What does God think of us? Do we care?

What does God think of us? Do we want to know? For that matter, do we care? Like many writers, I use software to evaluate what I write, including the title. According to that software, the title of this one is positive. I can't help but wonder, how many of us think it's positive? How many of us, if we had the opportunity, would really want to hear what God thinks of us?

Not us, as in people in general. I mean us, as in the individual we see when we look in the mirror. Just imagine, face to face with God, and it's evaluation time. If you could do that, right now, would you?

It is possible, you know.

And it is going to happen. You know - in the end?

But wouldn't it be nice to know before it's too late to do anything about it?

Kind of like an Ebenezer Scrooge sort of thing. Except it's about keeping the Christ spirit, not the Christmas spirit. After all, they are two very different things.

What does God think of us, since He knows all about us?

it's reasonable to want to ask, what does God think of us? As Christians, we believe He does know all about us. And we believe we have a personal relationship with Jesus. Further, we believe we have the Holy Spirit in us, guiding us, teaching us. I think it makes the question more than reasonable. To me, it sounds more like a matter of why wouldn't I want to know what God thinks of me?

Psalm 139

We do have an example in the Bible where someone did that very thing. It's David. King David. We read it in Psalm 139.

Psalm 139 - Search me, God

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

The knowledge that a holy God sees every thought and deed is disconcerting to the guilty, but wonderfully comforting to the forgiven and saved soul.  ¹Comfort, R. (2003). The Evidence Bible: Irrefutable Evidence for the Thinking Mind, Notes. (K. Cameron, Ed.) (p. 803). Orlando, FL: Bridge-Logos. 

That's a good sentiment. Even the correct one that we should have as Christians. However, it's not always the way we feel. Fear creeps in. Fear that we've done something too awful to be forgiven. Then there's uncertainty. Uncertainty that God still loves us after what we've done. Now there's doubt. Fear and uncertainty lead to doubt about our relationship with God.

I wrote something several years ago called The problem of FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Some of you might recognize FUD from the IT industry. There's probably other applications for it as well. But this i=one is FUD related to the relationship between us and God. It's hard to keep up with new stuff, changes to my writing software, Google to show up in searches (of course), and updating articles. But I did add a task to update FUD relatively soon. I hope. But still, it's useful in its current state as well.

I have one additional consideration as we go through this Psalm, although this one is more general in nature.

The whole psalm is a prayer that consists of praise (vv. 1–18) and petitions (vv. 19–24). It should not escape our notice that the praise comes first and receives much more attention. We have a tendency to rush to God with our petitions and to spend most of our time on them.  ²Ellsworth, R. (2006). Opening up Psalms (p. 125). Leominster: Day One Publications.

I say that because it's something for us to remember for prayer in general. For David, it was totally normal.

What does God think of us after searching us?

Ps 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

This was my point at the top. God has already searched us. And unlike us, He's thorough, honest, and fair. God knows us better than we know ourselves.

To be sure the depth of this Psalm is understood, consider what searched and know meant when this Psalm was written.

"Searched" meant to examine thoroughly. Not just a casual search or cursory look at us. Rather, a complete examination.

In combination with that, "know" meant to know by experience. Not second-hand knowledge, but knowledge gained by being with us.

That possibly (probably?) sounds scary to most of us. But as the excerpt above says, it doesn't. Or shouldn't. We'll find out more about that as we go.

God knows our thoughts

Ps 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

Knowing when we sit or get up can be accomplished merely by observation. But here, it has to be total, constant, ongoing observation.

But when we get to thoughts, mere observation isn't going to work. It's something much deeper. More personal.

If that was another person, it'd be creepy. Like staying at an Airbnb place with hidden cameras all over, transmitting our every move and sound over the internet. But we must be able to separate our feelings about the Airbnb scenario as opposed to our Creator whose desire is to help us stay out of trouble. To have us spend eternity with Him in the next life.

For now, hold on to these thoughts. We'll look at the same word - thoughts - again in verse 17.

God knows our way of life and our moral character

Ps 139:3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

But what about you are familiar with all my ways? Taking familiar with all my ways as a phrase, it means that God has intimate knowledge of our way of life, including our moral character.

We have another verse where two of the stated things can be known by observation: going out and lying down.

Why God knowing our way of life and moral character doesn't have to be scary

Another scary thought. And yet, it doesn't have to be. Let's see why not. Here are excerpts from two different commentaries that tie together something about the reality of this searching. It looks at David, King of Israel but also the one responsible for the death of Uriah so he could have Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, for his own. Certainly not something to be proud of in God's eyes, to put it extremely mildly.

I'm going to do something rare for me. Take just one verse out of context, because it's really only that one verse we need for this particular topic. It's from Acts. I do invite you to use the link to read the entire passage if you'd like.

In Pisidian Antioch

...
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’