"Hey You!"

           I have been called by many people. Some knew my name and others did not. I was known as “hey you” to some and to others “swabbee” referring to days in the Navy. My father once called me “numskull” when I didn't know how to do something that I should have known how to do. Most of the time, I knew who people were talking to when they used whatever title. There were times when my Mother would call me by my “nickname” which was “Danny.” When she got to the point of using my full name, Daniel Charles Freeland,” it usually meant was had about 3 seconds to be where she told me to be or to do what she told me to do. Psalm 139:1-2 says, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”

        People that know you, use your name when you first come into their presence, then after that, the conversation changes to some other type of name. When you get old, everyone seems to call you “sweetie,” “honey,” or “darlin.” At one place where I worked, it was often referred to as “elder abuse” and was quite frowned upon by the upper management. People, however, still call you by those terms especially when they don't know your name. It is interesting to note that the above passage indicates that God has known me. He knows who I am individually. I am not just one of 7.4 billion people. He knows me and everything about me. He Who named the stars knows you and He knows me and everyone else. He knows those who have died. He knows those who are being born and He knows those who will be born in the future. He will never look at me and say, “Hey you with the gray hair...” He knows my name. The passage from Psalm 139 is one that points out the omniscience of God. He knows everything that there is to know and there is nothing that He doesn't know. Individually, He knows my downsitting and mine uprising. I don't know that about myself except when it happens. He even understands my thoughts. When I think about that, it is just a little scary. He knows everything that there is to know about me and you and about everyone. That means that God even knows about your problems and the things that are concerning you at this very moment. God knows the grief and the sorrow that are in your life right now. God knows the problems of life in which you find yourself today and He knows what you are going to be dealing with tomorrow. Our finite minds can't understand fully what God knows. It is beyond our understanding, but nonetheless, God knows what is going on in your life. When you come to Him in prayer, God doesn't say, “Hey it is the skinny lady down the street, or the young kid on the bike. He knows your name. Verse 13 goes on to say that he “covered” you in the womb. In other words, He hedged you in and gave you ultimate protection. That means that God also knows the names of the millions of aborted babies, each and every one of them. If God knew me in the womb, He knew them also. The destruction of life whether it be abortion, war, genocide, euthanasia or whatever form will someday reap God's judgment when the killers of mankind will take the knee before God. Thank God for the fact that he knows you and that He knows every mortal being. God's omniscience should make us thankful because we know we are never alone, no matter where we might be physically, God is with us. Praise God today just because He knows who you are.