Psalms 73:11

73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ¹ 

Psalms 94:7-11

94:7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;

the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” ² 

94:8 Take notice of this, ³  you ignorant people! ⁴ 

You fools, when will you ever understand?

94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?

Does the one who forms the human eye not see? ⁵ 

94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?

He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!

94:11 The Lord knows that

peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. ⁶ 

Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ⁷  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ⁸ 

Isaiah 40:15-18

40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts ⁹  the coastlands ¹⁰  as if they were dust.

40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; ¹¹ 

its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. ¹² 

40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;

they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ¹³ 

40:18 To whom can you compare God?

To what image can you liken him?

[73:11]  ¹ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

[94:7]  ² tn Heb “does not understand.”

[94:8]  ³ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

[94:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”

[94:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

[94:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7.

[23:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[40:15]  ⁹ tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”

[40:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).

[40:16]  ¹¹ tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:16]  ¹² sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.

[40:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”