“Behold, God is great, and we know him not,
neither can the number of his years be searched out.”
(Job 36:26)
Scripture repeatedly declares God to be great, and not just great among others, but great without comparison. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not” recognizes that God’s being exceeds the depth and breadth of our understanding. Even when He is truly known, He remains infinitely beyond our full comprehension.[1]
His greatness is described as unsearchable. His years cannot be numbered. His understanding has no boundary. He surpasses heaven above and the depths beneath because heaven does not hold Him, and the abyss does not escape Him. The vastness of creation cannot contain His presence nor diminish His rule. The greatest powers known to human history are nothing before Him.
God is infinite in every aspect of His being—His holiness, His wisdom, His power, His purity, His perfection, His goodness. And yet His infinity must be carefully understood. It does not mean unfinished, as though He were still becoming. It does not mean indefinite, as though His limits were merely unknown. It does not mean potentially infinite, as though He was capable of endless increase.
Because God is infinite positively, actually, and fully. He possesses every perfection that can exist, and He possesses it without limit. Moreover, His infinity applies both to His essence and to His attributes. His presence fills all places. His duration spans all ages. His power knows no restraint. His wisdom cannot be exhausted. His righteousness, goodness, grace, and mercy do not diminish over time.
And yet this truth does not flatten God into an abstract being. Rather, it lifts Him beyond the reach of reduction. The God who reveals Himself is the God who exceeds what He reveals. Which means to know Him is to confess that He is greater than what is known and can be known. This is where faith rests, gratitude grows, and worship deepens. God is great. And in His greatness He has made a way for us to know Him truly, though never fully.
Contemplations:
- Knowing without mastering. I’m often tempted to treat knowledge of God as something I can carefully study and even potentially master. But this verse breaks that illusion. Because God is great, I cannot know Him fully. And yet by faith I can know Him truly without ever knowing Him completely.
- The comfort of God’s unsearchable years. I measure life by years and seasons. I worry about time passing, time wasted, time running out. But God is not pressed by time nor threatened by change. That truth gives me room to breathe because even though my life is short, it rests in One who is eternal. I am grateful that my hope is anchored in One whose years do not fade and whose purposes do not expire.
- God alone without limits. I often assign limits to God without realizing it. I assume His patience might run thin, His mercy might wear down, or that His power might be restrained by circumstances. But this contemplation reminds me that God is not like me. He is infinite in essence and in every perfection. I am so thankful that nothing exhausts Him and nothing escapes Him.
- The proper response to infinity. God’s greatness does not crush me, it supports me. I give thanks that the One who is beyond measure has chosen to make Himself known, to speak, to promise, and to save. He is infinitely great, and still He has not hidden Himself from those who seek Him.
Prayer (Thanksgiving)
Great and immeasurable God, I give thanks that You are not confined by my thoughts or limited by my understanding. You are great, and even when I know You truly, You remain beyond my reach.
I thank You for revealing Yourself without diminishing Yourself. You have spoken clearly, and yet You remain glorious beyond what I can ever imagine. Your years cannot be counted. Your being does not fade. I praise You that time does not weaken You and change does not touch You. When my days feel rushed and my strength runs out, You remain the same. I give thanks that my life is held within a greatness that does not fail.
I thank You that You alone are infinite. No rival stands beside You. No power competes with You. All things are bounded, measured, and limited, but You are not. I praise You that creation itself points beyond itself to You, and that every lack I see in myself reminds me of Your fullness. I am grateful that You lose nothing when You show mercy and that Your grace does not run out when it is poured out.
You are great, yet You hear. You are unsearchable, yet You speak. You are beyond measure, yet You draw near. I praise You for wisdom that cannot be exhausted, power that cannot be restrained, and mercy that cannot be depleted.
Let my thanks grow from knowing that You are greater than I can imagine and still good beyond what I expect. Hold my heart in reverence and my hope in Your unbounded being. I give You thanks because You are God, and there is no other.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References for Job 36:26:
Job 11:7; Psalm 90:2; 1 Cor. 13:12; Deut. 33:27
[1] Petrus van Mastricht, Faith in the Triune God, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Todd M. Rester and Michael T. Spangler, vol. 2, Theoretical-Practical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2019), 182–185.
