Am I Fully Known and Fully Loved?

One question can undo a lot of fear if you let it: does God actually know my name? Not “know about me” in a distant, cosmic way, but know me personally, see me clearly, and still want me. I take you to Psalm 139, where David describes a God who searches us, understands our thoughts, and knows our words before we speak them. That is either terrifying or deeply comforting, and for many of us it is both.

We walk through three anchors from Scripture that reshape how a new believer thinks about God’s relationship with them. First, God knows everything about you and he has not run away, which means his love is not based on incomplete information. Romans 5:8 puts weight under that promise: Christ dies for us while we are still sinners. Second, God is present in your whole story, even the chapters you wish were not there, and his presence does not mean he caused every hard thing. Third, God’s presence is constant and immediate, even when prayer feels like talking to the ceiling and God feels far away.

If you have never turned from sin and trusted in Jesus Christ, I explain the gospel plainly and invite you to take that step today. If you are learning to follow Jesus, I want this to give you assurance, courage, and a steadier faith when emotions swing. Subscribe for more Bible teaching, share this with someone who needs hope, and if it helped you, leave a review so more people can find it.

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Transcript

Welcome And Starting Point

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You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life.

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Welcome. I'm Dr. Timothy Mann, and this is Starting Point, a special feature of foundations of truth, designed specifically for people who are new to the Christian faith or who are just beginning to explore what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Wherever you are on that journey today, I am glad you're here. And I want you to know that you are in a safe place. This is not a place where you have to pretend to have it all figured out. I know I don't. This is not a place where you will be judged for your questions or your doubts or your past. This is a starting point. And I am truly glad that you have joined me for this second episode in this series. If you listen to our first episode, we talked about what just happened when you came to faith in Jesus Christ. We talked about the new birth, about forgiveness, about the fact that you are a new creation. And if you missed that episode, I encourage you to go back and listen. It lays the foundation for everything we are building on in this series, this special feature of foundations of truth.

Does God Know My Name

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So today I want to address a question that I think lives quietly in the heart of almost every new believer, and honestly in the heart of many believers who have walked with God for years. It's a question that sounds almost too simple to ask out loud, but it goes to the very core of who God is, what it means to have a relationship with Him. The question is, does God actually know my name? Does God actually know my name? Not about me in some distant cosmic file cabinet kind of way, not aware of my existence, the way you are aware that billions of people live on the other side of the world, but actually know me, my name, my story, my fears, my failures, the things I have never told another person, the prayers I had prayed that felt like they went nowhere, the moments in the dark when I wondered if anyone, including God, actually saw me. Does he know? Does he care? Am I just one of eight billion people on the planet, too small and too ordinary to register on the radar of an infinite God?

Psalm 139 Reads Your Life

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Well, our text today is Psalm 139. So if you can get a Bible, either a Bible app or a paper Bible, it'd be great if you could turn to Psalm 139. That's our anchor text, and it answers that question with a depth and a beauty that still stops me after nearly thirty years of reading it. Let's look at it. Listen to verses one through four. The Bible says, O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off, you comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it all together. And then verses thirteen and fourteen says, For you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. God knows you, not just about you, He knows you. And today I want to show you three dimensions of that knowledge that will change the way you understand your relationship with Him.

Fully Known Yet Still Loved

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So the first thing I want you to see in Psalm 139 is both the most stunning and the most comforting truth in this passage. God knows everything about you, and he has not run away. Look at how look at how David describes God's knowledge in the opening verses. You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You are acquainted with all my ways, for there is not a word on my tongue, but you know it altogether. I mean let that sink in. God knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows your words before you speak them. He knows your ways, not just the public ones that you let people see, but the private ones, the ones that embarrass you, the ones that you have tried to change and have not been able to, the ones you have convinced yourself that nobody knows about. God knows. God knows all of it. Now, for some people that's a terrifying thought. If God knows everything, if he sees into the places we work the hardest to keep hidden, then surely his knowledge of us would result in rejection. Such a holy God, fully aware of what we are really like on the inside, would want nothing to do with us. But that is precisely what makes this psalm so extraordinary. David is not writing this as a confession of shame. He's writing it as a song of wonder. He is marveling at the fact that a God who knows him completely, who sees every thought, every word, every hidden way, has not abandoned him, has not turned away, has not decided that David is too much work or too far gone. So here is the truth I want you to hold on to. God's love for you is not based on incomplete information. He's not going to find something out about you later that changes how he feels. He knew before you came to him. He knew you were that way before you were born, and he came after you anyway. The Bible says in Romans chapter 5, verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us while we were still sinners, not after we cleaned ourselves up, not after we proved ourselves worthy, while we were still exactly what we are at our worst. God sent his son to die for us. So that means the God who knows everything about you chose you with full knowledge. His love is not blind, it is informed. He saw the worst of you, and still he came. He still rose from the dead, he still calls your name. That is not the love of a distant God who is vaguely aware of your existence. That is the love of a father who knows his child.

God Was There In Your Beginning

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Well, the second truth I want you to see is that God's knowledge of you is not just present tense. He has been present for your entire story. Listen to Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14 again. It says, For you were formed, you formed my inner inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God was there before you were born. He was present in the forming of who you are, not just your physical body, though that is part of it, but your inward parts, your personality, your capacity for love and grief and wonder and longing, the specific combination of gifts and weaknesses and tendencies that make you uniquely you. God was not absent from any of that. He was involved. Now, I want to be careful here because I know that some of you listening today have a complicated history. Maybe your early years were marked by pain or neglect or loss. Maybe the family you grew up in was not what it should have been. Maybe there are chapters in your story that you wish well had never been written. And the question that naturally arises is if God was there, why did he allow those things?

God’s Purpose In Painful Chapters

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And that's a real question. And it deserves more than a quick answer. And we will come back to it. We will come back to the question of suffering in a future episode. But let me say this much today: God's presence in your story does not mean he caused every hard thing in it. What it does mean is that he was never absent from it. He saw every moment, and in ways that we do not always understand on this side of eternity, has been working in all of it, including the painful parts, for a purpose that is bigger than any single chapter. Joseph in the Old Testament had a story full of betrayal and slavery, false imprisonment. And at the end of it, looking back, he said to his brothers who had sold him, You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. That's Genesis chapter 50, verse 20. God was in the story the whole time, not causing the evil, but working through it towards something. So here's what I want you to take from this. You are not an accident, you are not a mistake, you are not the sum total of the worst things that have happened to you or the worst things that you have done. You were formed by a God who is intentional about you, fearfully and wonderfully made, which means made with great care, with great intentionality, with great purpose. And the same God who is present at the beginning of your story is present right now. He has not lost track of you. He has not moved on to more important people. No, he is here. He knows your name, and he knows where your story goes from here.

How To Support Foundations Of Truth

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Before we return to today's teaching, we want to thank those of you who help make foundations of truth possible through your prayers and faithful financial support. Our purpose is simple: to proclaim the unchanging truth of God's word clearly and faithfully. When you give, you help us continue bringing biblical teaching like today's message to listeners who need the hope, assurance, and transforming truth of the gospel. Would you prayerfully consider standing with us? You can give securely online anytime at foundationsoftruth.net. That's foundationsoftruth.net. Your generosity helps us continue proclaiming God's truth and pointing people to the living hope found only in Jesus Christ. Now let's return to today's message. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

God Stays Near In The Dark

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So, third, I want you to see that God's knowledge of you is not just historical, it is constant and it is immediate. He's not a God who checks in occasionally. He is a God who's always present. Psalm 139 continues in verses seven through ten. It says, Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. There is nowhere you can go where God is not. Not geographically, not emotionally, not spiritually, even in the darkest moments. If I make my bed in hell, is David's way of describing the deepest pit of despair imaginable. Even there, God is present. His hand is there, his right hand, the hand of power and protection, is holding you. I've sat with people in the darkest seasons of their lives, in hospital rooms, at gravesides, in the aftermath of shattered marriages and collapsed dreams. And the question that comes up again and again, in one form or another, is where is God in this? Why does he feel so far away? Well, I want to say something honestly and carefully. There will be moments in your walk with God where he does not feel close, when prayer feels like talking to the ceiling, where the silence seems louder than any answer. Well, those moments are real, and they are hard, and they're part of the Christian life that nobody warns you about. Nobody at least warns you about it enough. But here is what Psalm 139 tells us the feeling of distance is not the same as the reality of absence. God's presence is not contingent on your ability to feel it. His knowledge of you is not suspended when you are struggling. He's there. He's there in the hospital room. He's there at the graveside. He's there in the 3 a.m. darkness when you cannot sleep and you cannot pray, and you are not sure you believe anything anymore. He is there. His hand is holding you. And often when we look back at the darkest seasons of our lives, we can see the fingerprints of God in places we were too overwhelmed to notice at the time. Listen, the God who knows your name is not a God who shows up for the good moments and disappears for the hard ones. He's a God of constant presence. And as a new believer, one of the most important things you can learn to do is to trust that presence even when you cannot feel it. That is what faith is. Not the absence of doubt, but the choice to trust what God has said, even when your emotions are telling you something very different.

Trust Jesus With Your Whole Life

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So before we close, I want to speak directly to anyone listening today who has not taken the step of faith that we talked about in our first episode of this special feature that I'm calling starting point, this special special feature of foundations of truth. Maybe the idea that God actually knows you really knows you personally, intimately well, it's either deeply attractive or deeply frightening. Maybe both all at the same time. If it is frightening, I understand. The idea of being fully known is uncomfortable. Because most of us carry things well, let's be honest, that we would rather keep hidden. But here's the good news of the gospel. It's this the God who knows everything about you sent his son Jesus Christ to deal with everything that should disqualify you. The shame, the sin, the failures, the things that feel too dark to bring into the light. Jesus Christ came into this world, lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay the full penalty for everything you have ever done wrong. He rose from the dead three days later, defeating death itself. And he offers right now to you, to you, by name, because he knows your name. And all it requires is this turn from your sin and trust in Jesus Christ. Not in your own goodness, not in your religious effort, in him, in him alone. If you've never done that, you can do it today. Tell God honestly where you are. Tell him you believe what he has done and ask him to make it real in your life. That is the starting point.

Final Summary And Next Steps

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So let me bring today's episode together. Does God actually know your name? Well, the answer from Psalm 139 and from the whole of Scripture, in fact, is yes. Yes. Completely, intimately, permanently. He knows everything about you and has not run away. He was present in the moments that shaped you, working even in the painful chapters, toward a purpose that you might not fully see just yet. And in his presence with you right now is a constant reality. Not dependent on whether you can feel it on any given day. You are not lost in the crowd. You are not too small or too ordinary or too broken for God to see. In fact, He sees you. So thank you for joining me today on Starting Point, a special feature of Foundations of Truth. I would ask you to share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. And of course, if you would like to support this ministry, you can give at foundationsoftruth.net or by mail. You can mail to Firm Foundations Ministries, P.O. Box 731-867-Orman Beach, Florida, 32173. If you'd like to subscribe to other bonus episodes or premium episodes, either at Apple Podcasts or on BuzzSprout, you can go to either one of those websites, BuzzSprout or Apple Podcasts, and just search foundationsoftruth.net and subscribe there. You'll get those bonus episodes, and you will also be helping support the ministry to stay on the air and continue to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. And so until next time, stand firm, think biblically, live faithfully. This is Dr. Timothy Mann. This is Starting Point, a special feature of Foundations of Truth. Look forward to seeing you again in our regular episode tomorrow. God bless you. Before we go today, I would like to remind you of an opportunity to sign up for our mailing list. You can go to foundationsoftruth.net and put your email in there and subscribe to our mailings. I'm trying to send out at least a weekly email to encourage you, to give you good biblical truth and devotional time and any special features. You'll also receive a special free downloaded resource if you subscribe to our mailing. Also, I'd love to hear from you. If you listen to Foundations of Truth on a regular basis, I'd like you to reach out to me. If I can pray for you in any way, if I can help you and encourage you with biblical truth, I would love to do that. Send me an email at Timothy Mann at firm-foundations.org. That's Timothy Mann at firm-foundations.org. Go check out the website, foundationsoftruth.net. A lot of articles there, past podcast episodes. And be sure and sign up for our mailing list online.

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You've been listening to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. If you'd like to hear this message again or learn more about this ministry, visit us online, foundationsoftruth.net. If these broadcasts encourage your faith and help you better understand the scriptures, would you prayerfully consider becoming a financial partner with us? Your tax-deductible gifts help place biblical teaching on radio stations and digital platforms where people around the world can hear the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. To give a gift securely online, visit FoundationsOft.net.

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Before we close today, I want to tell you about a resource that I believe will be a genuine help to you. I've recently published my first book, Saved, Understanding God's Work in Us. In over 30 years of pastoral ministry, one of the questions I've encountered more than almost any other is this: How can I know that I am truly saved? It is a question that deserves a careful, biblical answer. And that is exactly what this book is designed to give. Saved, understanding God's work in us, walks through what the scripture teaches about salvation, what God has done for us, what he is doing in us, and the assurance that every believer can have because of his work. If you want to understand salvation more deeply, stand on firmer ground in your faith, or be better equipped to share the gospel with someone you love, then this book was written for you. You can find it on pretty much anywhere you buy books. Just search. Save Understanding God's Work in Us by Dr. Timothy Mann. I pray it strengthens your faith. Thanks for being with us today. God bless you.

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Foundations of Truth with Dr. Timothy Mann is supported in part by the Cat Care Clinic, located in Ormond Beach, and serving families with thoughtful and compassionate veterinary care for cats. We're grateful for their partnership in helping carry biblical truth farther.