VALIANT FOR THE TRUTH
=======================================================================================================
[Home] [Palace Beautiful] [Fighting Apollyon] [Introduction]
=======================================================================================================
THE PRECIOUS THINGS OF GOD
PART IV
THE PRECIOUS THOUGHTS OF GOD
With much assistance from Octavius Winslow
June 2, 1995
Psalms 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
NOTE: THEME VERSES FROM PREVIOUS THREE STUDIES
Precious Jesus
I Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
Precious Faith
II Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
Precious Trial
I Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Greek Timios, Precious: of great value, Highly honoured, esteemed, especially dear.
Hebrew Yaqar (yaw-kar), Precious: To esteem, be prized, be valued, be costly.
Hebrew rea (ray-yah), Thought: Purpose, Aim. Used only in Psalm 139:2,17.
Psalms 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Let us begin our meditations upon the thoughts of our great God by first hearing the meditations of Matthew Henry on Psalm 139:17:
#17-24 God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and bless our God for his precious salvation, when we awake in the world of glory! Surely we ought not to use our members and senses, which are so curiously fashioned, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But our immortal and rational souls are a still more noble work and gift of God. Yet if it were not for his precious thoughts of love to us, our reason and our living for ever would, through our sins, prove the occasion of our eternal misery. How should we then delight to meditate on God's love to sinners in Jesus Christ, the sum of which exceeds all reckoning! Sin is hated, and sinners lamented, by all who fear the Lord. Yet while we shun them we should pray for them; with God their conversion and salvation are possible. As the Lord knows us thoroughly, and we are strangers to ourselves, we should earnestly desire and pray to be searched and proved by his word and Spirit. If there be any wicked way in me, let me see it; and do thou root it out of me. The way of godliness is pleasing to God, and profitable to us; and will end in everlasting life. It is the good old way. All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, or tire in it.
Now here the encouraging, joy laden, spirit thrilling words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon:
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!" he is not alarmed at the fact that God knows all about him; on the contrary, he is comforted, and even feels himself to be enriched, as with a casket of precious jewels. That God should think upon him is the believer's treasure and pleasure. He cries, "How costly, how valued are thy thoughts, how dear to me is thy perpetual attention!" He thinks upon God's thoughts with delight; the more of them the better he is pleased. It is a joy worth worlds that the Lord should think upon us who are so poor and needy: it is a joy which fills our whole nature to think upon God; returning love for love, thought for thought, after our poor fashion. "How great is the sum of them!" When we remember that God thought upon us from old eternity, continues to think upon us every moment, and will think of us when time shall be no more, we may well exclaim, "How great is the sum!" Thoughts such as are natureal to the Creator, the Preserver, the Redeemer, the Father, the Friend, are evermore flowing from the heart of the Lord. Thoughts of our pardon, renewal, upholding, supplying, educating, perfecting, and a thousand more kinds perpetually well up in the mind of the Most High. It should fill us with adoring wonder and reverent surprise that the infinite mind of God should turn so many thoughts towards us who are so insignificant and so unworthy! What a contrast is all this to the notion of those who deny the existence of a personal, conscious God! Imagine a world without a thinking, personal God! Conceive of a grim providence of machinery! -- a fatherhood of law! Such philosophy is hard and cold. As well might a man pillow his head upon a razor edge as seek rest in such a fancy. But a God always thinking of us makes a happy world, a rich life, a heavenly hereafter. [Spurgeon, Treasure of David, Vol 3, pg 264]
Last of all before we begin our study Let us hear the Words of William Gurnall upon this great and blessed truth that God has precious thoughts for us, for me, and how great is the sum of them:
Mercies are either ordinary or extraordinary--our common necessaries, or the remarkable supplies which we receive now and then at the hand of God. Thou must not only praise him for some extraordinary mercy, that comes with such pomp and observation that all thy neighbours take notice of it with thee, as the mercy which Zacharias and Elizabeth had in their son, that was noised about all the country(Luke 1:65); but also for ordinary, every-day mercies: for first, we are unworthy of the least mercy (Genesis 32:10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. ), and therefore God is worthy of praise for the least, because it is more than he owes us. Secondly, these common ordinary mercies are many. Thus David enhancelth ther mercies of this kind,-- "O God, how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I wake I am still with thee." As if he had said, There is not a point of time wherein thou art not doing me good; as soon as I open my eyes in the morining I have a new theme, in some fresh merceis given since I closed them over-night, to employ my praiseful meditations. Many little items make together a great sum. What is lighter than a grain of sand, yet what is heavier than the sand upon the sea-shore? As little sins (such as vain thoughts and idle words), because of their multitude, arise to a great guilt, and will bring in a long bill, a heavy reckoning at last; so, ordinary mercies, what they want in their size of some other great merceis, have compensated it in their number. Who will not say that a man shows greater kindness in maintaining one at his table with ordinary fare all the year than in entertaining him at a great geast twice or thrice in the same time? [William Gurnall, Treasure of David, Vol III-pg 283]
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, [are] thy wonderful works [which] thou hast done, and thy thoughts [which are] to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: [if] I would declare and speak [of them], they are more than can be numbered.
From Treasury of David on the above verse:
EXPOSITION
Verse 5. ["Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done."] Creation, providence, and redemption, teem with wonders as the sea with life. Our special attention is called by this passage to the marvels which cluster around the cross and flash from it. The accomplished redemption achieves many ends, and compasses a variety of designs; the outgoings of the atonement are not to be reckoned up, the influences of the cross reach further than the beams of the sun. Wonders of grace beyond all enumeration take their rise from the cross; adoption, pardon, justification, and a long chain of godlike miracles of love proceed from it. Note that our Lord here speaks of the Lord as "my God." The man Christ Jesus claimed for himself and us a covenant relationship with Jehovah. Let our interest in our God be ever to us our peculiar treasure. ["And thy thoughts which are to us-ward."] The divine thoughts march with the divine acts, for it is not according the God's wisdom to act without deliberation and counsel. All the divine thoughts are good and gracious towards his elect. God's thoughts of love are very many, very wonderful, very practical! Muse on them, dear reader; no sweeter subject ever occupied your mind. God's thoughts of you are many, let not yours be few in return. ["They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee."] Their sum is so great as to forbid alike analysis and numeration. Human minds fail to measure, or to arrange in order, the Lord's ways and thoughts; and it must always be so, for he hath said, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." No maze to lose oneself in like the labyrinth of love. How sweet to be outdone, overcome and overwhelmed by the astonishing grace of the Lord our God! ["If I would declare and speak of them,"] and surely this should be the occupation of my tongue at all seasonable opportunities, ["they are more than can be numbered;"] far beyond all human arithmetic they are multiplied; thoughts from all eternity, thoughts of my fall, my restoration, my redemption, my conversion, my pardon, my upholding, my perfecting, my eternal reward; the list is too long for writing, and the value of the mercies too great for estimation. Yet, if we cannot show forth all the works of the Lord, let us not make this an excuse for silence; for our Lord, who is in this our best example, oftenspake of the tender thoughts of the great Father.Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Pages 263, 264.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
[Verse] 5. [Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done,"] etc. Behold God in the magnificence and wisdom of the works which his hands have made, even this immense universe, which is full of his glory. What art and contrivance! What regularity, harmony, and proportion, are to be seen in all his productions, in the frame of our own bodies, or those that are about us! And with what beams of majestic glory do the sun, moon, and stars proclaim how august and wonderful in knowledge their Maker is! And ought not all these numberless beauties wherewith the world is stored, which the minds of inquisitive men are ready to admire, lead up our thoughts to the great Parent of all things, and inflame our amorous souls with loveto him, who is infinitely brighter and fairer than them all?
Cast abroad your eyes through the nations, and meditate on the mighty acts which he hath done, and the wisdom and power of his providence, which should charm all thy affections. Behold his admirable patience, with what pity he looks down on obstinate rebels; and how he is moved with compassion when he sees his creatures polluted in their blood, and bent upon their own destruction; how long he waits to be gracious; how unwillingly he appears to give up with sinners, and execute deserved vengeance on his enemies; and then with what joy he pardons, for "with him is plenteous redemption." And what can have more force than these to win thy esteem, and make a willing conquest of thy heart? so that every object about thee is an argument of love, and furnishes fuel for this sacred fire. And whether you behold God in the firmament of his power, or the sanctuary of his grace, you cannot miss to pronounce him "altogether lovely."[William Dunlop.]
[Verse] 5. ["Thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:" i.e.,] there is no one can digest them in order; for although that may be attempted according to the comprehension and meaning of men, yet [not before thee,] every attempt of that nature being infinitely beneath thy immeasurable glory.[Victorinus Bythner's "Lyre of David;" translated by T. Dee: new edition, by N. L. Benmohel,] 1847.
[Verse] 5. ["Us-ward."] It is worthy of notice that while addressing his Father, as Jehovah and his God, our Saviour speaks of the members of the human family as his fellows. This is implied in the expression "to us-ward." He regarded himself as most intimately associated with the children of men.[James Frame.]
[Verse] 5. ["They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee."] They are "in order" in themselves, and if they could be "reckoned up" as they are, they would be "reckoned in order." Created mind may not be able to grasp the principle of order that pervades them, but such a principle there is. And the more we study the whole series in its interrelations, the more shall we be convinced that as to time and place all the preparations for the mediatorial work of Christ, all the parts of its accomplishment, and all the divinely appointed consequences of its acceptation throughout all time into eternity, are faultlessly in order; they are precisely what and where and when they should be. [James Frame.]
[Verse] 5. ["They are more than can be numbered."] The pulses of Providence are quicker than those of our wrists or temples. The soul of David knew right well their multiplicity, but could not multiply them aright by any skill in arithmetic; nay, the very sum or chief heads of divine kindnesses were innumerable. His "wonderful works" and "thoughts" towards him could not be reckoned up in order by him, they were [more than could be numbered.] [Samuel Lee] (1625 - 1691), [in "The Triumph of Mercy in the Chariot of Praise.]
[Verse] 5. It is Christ's speech, of whom the Psalm is made, and that relating unto his Father's resolved purposes and contrivements frometernity, and those continued unto his sending Christ into the world to die for us, as verses 6, 7. It follows so, as although his thoughts and purposes were but one individual act at first, and never to be altered; yet they became many, through a perpetuated reiteration of them, wherein his constancy to himself is seen. . . . . . My brethren, if God have been thinking thoughts of mercy from everlasting to those that are his, what a stock and treasury do these thoughts arise to, besides those that are in his nature and disposition! This is in his actual purposes and intentions, which he hath thought, and doth think over, again and again, every moment. ["Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us- ward,"] saith Jesus Christ; for Psalm 40 is a Psalm of Christ, and quoted by the apostle, and applied unto Christ in Hebrews 10, ["How many are thy thoughts] to us-ward!" --- he speaks it in the name of the human nature --- that is, to me and mine. ["If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."] And what is the reason? Because God hath studied mercies, mercies for his children, even from everlasting. And then, "He reneweth his mercies every morning;" not that any mercies are new, but he actually thinketh over mercies again and again, and so he brings out of his treasury, mercies both new and old, and old are always new. What a stock, my brethren, must this needs amount unto! [Thomas Goodwin.]
Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Pages 271, 272.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
[Verse] 5.
I. [There are works of God in his people and for his people.] There are his works of creation, of providence, and of redemption, and also his works of grace, wrought in them by his Spirit, and around them by his providence, as well as for them by his Son.
II. [These are wonderful works;] wonderful in their variety, their tenderness, their adaptation to their need, their cooperation with outward means and their power.
III. [They are the result of the divine thoughts respecting us.] They come not by chance, not by men, but by the hand of God, and that hand is moved by his will, and that will by his thought respecting us. Every mercy, even the least, represents some kind thought in the mind of God respecting us. God thinks of each one of his people, and every moment.
IV. They are innumerable. ["They cannot be reckoned up."] Could we see all the mercies of God to us and his wonderful works wrought for us individually, they would be countless as the sands, and all these countless mercies represent countless thoughts in the mind and heart of God to each one of his people. [George Rogers.]
[Verse] 5. The multitude of God's thoughts, and deeds of grace; beginning in eternity, continuing for ever; and dealing with this life, heaven, hell, sin, angels, devils, and indeed all things. Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Page 281.
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
EXPOSITION
Verse 11. ["The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever."] He changes not his purpose, his decree is not frustrated, his designs are accomplished. God has a predestination according to the counsel of his will, and none of the devices of his foes can thwart his decree for a moment. Men's purposes are blown to and from like the thread of the gossamer or the down of the thistle, but the eternal purposes are firmer than the earth. ["The thoughts of his heart to all generations."] Men come and go, sons follow their sires to the grave, but the undisturbed mind of God moves on in unbroken serenity, producing ordained results with unerring certainty. No man can expect his will or plan to be carried out from age to age; the wisdom of one period is the folly of another, but the Lord's wisdom is always wise, and his designs run on from century to century. His power to fulfil his purposes is by no means diminished by the lapse of years. He who was absolute over Pharaoh in Egypt is not one whit the less to-day the King of kings and Lord of lords; still do his chariot wheels roll onward in imperial grandeur, none being for a moment able to resist his eternal will. Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Page 118.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
[Verse] 11. ["The counsel of the Lord."] Note the contrast between the counsel of the heathen in the last verse, and the counsel of the Lord in this. [C. H. S.]
[Verse] 11. ["The thoughts."] The same word as [devices] in the preceding verse. [William de Burgh, D.D., in loc.]
[Verse] 11. The wheels in a watch or a clock move contrary one to another, some one way, some another, yet all serve the intent of the workman, to show the time, or to make the clock strike. So in the world, the providence of God may seem to run cross to his promises; one man takes this way, another runs that way; good men go one way, wicked men another, yet all in conclusion accomplish the will, and centre in the purpose of God the great Creator of all things. [Richard Sibbes.]
[Verse] 11 ([last clause]). Think not, brethren, because he said, ["The thoughts of his heart,"] that God as it were sitteth down and thinketh what he should do, and taketh counsel to do anything, or not to do anything. To thee, O man, belongs such tardiness. [Augustine.] Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Page 128.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
[Verses] 10, 11. The opposing counsels.
[Verse] 11. The eternity, immutability, efficiency, and wisdom of the divine decrees. God's purposes, "the thoughts of his heart," hence their wisdom, and yet more their love. Reference: The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Published by Guardian Press, 1976, Vol. II, Page 134.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Thus with the above Introduction let us now begin our study on the Precious thoughts of our glorious God. As Winslow states so well when relaying the purpose of His Chapter, The Preciousness of God's Thoughts. "....may the theme lay low all high, towering, sinful thoughts of ourselves, and inspire and raise our holy, grateful, adoring thoughts of Him--His glory, beauty, and love--until, with a depth of adoration, and an intensity of affection, worthy the theme, or hearts respond, Psalms 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
I. Contemplating a few characteristics of God's precious thoughts of His saints.
A. Infinite Thoughts: God's thoughts of His People are infinite.
Malachi 1:14 But cursed [be] the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I [am] a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.
Psalms 99:2-3 The LORD [is] great in Zion; and he [is] high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; [for] it [is] holy.
God's thoughts our VAST, LIMITLESS, INFINITE, worthy of his GREATNESS.
Electing thoughts, Redeeming thoughts, Regenerating thoughts, Sanctifying thoughts. How God thought to Choose before the foundation of the world was laid. How God thought to buy us back-redeem from sin his own beloved chosen children. How God thought to make us new through the regenerating work of the HOLY GHOST. How God thought to bring us to maturity through the sanctifying work of His Spirit. What marvelous and wonderful, in fact incomprehensible thoughts these are that our HEAVENLY FATHER HAS OF US.
THINK NOT LIGHTLY OF THE THOUGHTS OF GOD - PRECIOUS THOUGHTS.
B. Thoughts that are HIDDEN: God's thoughts of his people are hidden.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
We do not know all the thoughts (or purposes) God has for us in our life. We may not know until it is God's good pleasure to reveal them to us either by special revelation or the working of providence. We know that he never fails to have us in his thoughts. There is never a moment that God is not thinking of you. (GREAT IS THE SUM OF THEM) As someone said we don't know what the future has for us but we do know who holds the future. God has for us his own elect, chosen, and beloved people thoughts of peace and not of evil. We also have in Jesus Christ a great revelation of the thoughts of God towards us. Thoughts of reconciliation. Winslow says, "Jesus is the expression and embodiment of our Father's mind. Jesus is God thinking, God loving, God working, God redeeming." [Winslow, Precious Things, pg 118]
I can trust in him who has precious thoughts unto me. Though I know not all, I can be still and wait upon my God -- Being quick to listen when he speaks by through his providence and by His Spirit through His Word.
Psalms 77:19-20 Thy way [is] in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
C. UNCHANGEABLE THOUGHTS: Unchangeableness is another characteristic of God's thoughts of His People.
God is the Unchangeable ONE:
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Malachi 3:6 For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Human thoughts Change - We can be fickle - God is perfect in every way altogether above us ininitely above us. He changes not. No shadow o turning in Him. No variableness in our God. His will is perfect, his thoughts are perfect they are precious unto me How great is the sum of them and they change not!
Isaiah 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou [art] my servant: I have formed thee; thou [art] my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
A mother ought to be a wonderful example of earthly love, of tenderness, sympathy, and love yet SHE MAY FORGET, yet not our God.Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Though we may think our way is hid from the Lord due to trials and sorrows, It is not so for the Lord says:
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] hands; thy walls [are] continually before me.
II. What are some of God's Thoughts toward ME?
A. He thinks upon our persons.
Note first he accepts the person then the sacrifice and we must take heed not to reverse this order:
Ezekiel 20:41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
His people are an ACCEPTED PEOPLE:
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
B. God thinks of HIS OWN WORK IN YOUR SOUL.
He has thoughts for "that divine kingdom of righteousness, joy, peace in the Holy Spirit which has its home in every regenerate man. Its development and growth, its progress amidst indwelling sin, the fluctuation of spiritual feeling, the varied phases it assumes, the summer's drought, the winter's frost through which it passes--occupies the incessant thoughts of God. He has His eye upon that hidden kingdom of grace in the soul more intently, more fixedly, more benignantly than He views the most powerful and gorgeous kingdom upon earth.
Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
II Corinthians 9:8 And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work:
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
II Thessalonians 2:17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
Hebrews 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.
C. THOUGHTS UPON THE RETURNS HIS PEOPLE MAKE: Nothing we do escapes his notice. Is God indifferent to wards any of our actions? NO!
God knows the thoughts of our hearts. His thinking upon them is part of the precious thoughts he has toward us. He knows when we in earnest seek to please him with our every thought, with our acts of devotion, with our prayers, with our thoughts of prayer, with our thoughts of love and adoration towards our Heavenly Father. With our remembrances of Him he thinks upon. We may be weak and feeble in our attempts to honour and glorify him but this does not escape his loving notice. God thinks of it.
He thinks upon our acts of obedience.
Matthew 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Acts 10:31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
III. Preciousness of God's Thoughts
Is not the knowledge that God has thoughts of us a precious truth and a great encouragement with which our hearts may be cheered? God has thoughts of Love towards us, Thoughts of preserving us in our walk, Thoughts of completing in us the work which he began. We have a personal share in the thoughts of God who will not forget us. BLESSED TRUTH-COMFORTING TRUTH, how precious are the thoughts he has unto me, HOW GREAT IS THE SUM OF THEM!
A. They are precious in themselves.
They are a Father's thoughts. Can you not find preciousness in this truth? Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
B. As redeeming thoughts they are precious.
Finite mind could not have thought of saving man. Finite mind could not have harmonized justice with mercy, holiness with love, truth with grace, reconciling all the seemingly opposing interests of heaven in the salvation of sinners by the blood of the cross was a thought worthy of God. [Winslow, Precious, pg 126, paraphrased]
Psalms 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed [each other].
Only God could have reconciled rebellious subjects.
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Isaiah 53:5-6 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 28:29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, [which] is wonderful in counsel, [and] excellent in working.
Precious thoughts that planned and accomplished our redemption, my salvation and at a cost so precious.
I Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
C. How precious are God's Thoughts in conversion.Isaiah 66:2 For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
D. How precious are His restoring thoughts.
Restoring us when we fall.
Psalms 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
E. God's providential thoughts of his people are precious.
He fed Elijah.
He Fed the Widow with which Elijah stayed.
IV. Precious in the personal experience of the believer are God's thoughts.
Proverbs 19:27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction [that causeth] to err from the words of knowledge.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The knowledge of God's loving thoughts are precious in our own personal experience.
V. God thoughts are precious in times of depression. (Not the same as pscyhological pity parties perhaps but melancholic times or times of mental despair. Precious in these times are the thoughts Our God has toward us.
Each person of the Godhead has thoughts toward you. Comforting and precious in despondent times. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Psalms 40:17 But I [am] poor and needy; [yet] the Lord thinketh upon me: thou [art] my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
VI. What are our thoughts towards God. Can we ever have enough. Certainly we will fall short. But know this that God is not in all the thoughts of the UNGODLY.
Psalms 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.
Psalms 104:34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
PRECIOUS TO HIS HEART ARE YOUR THOUGHTS OF HIM:
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
When mourning God has comforting thoughts for you:
Isaiah 51:12 I, [even] I, [am] he that comforteth you: who [art] thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man [that] shall die, and of the son of man [which] shall be made [as] grass;
When Sick God thinks of you:
Psalms 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we [are] dust.
Comfort yourself in the LOFTY AND GREAT THOUGHTS OF OUR GOD:
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
EXCLAIM AND PROCLAIM:
Psalms 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
I Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
=======================================================================================================
[Home] [Palace Beautiful] [Fighting Apollyon] [Introduction]
=======================================================================================================