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Knowing
“O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!”
Psalm 139:1, RSV
A few weeks ago, I was watching the Astros broadcast. One of my favorite parts of the broadcast is when they have Astros trivia. This particular evening’s question was, “Which pitcher has the most appearances for the Astros?” My mind went to some of the pitchers who defined the franchise through particular eras. My best guesses were Dave Smith and Larry Dierker.
Not knowing if I’d make it to the end of the broadcast to see the answer, I decided to ask ChatGPT what the answer was: “Which pitcher had the most appearances for the Houston Astros?” ChatGPT told me:
1. Joe Niekro with 397
2. Ken Forsch with 421
3. Billy Wagner with 464
Wait a minute. How did Niekro win when Wagner had more appearances? I re-queried ChatGPT. It answered:
“He isn’t–the earlier answer was wrong.”[1]
An age of “Artificial Intelligence” can cause us to question what it means to know anything. Many companies outsource knowledge work to software. Students are tempted to take shortcuts to thinking — relying on AI Chatbots to write essays and solve math problems. What is the point of education if computers can “know” things better than humans?
In the Bible, knowing can mean much more than the mere recitation of facts. The Hebrew word yada, translated in our English Bibles as “to know,” carries connotations not just of knowing about things but of being intimately involved with them. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the problem wasn’t that they would simply know about evil. The problem was that they now had intimate knowledge of evil — they had participated in it.
Psalm 139 begins with the celebration that God has searched us and knows us. He simply does not know about us. When the Bible tells us that all our hairs are numbered, it doesn’t mean that what makes God great is the fact that He has huge stores of facts — as if He were a big heavenly computer. Instead, God is so intimately acquainted with you that He knows even the number of hairs on your head — whether that’s a large or small number! He knows each tooth. He knows how many freckles you have, even the ones hidden on your scalp underneath your hair.
Find peace in your Heavenly Father who doesn’t simply know about you but knows you better than you know yourself. Rest in His love today. He doesn’t make mistakes.
[1] This second answer was still wrong. The actual leader is Dave Smith who had 563 appearances, almost 100 more than Wagner. Larry Dierker was 8th with 345. See https://www.mlb.com/astros/stats/pitching/games/all-time-totals.
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