How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139: 17, 18, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to You for Your love and tender mercy. We pray that You will remain with us during this study and help us to learn more of Your “thoughts to [us]!” In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Some of you may have had the experience of meeting with a friend and heard him or her exclaim: “I was just thinking about you! Or, you may have been thinking of someone when suddenly, he or she appeared. Our thoughts tend to wander from person to person, for a few minutes at a time, or, even for extended periods of time. But according to the psalmist, God’s thoughts to [us] are “more in number than the sand.” They are numberless, “precious,” and continuous!
Note further that the psalmist was talking only about God’s thoughts of him! Multiply that numberless amount by the approximately sixty-eight billion people in our world! God has a lot on His mind! I am almost certain, that because of His great love toward His creatures – He would have it no other way.
What is most gracious about His thoughts toward us, is that they are precious thoughts – good thoughts! While it is true that we often think about each other, it is also true, that our thoughts are not always precious. But God’s thoughts are so different from ours! His Word informs us, ” ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ ” says 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” ‘ ” (Isaiah 55: 8, 9). How do we personalize these thoughts toward us?
In Scripture, God uses both parents, Father and Mother figures to represent His care and concern for His children. Listen: But Zion said, ” ‘The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’ ” ‘ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49: 15, 16).
Let me open a parenthesis here to say the following: God who created mothers knows how mothers love. I believe it is not wise for onlookers to criticize some of the actions taken by mothers in dealing with their children. Actions such as giving them up for adoption, or walking away and leaving them in the care of a relative or someone who they are sure will be good to the child(ren). There was a time when I criticized such behavior. I do not any longer. I still do not agree or approve of these actions, but because I have not lived the experiences of these mothers, I am therefore, not in a position to pass judgment on their actions. Jesus walked in the moccasins of the human race and was “tempted like we are” (Hebrews 4: 15). Only He has the right to judge their actions.
Getting back to the text: Notice the way it is worded, “Surely they may forget[.]” It is possible for them to forget. It is not the most likely thing to happen, is what I believe is suggested here, but even if they should forget, I will never forget you. I always have you on My mind.
As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103: 13, 14). God remembers our frailty. He formed us. Because of this, no one ever needs to feel hopeless. No one ever needs to feel rejected. No one ever needs to feel condemned. There is hope! God’s great love provided a Savior for the world – and He has us on His mind! Praise God!