Omniscience in the Bible

Omniscience is the perfection by which God knows all things completely and at once: the past, the present, the future, the actual, and the possible. His knowledge is not gathered by observation or inference, as ours is, but flows from his own infinite mind. Scripture portrays this knowledge as exhaustive and intimately personal. David marvels, You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar (Psalm 139:2), and adds, Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether (Psalm 139:4). The psalmist also ties God's knowledge to his greatness: Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure (Psalm 147:5). Because God's understanding is infinite, nothing surprises him and nothing escapes him. This is supremely displayed in his knowledge of the future. Through Isaiah he declares, I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done (Isaiah 46:10). God knows the future because he sovereignly ordains it. Jesus brought this attribute down to the smallest details of our lives, assuring his disciples that even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30). The God who counts the stars also counts our hairs; nothing is too small for his notice. The writer of Hebrews adds a sobering note: no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13). Finally, God's omniscience comforts the troubled conscience. John writes that whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything (1 John 3:20). The same knowledge that exposes our sin also assures us that God understands us fully and loves us still. For the believer, omniscience means we are completely known and completely loved by the God who sees all.