Thinking Out Loud

 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”— Psalm 139:17-18   

I like the honesty of King David. Up until verse sixteen of Psalm 139, David is contemplating ways he could hide from God. I’ve done that. but unlike King David, I don’t readily write about it.

Then David realizes that there is no place in the universe he can go to avoid God.  He even concludes that God knew Him and counted all of his days while he was still forming inside his mother’s body. After meditating upon all of this, David finally says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” As this Psalm clearly shows, the thoughts of God have been resting upon David, and David tells us that those thoughts are more numerous than the grains of sand (vs. 18).

Think about that. God has more thoughts about you than there are grains of sand on the earth. And those are precious thoughts, not angry, disappointing thoughts.

God is thinking about His creation, and His thoughts are precious as they pertain to man—so precious, in fact, that God has chosen to crown man with glory and honor (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:7) and to one day set his stature eternally above that of heavenly beings.

When we truly understand that God is thinking precious and positive thoughts about us, and even wants us to live crowned with glory and honor, not burdened with sin and shame, will it change our way of life?

• Will we use our crown to show off our unique place and tromp around like a Hollywood celebrity, or will we live in the humility of Christ, who taught us that the “first will be last, and the last first” (Mk. 9:33-37; 10:29-31)?

• Will we use our creative abilities to make a place and a name for ourselves in this world and gain Andy Warhol’s promised fifteen minutes of fame, or will we take the few talents that God has given us and return to Him double the portion He has granted us (Luke 19:12-27)?

• Will we desire to grow rich and famous and have everything we could ever want, and gain everything the world could ever give, or will we take this glory and honor and use it as Jesus did – to radiate the glory of God Himself (Hebrews 1:3)?

It bothers me that I have not always believed that when God is thinking of me, His thoughts are precious. But they are. And He’s given me a crown to wear and a King to represent. I figure if God thinks well enough of me to die for my eternal salvation and crown me with glory and honor, the least I could do is believe Him.

His thoughts of you are precious, too. Do you believe Him?