Originally posted on 9/2/25
We are currently examining attributes of God. If you missed the first one, you can read it here.
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” Psalm 147:5.
As an educator for 40 years, I always stressed comprehension when we tackled various reading passages. The task was to read a passage and understand what the passage said. It required skills to remember events as they happened with details. In and of itself, comprehension is a complex task that needs to be developed. How does that transfer to our knowledge and understanding of God?
We say that God is incomprehensible. The simple definition of incomprehensible is “impossible to understand or comprehend”. Had I told my students that we were going to read something that they would be unable to comprehend, they most likely would not have even tried.
How can we begin to understand God? First and foremost, we are trying to understand an infinite God with our finite brains. Our knowledge will always be incomplete and sorely lacking. However, that is not an excuse not to try.
Job says, “Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?” Job 26:14
We find other passages that discuss this topic:
- Job 11:7-9 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven–what can you do? Deeper than Sheol–what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”
- Psalm 145:3 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”
- Romans 11:33-35 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
Does this mean that I cannot know anything about God? Of course it doesn’t.
Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that God reveals things to us. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” We can know God and we do. However, we are not going to understand everything about God.
According to Jen Wilkin in her book, None Like Him, she puts it like this:
“I am not an expert on God. Only God is. Such knowledge should cause me to worship. The depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God should bring me to my knees. His unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways should inspire right reverence. And the glorious fact that he makes himself known in ways my finite understanding can grasp should cause me to celebrate, to devote my life to the joyful duty of discovering what he has made known of himself.” p. 39
When we are children we do not understand many things. Right now my grandson doesn’t understand why he needs to sleep. Some day he will understand the need for sleep. As we spend more time in prayer and in God’s Word, we will learn more about God. As we grow closer to the Lord, we will understand more things about God. We will not know everything about God as long as we are on earth. 1Corinthians 13:9-12 tells us “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
Until we stand before the Lord, we need to continue our quest to know him more so that we can love him more. Www.gotquestions.org puts it like this: Understanding the incomprehensibility of God enhances people’s worship of Him and leads to an accurate awareness of themselves. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “No one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” And as Psalm 147:5 declares, “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” God’s incomprehensibility is praiseworthy because it is associated with the greatness of who He is.
I am in awe of God and I will continue to try to understand him more. Do not give up even if you do not understand.
Father God,
You are a God who is not easy to comprehend. So many of your ways extend beyond the limits of our understanding. Your greatness is unsearchable. We so desperately try to understand your with our limited capabilities. We rely fully on your and trust in your plans even when we do not understand. We pray for a deeper understanding of who you are. Give us the wisdom to understand and desire to know you more fully and deeply. Open our eyes so we can see and understand.
In your name,
Amen
Previous articles on the Attributes of God:
Link to other Attributes of God articles:
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