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Psalm 94:11

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

9He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear? He who formed the eye, won’t he see?
10He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish? He who teaches man knows.
11The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.
12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, LORD, and teach out of your law,
13that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
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← Psalm 94:10Psalm 94:12 →
Notice

The word “futile” unsettles confidence in human judgment, while YHWH’s knowledge reaches even the thoughts no one else can see.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

Where might your confidence in your own reasoning need correction from the God who knows your thoughts?

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How does God's knowledge of human thoughts affect your response to an injustice you have witnessed?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Corinthians 3:20And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”Corinthians quotes this psalm to name the worthlessness of human reasoning before the Lord who knows it.
Psalm 139:2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.Both affirm that God knows human thoughts; Psalm 139 speaks of that knowledge in the details of one person's life.
1 Corinthians 1:19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”Both challenge confidence in human wisdom before God: the psalm declares its futility, and Corinthians announces its overthrow.
Job 11:11–12For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn’t consider it.Both speak of God's knowledge of people: their thoughts in the psalm and their wrongdoing in Job.
1 Corinthians 1:25because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.Both place human thinking beneath God: the psalm names its futility, and Corinthians declares God's wisdom greater than human wisdom.
Romans 1:21–22Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.Both describe futile human reasoning; Romans connects that vanity with people's refusal to glorify and thank the God they knew.
1 Corinthians 1:21For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save …Both expose the limits of human thought before God; Corinthians names the world's failure to know him through wisdom.
Psalm 49:10–13For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.Both describe human limits, though Psalm 94 concerns futile thoughts and Psalm 49 concerns the death that reaches even wise people.
Psalm 119:113I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.Both concern human thought, though Psalm 94 names its futility and Psalm 119 rejects double-mindedness.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

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Encouragement

Human reasoning cannot put God at a disadvantage. In a psalm confronting injustice, even the thoughts behind human claims remain known to YHWH.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 94:11. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).