Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, February 25, 2023
Shabbat Shalom,
Day 30: Evening
The Innumerable and Precious Thoughts of God
by David Harwood
The God Who knows everything thinks. Omniscience concentrates. He plans and makes contingency plans.
When you are convinced that the LORD is good, your thoughts about Him will be comforting and encouraging. For instance, think about how He adjusts our pasts for our benefit.
Psalm 23:6 hints of this. It is written, “Goodness and mercy are pursuing” us. Paul proclaimed:
Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 TLV)
He is adjusting all things to work together in perfect synergy for the benefit of all who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Peter wrote concerning God’s purpose:
The God of all grace—who has called you into His eternal glory in Messiah—will Himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10b TLV)
That is another way of describing what Paul revealed in Romans 8:29.
For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29 TLV)
Please note that there is a difference between foreknowledge and predestination. To briefly illustrate: suppose you know that you’re going to meet a friend at a café. Upon the basis of that knowledge, you may determine to purchase them a cup of coffee. Foreknowledge and predestination are different.
What are the results of all things working together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose? Participation in the glory of God.
Therefore, having been made righteous by trusting, we have shalom with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Through Him we also have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and boast in the hope of God’s glory. (Romans 5:1-2 TLV)
An aspect of this glory is described in Philippians. It has to do with the utter transformation of who we are and what we’re like.
For our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. He will transform this humble body of ours into the likeness of His glorious body, through the power that enables Him even to put all things in subjection to Himself. (Philippians 3:20-21 TLV)
Talk about His thoughts! Think about these plans! We’re slated for the indescribable. I was recently talking about how, to the human eye, every grain of sand looks the same. Then I recalled what they look like under a microscope. Not only are they beautiful, but they’re also unique. According to science’s extrapolations, it seems that there are no two grains of sand that are identical in our world. Of course, nobody has examined, measured, and compared every grain, but there is enough evidence of beauty and diversity for this claim to be accepted.
Psalm 139 speaks about the results of the Omniscient One’s considerations.
How precious are Your thoughts, O God! How great is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand! (Psalm 139:17-18a TLV)
Consider this: your God has unique and beautiful thoughts. I hope that encourages you to love Him more, even if it is just for a moment.
To make certain that we don’t miss this opportunity to experience gratitude, let’s zero in on what King David wrote in Psalm 40.
Your plans for us are wonderful— there is none to be compared to You! If I were to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to count! (Psalm 40:5b TLV)
God doesn’t just have thoughts; He has thoughts about us. He has thoughts about you. They are innumerable, specific, unique, and beautiful. They are precious (Psalm 139:17). The Hebrew is:
יָקַר (yāqar), be precious, costly, valued, esteemed, impressive, regard something as valuable; (NIDOTTE)
God’s thoughts toward you are precious because He sees you as valuable. Your thoughts about Him are precious to Him. Please carefully consider the illumination we receive through these Scriptures.
We can stir our hearts through thinking about these matters.
Godly Meditation
Takes Concentration.
Employ Your Mind.
Work at it.
He has helped me grow in my love for Him. He will help you.
Pray:
Lord, help me meditate.
Give me strength to see things from the perspective of Who You are and what You’re like.
I offer myself to You.
Renew my mind.
VanGemeren, W., ed. (1997). In The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Vol. 2, p. 522). Zondervan Publishing House.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarsson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat 25-Feb-2020 4th of Adar, 5783 Parashat Terumah
Ex 27:9-19 1Ki 5:12[26]-6:13 Heb 8:1-6