The All-Seeing God

“And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons… And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (I Sam. 1:6,7). “What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; [for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men]” (I Kin. 8:38,39). “ Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings” (Prov. 5:21). “Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?” (Prov. 15:11). “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts” (Prov. 21:2). “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer. 17:10). “But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause” (Jer. 20:12).

“And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen” (Acts 1:23,24). “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8,9). “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the [congregations] shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works” (Rev. 2:22,23). Here we have a number of scripture passages which in and of themselves show us that God alone knows the hearts of men, and that he does and will judge all men according to the deeds that they do, which deeds are all motivated by the hearts of men. Realizing that these things apply to all men, we have the following passage to show that it is a very, very wise thing indeed to remember this truth with godly fear, love, and humility as we go through this life: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (I Cor. 4:5). Of course this means that those who have done well in the sight of God will have “praise of God,” but not those who have not done so; as the next passage shows clearly: “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid” (I Tim. 5:24,25). No wonder Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mat. 5:8). Amen.