“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding.”
(Isaiah 40:28)
God is an infinite Spirit, and therefore His knowledge is as incomprehensible as His being. Created minds possess understanding only in a limited measure, but God possesses knowledge without measure. There is no searching of His understanding because there is no boundary to it. He never discovers something previously unknown, never learns from another, never reasons His way from ignorance to knowledge, and never depends on a counselor. His knowledge belongs necessarily and eternally to who He is.
Man possesses a rational spirit and therefore is above the creatures governed only by their five senses. And yet human thought is constrained by weakness, physical limitation, distraction, and dependence on things learned through experience. God, by contrast, is pure Spirit and possesses knowledge perfectly, immediately, and without any of the limitations belonging to His creatures.[1]
This distinction should shift the mind from reasonable and temporary things toward spiritual realities. Fallen man is naturally absorbed with what can be seen, touched, possessed, and presently enjoyed. But Christ gives spiritual sight that allows us to see such realities as sin, wrath, judgment, heaven, and God Himself. Spiritual understanding enlarges as the mind learns to consider what lies beyond our present context.
Yet even the most spiritually minded believer remains infinitely beneath the understanding of God. “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?” No one supplied God with wisdom concerning creation, providence, redemption, judgment, or any other work. All generations are known to Him. All His works are known from the beginning. He surveys the whole of reality without confusion, omission, uncertainty, or error.
His infinite understanding is joined to His continual presence. He knows the believer’s down-sitting and uprising, understands thoughts afar off, and is acquainted with every way. Secret thoughts are no more hidden from Him than public actions. What conscience knows imperfectly about itself, God knows perfectly. No inner motive, inclination, imagination, or intention escapes His searching knowledge.
God is infinitely above every creature. He never tires, never overlooks, never misjudges. None can escape His presence, and none can flee beyond His rule. The everlasting God remains the all-knowing, all-seeing Lord whose understanding cannot be searched out.
Contemplations:
- Your Understanding Has No Horizon. I adore You because there is no boundary beyond which Your knowledge cannot reach. Nothing surprises You. Nothing develops outside Your awareness. Nothing forces You to revise what You knew before. My understanding is partial, slow, and dependent, but Yours is perfect and immediate. Let this humble me whenever I am tempted to judge Your ways by the narrowness of my own sight. You know infinitely more than I can know, and You know it without weakness or uncertainty.
- You Know What Is Hidden Even from Others. My outward actions may be visible, but my thoughts, motives, fears, desires, and secret imaginations are open before You. You know the worst parts of me without exaggeration and the truest parts without misunderstanding. Make me willing to live consciously before Your eye rather than carefully before the eyes of men.
- Lift My Mind Above What I Can See. I can easily become absorbed with what is immediate, visible, and material. Yet You have made spiritual realities known and call me to think on what cannot be seen with natural eyes. Raise my mind toward holiness, judgment, heaven, and communion with You. Let the unseen become more important to me than the temporary things that constantly demand my attention.
- Your Delay Is Never Forgetfulness. When judgment seems delayed, You have not lost sight of the sinner. When mercy waits, You have not become indifferent. No one can escape Your presence or dominion. You may spare as long as You please because nothing can finally evade You. Let this deepen both my reverence and my confidence in the perfection of Your government.
Prayer (Adoration):
Everlasting God, I adore You as the infinite and all-knowing Spirit whose understanding cannot be searched out.
You do not learn, discover, forget, or depend upon counsel. No creature has ever instructed You. All Your works are known to You from the beginning, and every generation lies open before Your sight.
I worship You for knowledge without limit. My thoughts are narrow, my understanding partial, and my judgments often mistaken, but there is no uncertainty in You. You know every cause, every consequence, every motive, and every end perfectly.
Let the greatness of Your understanding humble me. Keep me from measuring Your wisdom by what I can presently comprehend. When Your providence exceeds my reasoning, make me remember that the defect lies in my sight, not in Your knowledge.
I adore You also because nothing within me is hidden from You. You know my thoughts afar off. You are acquainted with all my ways. Let the awareness of Your presence restrain careless thoughts, foolish words, and sinful actions.
Draw my thoughts toward eternal realities and make me more serious about what cannot be seen but will never pass away.
I praise You that no sinner can escape Your presence, no event can surprise Your wisdom, and no part of Your dominion lies beyond Your sight.
You are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, and there is no searching of Your understanding.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References for Isa. 40:28:
Ps. 147:5; Rom. 11:33; Gen. 21:33; Deut. 33:27
[1] Hugh Binning, The Common Principles of Christian Religion Clearly Proved and Singularly Improved, (Glasgow: R.S., printer to the town of Glasgow, 1666), 126-128.
