"Great is our LORD, and of great power: His understanding is infinite." [Psa 147:5]
The word “understanding” is defined as, “the faculty of the human mind by which it apprehends the real state of things presented to it, or by which it receives or comprehends the ideas which others express and intend to communicate…the intellectual faculty…knowledgeable.” [Webster] In our verse for today we see written, The LORD’s “understanding is infinite.” That is, according to our definition, The LORD’s ability to apprehend the truth of things and His ability to comprehend ideas and concepts are unparalleled. There is no end to His understanding; if we were to theoretically plumb to the depths of knowledge regarding any subject, biology for example, there would yet be one more step which God could take in understanding and intelligence. He could easily show us our ignorance and lack of foresight in articulating yet another deep truth regarding any subject to which we put effort. God’s understanding and knowledge is infinite and knows no bounds, far above and out of our sight. For those that believe God’s word, which clearly states, “for in six days The LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day,” [Ex 20:11] this is easily accepted. For we can see that in every aspect of creation, scientists and those who study such things are continually coming to new and more profound conclusions. Humanity is often confronted with the reality that its understanding is incomplete and insufficient. Only The LORD possesses infinite understanding. The LORD Himself states,
“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.” [Isa 40:28]
Our Father’s understanding cannot be searched out. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” [Rom 11:33] To give us just a shadow and picture of what this truth encompasses, The LORD says, “for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isa 55:9] Here, The LORD compares His thoughts to the distance from earth to the farthest heavens. The estimated distance of the observable universe is ninety-three billion light-years across. If we convert that distance to miles, it is over 546 sextillion miles. That’s 546 with twenty-one zeros after it; to give us perspective, if one were travelling one-hundred thousand times faster than the speed of light, it would still take nine-hundred-thirty thousand years to travel that distance. We do well to remember here that this is only the observable universe and so the distance is even more incomprehensibly vast. Therefore, when God reveals to us that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so far are His thoughts above our thoughts, we should stand in awe, humbled at His understanding. No doubt, we should trust Him and take comfort in the direction He chooses for our lives.
But we must bring our pride down still further; reading in 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us, “for now we see through a mirror, as in an enigma…” [1 Cor 13:12] and again, “but we all, with unveiled face [are] beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord…” [2 Cor 3:18] From these passages we learn that the glory and love and character, yes, any good trait of God which we do love and study, is but a fraction of the reality. If we have thought God’s understanding or love, which are infinite, or God’s mercy, which “endureth for ever,” [1 Ch 16:34] were great distances above our own or anything we could fathom, we have not even begun to see the true distance separating the two. Have we found God to be faithful? He is yet three billion times more faithful. Have we seen God’s intelligence or power to be incomprehensible? The truth and verity of those glories are yet several trillion universes farther in length and height and depth and breadth. Our verse today tells us that The LORD’s “understanding is infinite.” If this is but a shadow concerning the truth of God’s wisdom, by which “[He] hath founded the earth,” or of His understanding, again, by which He has “established the heavens,” [Prov 3:19] then what glorious heights must the reality and fullness of this truth be! Our Father’s understanding, wisdom, knowledge, prudence – yea, anything in the scope of knowledge – is infinity of infinities: so far beyond our grasp that we shall spend eternity in His presence learning of Him.
These thoughts ought to comfort our souls, our hearts, and our minds. If we have worried about the future or become anxious of the present; if we have faltered in faith, believing God to not have fully comprehended nor known our struggles or prayers, then let us take comfort and be of good courage: for our God’s “understanding is infinite.” Let us take heed to those writers of old who were moved by God’s Holy Spirit and whom God was pleased to use to breathe out encouragement, who wrote, “thou hast known my soul in adversities,” and, “for The LORD knoweth the way of the righteous,” and again, “He knoweth the way that I take.” [Psa 31:7; 1:6, Job 23:10]There is no struggle, nor prayer, nor thought, nor concept, nor praise too lofty; nothing can ever escape God’s understanding. So let us praise and extol and exalt our King; let us bow down before Him in worship and trust: for He is able, a thousand times able, to help us and understand us; He is capable and strong, and best of all, He is love, which love “is surpassing knowledge.” [Eph 3:19]
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