joH'a', SoH ghaj searched jIH, je SoH Sov jIH.
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1
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As we've considered in earlier studies - Klingons are known to treasure secrecy. Their "secrecy proverbs" enshrine this caution with lines like this:
jIjatlhpa' jatlh Hovmey.
"The stars will talk before I will."
So, it may not be a word of comfort for them to hear the beginning of Psalm 139, translated in the NLT as
O LORD, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me. (NLT)
and know everything about me. (NLT)
What Klingon would want to be under such thorough surveillance?
The Hebrew word for knowledge - to know - here is yada, one we've seen before. It's easy to translate into Klingon - the word is Sov, both a verb, to know and the noun "knowledge." Appearing over 800 times in the Bible, yada can express a great deal more than mere factual knowledge. For God to KNOW us implies an intimate relationship - a knowledge so deep that we indeed have no secrets whatsoever! Who would want that?
The Life Application Bible notes:
Sometimes we don’t let people get to know us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won’t like. But God already knows everything about us, even to the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), and still he accepts and loves us. God is with us through every situation, in every trial—protecting, loving, guiding. He knows and loves us completely.
On our planet we also value secrecy, at least, privacy. Driven by fears of fraud and identity theft we don't wish our personal information to be known. For example, complex rules and laws are established to secure the confidentiality of our personal medical details. And yet... At that moment you find yourself in the Emergency Room - you want that doctor who sees you to KNOW everything. At that instant you want there to be no secrets - for, in order to help you the doctor and nurses need to know you and your needs.
That is why this verse is such a comfort. As Charles Spurgeon observes:
[This is ] A cheering thought for sinners. If God knew them not perfectly, how could he have prepared a perfect salvation for them? A comfortable truth for saints. "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
joH'a', SoH ghaj searched jIH, je SoH Sov jIH.
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1
O LORD, you have searched me, And you know me. Psalm 139.1
Give thanks! God knows you. Better than your best friend, better than yout closest relative - he REALLY knows you - and no matter what - he loves you.
1 comment:
Thanks for this. I tend to think that if I skulk enough God won't see me, or notice that shadow side I'm trying to keep locked in the cellar of my subconsious. It's good to be reminded that actually he knows and cares about the whole me (not just the "acceptable" bits) :0)
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