“Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.”

For what I’m about to say, let me first apologize to all the scientists in the world that I offend with these words: I would hate to be a scientist.  Well, let me back up.  Being a scientist isn’t all that bad.  And I’m not showing my personal bias, being so-so in science (I’m a humanities guy).  The issue is making statements of scientific ‘fact’, when they aren’t.  That’s a tough thing to do with an unapologetically straight face.  Case in point (I’m really dating myself here): When I was in high school — when dinosaurs roamed a cooling earth — I remember very distinctly that my Biology textbook declared that the “single cell is the simplest living thing known to man”.  I remember it so clearly because of the impact it made on me: “Wow!  They finally got it — the simplest living thing in the whole universe!  Amazing….”  There was no qualification, no “This is what we think of the cell,” etc.  No, it was right out there in bold black and white: simplest living thing.  Period.  Next lesson!  Today (at least at the time of this writing) we know that this “simplest living thing” has multiple interconnecting, efficiently operating infrastructure systems that make New York City jealous in comparison.  Ever hear of scientists making apologies for their previously ignorant statements?  Me neither.  They’re too busy rejoicing over their new discoveries to make amends.

Such limitations of man may be no better inferred than in Psalm 147.  There God gives a simple example of his understanding being infinite, or without limit (v. 5).  In the preceding verse the psalmist writes, “[The Lord] determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name”.  Now let’s consider this statement for a minute.  Realize that this was written about 3,000 years ago.  Man had no ability to see the entire sky thoroughly at any one point on the earth.  Scientists tell us today that only about 3,000 stars are visible to the naked eye.  So how does that help the reader back in that day to understand what God is saying here?  “God names 3,000 (or so) stars, huh?  Pretty good.”  It doesn’t help much at all because the ignorance factor is pretty high.  But after the orbited Hubble Telescope began star-searching from space, well, the picture suddenly intensified.  There are roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, and a currently estimated 70 sextillion (7 followed by 22 zeros, or million million million) stars in the universe.  “And God names every one of them?”  Yep! “Ohhh…”  Let the awe roll over you.

Not to be missed, God goes on to describe his sovereignty and power over weather, citing snowstorms (vs. 15-18).  “So God blows in some cold air and snow, huh?  Pretty cool….”  Once again, high ignorance diminishes the awe and praise that God’s power is meant to inspire.  Once science catches a better glimpse of what’s behind such mobile atmospheric dances called weather systems, then the apprehension and appreciation rise.  Think of the sheer power of lightening as another example.  A bolt can reach up to 28,000º C (50,000º F) in under a second.  This is 5 times the temperature of the sun and can turn loose sand into glass when struck!  Imagine the energy it takes to change weather, to blow wind, to create high and low tides, etc., etc.  It’s more than you and I and all the other 12-13 billion people who have ever lived (up to this point in time) can calculate using our collective intellects, that’s for sure!

We’re talking infinite here, as David did in Psalm 139.  The Lord with infinite understanding knows “when I sit and when I rise” and perceives “my thoughts from afar”.  “Before a word is on my tongue [or, when it’s still in my head] you know it completely, O Lord … All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”.  How does he know/do that?  That’s why David said, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain”.  Bingo!  Let the awe continue.

That’s why, back in Psalm 147, it says the Lord has no pleasure “in the strength of the horse, nor…in the legs of man” (v. 10).  Us in our own strength and power…please him?  Not a chance.  The focus is always on him who “covers the sky…supplies the earth…makes grass grow…provides food… strengthens your gates…blesses your people…grants peace…and satisfies you” (vs. 8-9, 13-14).  Thus, it is only when we “fear him [and] put [our] hope in his unfailing love” that he delights in us (v. 11).  And those of us who do, “sing to the Lord with thanksgiving and make music to our God” (v. 7).  He wants our trust.

Only a God with “unsearchable judgments, paths beyond tracing out” (Romans 11:33) and infinite understanding can do such things.  Do you delight God with your trust of his providential care for you