For neither were we at any time found using words of flattery, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness (God is witness),
God is witness: The hymn writer reminds us "There’s an all-seeing eye watching you." Paul is always conscious of that fact. He knows God is in every audience hearing every word he speaks. His awareness of the presence of God would have caused him to exercise great care to speak only those words of which God approves. God is also witness in the sense that He attests the veracity of the preachers of the first century, "confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16:17-20).