The LORD clearly sees everything you do. He watches where you go.

This proverb is one among many in which Solomon warns his son to be wise in his dealings with the world. In particular, this one is in a passage about being faithful to a wife and not foolishly unfaithful. Solomon would have known of the scandal of his father David and mother Bathsheba. Perhaps this lecture stems from that.

Like that young king, people practicing secret sin may think they have gotten away with something. If they can keep their sin secret from others, they may believe they will escape all negative repercussions. “All I have to do is be clever enough or careful enough,” they say, “and I can do whatever I want.” People caught up in sin seem to think they live in a world of their own that has room for their sinful deeds.

The world, in fact, is not their own. It is God’s world, and He is always watching. Psalm 11:4 says, “The LORD is in his holy temple. The LORD sits on his throne in heaven. He sees everything that happens. He watches people closely.” The people caught up in sin don’t actually get away with anything. The Lord is in heaven keeping track. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. He can clearly see all things. Everything is open before him. And to him we must explain the way we have lived.” God will give painful consequences for sin to teach His children to follow Him and not the will of the flesh.

There is good reason, then, to refrain from sin. Apart from being discovered and held responsible and accountable by people, there is also the Lord’s judgement you have to deal with. The sins done in secret are not secret to Him. He sees them and weighs them on the balance of His divine scale. And even though there is forgiveness in Christ, when we devise sin in our hearts, we grieve the Holy Spirit and misrepresent our Savior.

The fact that we live in a world with an all-seeing God looking down on everything, however, is more than just a threat to the foolish willfulness of the person caught up in sin. It is also a comfort to those who are committed to the Lord. The Bible says, “The eyes of the LORD go around looking in all the earth for people who are faithful to him so that he can make them strong,” (2 Chronicles 16:9). The Lord is not just looking down from heaven to discipline the sinful and the rebellious; He is also looking to see who is faithful to Him so He can bless them.

By John Huisman, Friend of Bible League International