by Tim Groves

This short psalm of David is only three verses, yet it reminds us of the importance of balancing knowledge and humility.

No matter how educated or intelligent a person is, he or she cannot compare to God’s supremely superior intelligence (Isaiah 55:8-9). The practical application of understanding God’s superior intelligence is that we should never think highly of ourselves because we should always view ourselves in comparison with God (Romans 12:3). Christians should not view themselves in comparison with other people—either looking down or looking too highly on others (2 Corinthians 10:12). The only knowledge we should feel special—and humbled—about is the knowledge of God and His plan (verse 17).

Even though we are naturally curious about things around us, there is so much we can’t understand because we are human! For example, we try to grasp the concept of eternity and of God never having a beginning, but can’t—and that’s okay.

Moses said that “the secret things belong to the LORD our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). There are many things about God and the spirit realm that, as humans, we will never understand—things that are too profound for us. But as David says in Psalm 131:2, we don’t need to overly worry about these things, and we are to put our minds at ease knowing that God is in complete control.

Even Solomon said that God does not tell us everything, including things about our physical universe. Instead, God lets us search out and discover many things on our own (Proverbs 25:2).

Just as an infant can’t understand an adult’s realm, neither can we fully understand God’s realm. Even though we may be highly educated and understand many spiritual things because of God’s Holy Spirit in us, we should never become proud or arrogant because there is still so much we don’t understand (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). 

To learn more about the spirit realm, read our article “What Is Spirit?”

Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “The Reward of Living a Righteous Life.”