What God Knows (1)
For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. Psalm 103:14 NASB
He Himself – Does God know you? All about you? Everything? “Of course, He does,” you answer. “He’s omniscient. He knows everything.” If that’s true, then why does the Psalmist use a construction that effectively underlines the point? Why doesn’t he write, “For He knows our frame”? Wouldn’t that be sufficient? Why add the little Hebrew word, hûʾ? Ah, we discover that hûʾ is for emphasis:
“For the most part Hebrew does not (as does English) require the use of an independent pronoun to precede a finite verb when the noun-subject is omitted. When it does appear, it is usually for emphasis or in another type of construction.”[1]
But even this appears strange. Why do we need to emphasize the fact that God knows us? Let me suggest an answer. You see, the psalmist isn’t particularly interested in the fact that God knows everything. That fact is impartial, an objective datum like knowing that Mars is 211.88 million kilometers from earth. True, but irrelevant. What God knows, what He Himself knows, is something much more personal. God doesn’t know us in the way that someone would ask for your personal file from the Human Resources department of Heaven. God knows us intimately, like a best friend, lover of our soul. When the psalmist writes, kî-hûʾ, he is saying more than “God knows.” He is saying that in His knowing, He understands us. We are not collections of facts. We are real, embodied, emotional, relational beings whom He chooses to deeply, personally, compassionately understand.
Why does the psalmist need to emphasize this point? Why write kî-hûʾ? Heschel makes a comment that reveals the answer:
“It is true that the commandment to be holy is exorbitant, and that our constant failure and transgressions fill us with contrition and grief. Yet we are never lost. We are sons of Abraham. Despite all faults, failures, and sins, we remain parts of the Covenant. His compassion is greater than His justice. He will accept us in all of frailty and weakness. ‘For He knows our drive [yetzer], He remembers that we are dust’ (Psalm 103:14).”[2]
God knows we belong. He has more than the resume of successes and failures in mind. He sees us within the covenant promise. He knows our ancestry. That ancestry reminds Him where we came from; from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Ruth, David, and Daniel. From Rebekah and Rachel. From Esther and Rahab. We are attached. And in the deep understanding, He knows something else. We are dust! We are crippled, ill-at-heart, broken, discouraged, despondent, confused, concerned, anxious, anxiety-stricken, frightened, furious, sad, remorseful creatures who long for joy, peace-of-heart, meaning, purpose, purity, direction, encouragement, and acknowledgement. He knows we are dust because the dust of our being is still on His creative hands. The animating energy of our enlivened selves is still passing from his nostrils. His care reaches into every part of who we were, are, and long to be.
“Yet, the problem of the evil drive is not solved by observance. The prophets’ answer was eschatological. ‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel . . . not like the covenant which I made with their fathers . . . I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts’ (Jeremiah 31:31-34).”[3]
kî-hûʾ writes the psalmist. Perhaps now you can rejoice that he did.
Topical Index: kî-hûʾ, He Himself, know, understand, care, Psalm 103:14
[1] Weber, C. P. (1999). 480 הוּא. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 208). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), pp. 196-197.
[3] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 197.
