December 6, Day 340 – Too Wonderful for Us
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Dec 6, 2025
- 4 min read
Today, our readings focus on “knowing,” and they begin with Psalm 139:1-10, where David describes our security within God’s providential care. He begins by declaring that God “knows” us – He “knows” our movements, our thoughts, our “goings out” and in. God is “familiar with all my ways” (verse 3). When David says that God “hems” him in behind and before (verse 5), he means that God protects him. God is always ever-present – He stands before all things, behind all things, after all things, above and beyond all things; He is even “under” all things in the sense that He is fundamental and foundational to everything. In The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer writes that God “is everywhere while He is nowhere, for ‘where’ has to do with matter and space, and God is independent of both.” Our minds are incapable of grasping God’s indescribable Being. No matter where we go, His “hand is upon us,” and this “knowledge is too lofty” – too wonderful for us (verses 5-6). From the “dawn” in the east to the “far side of the sea” in the west; from the heights of heaven to the depths of Sheol (i.e., the grave) – our God is there – and, as Francis Schaeffer says, “He is not silent.” We are never away from or outside of the omnipresent, personal God. He is always and everywhere near us. This is important because verse 10 tells us: “His hand is there to guide us; His right hand to hold us.” We are not left desperately alone to fend for ourselves in some dark and godless universe. God loves us so much that, by His own hands, He leads us through each moment and holds us securely and safely. What a wonderful, loving God!
In Daniel 11-12, the prophet continues his vision about the conditions in Israel and the events in the world before the coming of Christ in His first advent. Daniel concludes this vision in chapter 12. Moreover, Daniel’s vision also contemplates similar world conditions that precede Christ’s future, second advent. Jesus referred to these chapters when He foretold “a time of distress such as has not happened since the beginning of nations” (verse 1; cf., Matthew 24-27). These events, which anticipate the tribulation, underscore the general, prophetic timetable that Daniel receives from this “man clothed in linen” (cf., 10:5). He also tells Daniel that, at that time, “many will go here and there to increase knowledge” (verse 4). History has never seen either the extent of travel or the increase in knowledge that we are witnessing today. Finally, the man tells Daniel that there will be a great resurrection to come (verses 2 and 13). This wonderful book of Daniel closes with God’s special blessings on Daniel for his faithfulness.
Frequently, as we have often seen in our readings this past year, the Scriptures point out that man’s knowledge is insufficient and incomplete (cf., Genesis 43:7; Psalm 39:9; Proverbs 27:1; Ecclesiastes 8:7; 11:6; Isaiah 47:11; James 4:14). Back in Genesis 15, Abram, who expressed his uncertainty, asked God, “How can I know?” (Genesis 15:8). In spite of our lack, God definitely wants us to know. And He certainly wants us to know that we are saved. He makes this clear in 1 John 5. Based on God’s love toward us, John states that God is not only in our midst, but also that He has provided for us reliable witnesses to biblical truth. John says that God has given us three witnesses – the Spirit, the water, and the blood – who all “testify to the truth” (verse 6). The apostle points out that these three witnesses all agree about the truth. Among human witnesses, agreement is always necessary to validate the veracity of any act or event, but “God’s testimony is greater” than any human testimony (verse 9). His testimony is greater because [1] God is the infallible Author of truth and reality; [2] He cannot lie; and [3] human testimony is fallible. Acceptance of God’s testimony is indicative of “confident” sonship (verses 14-19). We can be soteriologically confident that we are truly safe and secure (i.e., saved) in the knowledge that we are children of God (verse 19). Twice, John says that he has written these things so that “we may know that we have eternal life” (verses 13 and 20). And then again, five times, John repeats that “we know” this truth (cf., verses 2, 15, 18, 19, and 20). God definitely wants us to know for certain that we are saved. Back in Genesis 15, God’s answer to Abram’s question – and to ours – is “know for certain” (cf., Genesis 15:13).
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