“Did you study for the test?”
Do you enjoy taking a test? Research shows that most people do not enjoy the process. They associate tests with high stress, anxiety, pressure, and the fear of failure. Surveys indicate that about 40% of students experience significant test anxiety that negatively impacts their health and the scores on their tests. In addition, a majority of Americans believe there is too much emphasis on standardized testing. The negative feelings impacts their creativity and keeps a student from being adequately prepared for the test.
There are so many things that can lead to test anxiety. Key factors include perfectionism, poor study habits, negative past experiences with tests, high-stakes pressure, physical factors like poor sleep or lack of nutrition, and a negative pattern of thinking. We tend to focus our thoughts about test anxiety on the student taking the test.
Another factor in not being prepared for a test can be the type of test. A student prepares for an essay test differently than for a true or false test. What kind of questions will be on the test? How will the points be distributed?
Sin and the Test
We have been thinking about sin. We have looked at sin’s nature and how it impacts us as individuals. Our discussions have included honestly looking inside to discover our weaknesses to temptation, and the patterns of sin that we overlook or ignore. We plea for God to search our hearts and reveal our sin.
One factor that we usually overlook in preparing for a test remains for our discussion. The teacher plays an important role in preparing and administering the test. Does the teacher use standardized tests, or do they make their own? Does the teacher make a sound test, or is the test flawed?
Scholars today talk about “doing theology” and they speak in terms of the contrast of between believing only by the heart or only with the head. A theology that is just “head knowledge” can be cold, dry, and of little practical value. Scholars talk in terms of knowing “about” God instead of knowing God. But a theology that is only of the heart may be warm and practical, but it lacks substance and sustainability. Psalm 139 provides the perfect blend discussing the “head” parts of theology like God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. But the psalm is so personal. The psalmist speaks of these attributes of God in ways that impact the individual as he is being tested.
The Maker of the Test Knows All
What if your teacher – the giver of the test – knew everything about you? Would it be comforting if the teacher knew what kind of student you were? This teacher knows that you perform better on essay tests than on short answer tests. Could the teacher’s knowledge affect the design and outcome of the test?
Theologians call God’s knowledge His Omnipotence. God knows everything. The first six verses affirm God’s knowledge. Notice David says that God knows his thoughts (Psalm 139:2), his ways (Psalm 139:3), and his words (Psalm 139:4).
Thoughts from Tozer
A.W. Tozer explains the omniscience of God in negative terms:
God has never learned from anyone. God cannot learn. Could God at any time or in any manner receive into his mind knowledge that he did not possess and had not possessed from eternity, he would be imperfect and less than himself. To think of a God who must sit at the feet of a teacher, even though that teacher be an archangel or a seraph, is to think of someone other than the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth.… God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell.… Because God knows all things perfectly, he knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. He never discovers anything, he is never surprised, never amazed. He never wonders about anything nor (except when drawing men out for their own good) does he seek information or ask questions
James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1202–1203.
God knows all about the subject material on the test. He knows all about you as a test-taker.
The Maker of the Test Sees All
When you were in grade school, did your teacher walk up and down the aisles of the classroom while you were taking the test? Teachers want to be able to see if there are any improprieties taking place during the test. The teacher looks for cheat sheets or notes being passed or students whose eyes seem to stray to other desks. The problem remains that the teacher cannot be everywhere at once. There will always be things that the teacher cannot see.
Theologians talk about the omnipresence of God to describe a God that is everywhere every time. God’s presence is everywhere. Do you see how his knowledge and his presence are like a hand in a glove? Verses seven through ten are probably the most well-known verses in the Psalm and rightly so. These magnificent verses capture a truth about God. “Never has the pen of man more effectively described the omnipresence of God.” These verses are worth the most careful study. Indeed, we should memorize them and thereby hide them in our hearts.
James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 1205.
The Maker of the Test Is All Powerful
When theologians speak of the omnipotence of God, they trumpet his never-ending power. Rather than thinking of the power of God, allow your mind to think of how loving He has proven to be. God only has your good and well-being on His mind.
The test is not to trick you.
The test does not attempt to cause you to fail
God does not try to prove what a tough test-maker He can be
.The Father will never give you a question on the test that you cannot answer correctly.
God’s knowledge of what we need is so perfect, He often answers before we even cry out. Isaiah writes, “Before they call I will answer; when they are still speaking I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). Who can have test anxiety when we have a Teacher like that?