripture — Psalm 38:9 (NRSV)

O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.

Devotion

Have you ever worked so hard and so long that you made yourself sick? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your colleagues and even your friends at work were avoiding you, perhaps even whispering behind your back? If so, then you can relate to Psalm 38.

This psalm was written in a time of deep anguish and exhaustion. David was physically ill. He believed that his suffering was a result of his own sinful choices (38:3). His friends and companions were avoiding him (38:11). Moreover, his enemies were making plans to destroy him (38:12). In desperation, he cried out to God for help, thus composing the prayer we know as Psalm 38.

In the center of this prayer, David says, “O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you” (38:9). David has laid himself bare before God. He has opened his heart, sharing every desire and every discouragement. He has hidden nothing from the Lord, aware that God sees everything.

How do you respond to the idea that God knows all your longing? This includes the good and godly longings and the not-so-good and not-so-godly longings. God knows and sees it all, everything about you. This truth is expressed in more detail in Psalm 139:1-4:

O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O LORD, you know it completely.

How do you respond to the fact that God knows everything about you, including all your longing?  When I consider this truth, at first I feel reassured. How good it is to remember that God knows everything I desire. But then I am caught up short. I am well aware that some of my desires are selfish and sinful. I’d rather keep these secret, or at least that’s my initial thought. I’m not so sure I want God to know all my longing.

But then, as I reflect more deeply, I am once again reassured. God knows even my evil desires, yet God still loves me. God knows how easily I can seek after my own good and glory, yet my King still has called me into the work of the kingdom. The fact that God knows every longing of my heart gives me the freedom to be myself before the Lord. I don’t have to pretend when I pray. I don’t have to phrase my confession so it doesn’t sound too bad. Rather, I can freely reveal all that I am, confident that God’s acceptance of me is not predicated on my goodness, but on God’s amazing grace.

In the season of Lent, we are encouraged to take seriously the complexities and difficulties of life. Yet we are not alone in this process. Yes, we have support from other people and that’s reassuring.  But, most importantly, God is with us and God is for us. Thus, in the complexities of life, when we confront suffering or opposition from others and, sometimes, the evil of our own hearts, we don’t have to hold back with God. We can tell our Lord everything: our fears and dreams, our joys and sorrows, our victories and failures. In the end, God will come to help us because, as David says in the final line of Psalm 38, our Lord is our salvation (38:22). In Lent we prepare our hearts for celebrating that salvation that is ours through the cross and resurrection of Christ.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Has My Sin Made Me Sick?.