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Daily Devotion: Psalm 139:17-18

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Psalm 139:17-18    "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  (18)  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!"  What is the reason for someone to constantly be in your thoughts? I can think of two reasons immediately. One reason would be that you felt someone did you wrong. In that case, the thoughts would not be considered precious; rather, they would probably be vindictive thoughts that would constantly cause you to be troubled. The second reason that someone is constantly in your thoughts would be that you feel very close to that person and your heart is turned to them with great affection.  At that point, your thoughts would be great and you feel highly blessed.

My question this morning would be, "How often do my thoughts turn toward God?"  On any given day, what would be the number of hours in which, at some point, my thoughts turned toward the Almighty in a loving and thankful manner?  As I realize how negligent I can be, today's passage tells me that God does not neglect me. Not only does He think of me, His thoughts are precious and constant. The passage indicates that if I fully understood the manner in which God thinks about me, they would be so precious that the glory would overflow my very being. But not only are the thoughts precious to me, the passage indicates they are precious to God. Can we grasp that?  God thinks precious thoughts toward us and they are very personal. They are directed only to our individual hearts. Can we receive the impact of that this morning?  God does not only think of us at any given moment in any particular hour, His thoughts are constantly coming toward us.

We read in the book of 1 John 4:19,  "We love him, because he first loved us."  God first loved us even when we were unlovable, God loved us. When we were enemies of God, He loved us. When we stray from Him, He loves us. When we are sleeping, He loves us. When we are awake, He loves us. When we are broken, He loves us. When we are in the prisons of our own minds, He loves us. Do we get the idea now?  His thoughts toward us are precious because He loves us.  His love is that Agape love that is absolutely unconditional and never ending. I suggest you take a moment to read Jeremiah 29:11 and Jeremiah 31:3.  God loves us and has a definite plan for our lives. Let that soak in and then may our thoughts be lofty concerning Him.

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