Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 139:17
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
17. To me then, who am the object of all this care, how precious are thy thoughts, O God! It is my delight to meditate upon the purposes of Thy Providence. How vast are the sums of them! There are, as it were, many items in that inexhaustible theme, each of which is immeasurable. Cp. Psa 36:7; Psa 92:5; Job 26:14.
It is possible however that the word rendered precious means rather incomprehensible, overwhelming; and that the Psalmist is contrasting his knowledge of God with God’s knowledge of him. ‘Thou knowest all my thoughts and ways; but to me Thy thoughts are immeasurable and incomprehensible.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! – On the word thoughts, see the notes at Psa 139:2. Compare Psa 139:23. The remark is made here doubtless in view of the numberless thoughts involved in planning and forming a frame so wondrous, and in the care necessary to bring it to perfection; to develop it; to provide for it; to guard and defend it. How many thoughts of a parent are employed in behalf of his children, in providing for them; teaching them; counseling them; anticipating their needs. How manymore thoughts are needful on the part of God in reference to each one of us: for there are numberless things necessary for us which cannot occupy the mind of a parent, since he cannot accomplish these things for us; they do not lie within his province, or in his power.
How great is the sum of them – literally, How strong are the heads of them. That is, The heading of them, or the summing of them up, would be a task beyond the power of man. And who could estimate the number of the thoughts necessarily bestowed on himself by his Maker in all the care exercised over him; all the arrangements for his development and growth; all that is done to defend him from danger; all that is indispensable in providing for his needs; all that was necessary to secure the salvation of his soul! See the notes at Psa 40:5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 139:17-24
How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God.
Thoughts of God
The sense of Gods nearness brings thoughts of God. The devout soul cherishes these thoughts, and they become to it a joy unspeakable. One thing arrests attention. It is the sense of God as a fellow-person which this good man had.
I. How precious to me are my thoughts of Thee. The Jew associated the thought of God with everything. To him the grand things of nature were full of God. The mountains were the hills of God; the winds were the breathings of God; the thunder was the voice of God. The saints of God, in all the ages, have found one Being who is in everything, who is the life of everything, but they have found that they could enter into personal relations with Him.
1. Our thoughts of God are started by the history of His dealings with our fathers through the long ages.
2. By our studies of His handiwork.
3. Our best thoughts are started by our own personal experiences of His gracious dealings. For our lives have been so full of God. That seems to us now to be the supreme charm of them.
4. Our thoughts take on some new forms since we have had the helps and suggestions of our saving relations with the Lord Jesus.
II. How precious to me are Thy thoughts of me. It is a joy unspeakable to be assured that God is thinking about us, and is even enjoying His thoughts about us. Nothing can be more delightful than to feel that by our loving obediences, our sweet spirit of submission, and our devoted services to others, we are starting happy thoughts in the mind of God. We forget that as He takes pleasure in His people, we must be giving Him pleasure. There can be little comparison between Gods thoughts of us and our thoughts of God. We can get to know something of the thoughts of God, and fill our souls with the richest consolations, as we read His mind and heart. The smile on His face shines through the veil of nature, and we can tell what He is thinking that makes Him smile. His whisperings are heard in the sighing of the evening breeze, and the tender tones tell us what love-thoughts are cherished in His heart. Have we made enough of the signs which help us to read the thoughts of God? His thoughts take shape as exceeding great and precious promises. When we are cherishing loving thoughts concerning some earthly friend, we find that we cannot satisfy ourselves without devising and bestowing some gift. And it is just the same with God. He could not satisfy Himself with merely cherishing loving thoughts about us. He must do something for us. He must give something to us. He must give Himself to us in some gift. And what shall it bey It shall be His most cherished possession, His dearest and best, His only-begotten and well-beloved Son. That is indeed an unspeakably precious gift. Cannot we read the thoughts of God by the help of that gift? How the Father-heart of God must have yearned over His lost children! How precious are Thy thoughts. We are wrapped about with Gods loving thoughts, and they keep us warmed and cheered. (Robert Tuck, B. A.)
The precious thoughts of God
I. Thoughts of mercy.
1. That mercy is free–free as yon arch of heaven above our heads; free as the sunlight that shines upon all and everywhere.
2. That mercy is full. It never asks how many or how black are our sins.
3. That mercy is exhaustless. If I may say so, it has no superlative. Whatever in all the past ages of the Church He has done for any soul He can exceed that.
4. That mercy is ready.
5. That mercy gets glory to itself out of the very sins which it forgives.
II. Thoughts of love. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are but dust. He tempers the trial, and brings good out of it. And He is always doing this all our lives through.
III. Thoughts of glory. To fit us to mingle in the society of heaven is Gods purpose–a purpose which He keeps steadily in view in all His providential dealings with us. (A. C. Price.)
Gods thoughts concerning us
To think is to exercise the prerogative of an immortal soul; thus are we distinguished from the lower animals, who certainly cannot carry on any continued process of thought. By this power we reflect the image of God. The human intellect is mans crowning possession, that which makes him immortal. But if it is so wonderful, the power and possibility of thought to man, what shall we say of the thought of God? It is this fact which has inspired this sublime psalm and culminates in our text. No wonder David was carried out of himself at the thought of Gods thoughts concerning man. The infinite shone in upon him, and ha caught a vision of the limitless expanse beyond. Of these thoughts he declares–
I. They are precious. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God; costly, highly valuable. Who shall measure the value of Gods thoughts to man? What currency could express their preciousness? For His thoughts are not vagrant like ours, going a-wool-gathering hither and yon, without direction or purpose. Every one becomes a creation, a star, a living creature, a cataract, a gleaming cliff, a beautiful human soul.
II. The sum of them is great. Great in their totality. The summary of them is beyond us. If we consider them in their generic outline they are great. We may fathom one little fact in Gods world, a single thought, bug how can the human mind take in the whole outline? Who knows the mind of God? What can we do with our finite minds to compass divinity? How vain and weak is man face to face with the Author of all life. How humble and reverent it should make us when we consider the works of His hands and our own feeble undertakings. How great is the sum of them.
III. They are incomprehensible. David felt as Milton after him, that he was only picking up shells on the shore of that vast ocean he must sail so soon. How wonderful is life, in its minute forms. What delicate beauty. What exquisite harmony. What undeviating law runs through all life. (G. F. Humphreys.)
Gods thoughts of us
I. Loving. He thought of us when we were plunged in hopeless ruin, and His great heart of pity went out, after us. But with what complacent love He thinks of those who heed His calls and are loyal to His leadership!
II. Constant. He never forgets. Husbands and wives think of each other often and tenderly when separated. So the fond mother and her darling child. But their thoughts are interrupted by necessary attention to other matters. By the very limitations of their own nature they cannot hold their minds incessantly upon one person, however dear. Not so with God. Great events do not divert Him. He may have worlds to create and govern, but He is not so absorbed in them as to forget us. No exigency can arise for which He is not fully prepared. Nothing can fake Him by surprise.
III. Personal. God does not think of us in a crowd, as forming indefinite parts of a great mass-meeting. He singles us out and thinks of us individually–as if there were no other person in the universe. We are compelled to divide our thoughts and loving attentions between the different ones that come into the charmed circle of our friendship. But God thinks of me as really, as definitely, as personally as He does of the seraph nearest the throne.
IV. Helpful. We may think of a person, but have no disposition to help him. But God has a disposition to help and the ability to help, and He lives and thinks of us on purpose to help. The outgoings of His loving heart are benedictions upon our heads and benefactions upon our daily pathway. (H. Johnson, D. D.)
Our thoughts about Gods thoughts
I. Gods thoughts of us.
1. That the infinite Jehovah thinks of us is absolutely certain. I know that the notion of some men is that the world is like a watch, and that God has done with it as we do with our watches–that, is, wound it up, put, it under His pillow, and gone to sleep. But it is not so; for in this great world-watch–to keep up the figure–God is present with every wheel and every cog of every wheel; there is no action in it apart from His present putting forth of power to make it move. Now, as God thinks and must think of the whole material universe which He has created, much more does He think of men, and most of all of us who are His chosen people. God must think of us; the blood would not flow in our veins, nor would the breath make our lungs to heave, nor would our various bodily processes go on without the perpetual exercise of His power. God must think of us especially in all the higher departments of our being, for they would speedily come to nothing apart from His constant care.
2. Gods thoughts of us must be very numerous. One or two thoughts would not suffice for our many needs; if He only thought of us now and then, what should we do in the meantime? But He thinks of us constantly.
3. His thoughts of us are very tender. He looks upon His people as a father upon a child. How often He has screened us from trouble! How frequently He has prepared us for a trial, so that, when it came, it did not crush us! How often He has rescued us out of sore perils! How often He has visited us in the night, and given us songs amid our sorrow!
4. Very wise.
5. Very practical. His thoughts are really His acts, for with Him to will is to do.
II. Our thoughts upon Gods thoughts.
1. There is no other thought that can for a moment be compared with it.
2. How delightful it is to he thought upon by God.
3. How consoling.
4. The thoughts of God often move the souls of Christians, strengthening them in faith, arousing them to love, bestirring them to zeal.
III. Our thoughts upon God himself.
1. They bring us near to God.
2. They help to keep us near to God.
3. They help to restore to us Gods presence if for a while we have lest it. When I awake that means, I have been asleep, and so have lost the consciousness of Gods presence. Have you never known what it is, at night, to be quite sorry to go to sleep because you have been so full of holy joy that you were afraid you might lose it while you were unconscious? When I awake, I am still with Thee. I think it means also, When I wake up from any temporary lethargy into which I may have fallen, I am still with Thee. We all get into that state sometimes; sleeping, though our heart is awake. We wish to be more brisk, more lively; but we cannot stir ourselves up. We have fallen into a kind of stupor. What a blessing it is to be roused out of it, possibly by a severe affliction, perhaps by an earnest discourse! Then the awakened one says, Now I have come back to Thee, my God. There was a something within me that could not forget Thee, even for a while, though it lay still and dormant. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The thoughts of the Infinite appreciated by man
I. They must be discovered.
1. There must be a revelation of them.
(1) in the material world.
(2) Events of history.
(3) Bible.
2. There must be a capacity to interpret the revelation. That is the distinction of man.
3. The capacity must be rightly employed. We must study the revelation. What is the scientist in quest of with his lenses, retorts, laboratories? The thoughts of God in nature. What is the Biblical critic in search of in investigating the meaning of Scripture? The thoughts of God in the Bible.
II. They must be compared. We get the impression that one fabric is more precious than another, one stone more precious than another, one life more precious than another by comparison. Thus we are to get the impression of Gods thoughts by comparing them with ours. They are–
1. Absolutely original. All human thoughts are derived.
2. Comprehensive–taking in the whole of a thing, and the whole of everything.
3. Unsuccessive.
4. Infinitely useful.
5. Everlasting.
6. Essentially holy. Thus His thoughts are not as our thoughts.
III. They must be appropriated. As light is precious only to the man who sees, food only to the man who participates, beauty only to the man who admires, so Gods thoughts are only precious to the man who appropriate them. (Homilist.)
Precious thoughts
God has thoughts, and they are infinite in number, in compass, and in importance. Some of His thoughts are expressed, many more remain unexpressed. There are at least three modes of expressing thought. One is by acting them. Creation, with its complicated laws and systems, is nettling more than Gods thought expressed in act. Another mode of expressing thought is by speech. God has gifted man above the brute creation with the power of speech. God has conveyed some of His thoughts to men through the medium of speech. Moses heard His voice on Sinai; He spoke to Abraham, to Jacob, to Samuel, and others, and to these, His servants, the Divine voice was a vehicle to convey Divine thought. Under the dispensation of the Incarnation, God made extensive use of speech, in the Person of our Blessed Lord, to convey His thoughts to the children of men. Another mode of expressing thought is by writing. Men convey thoughts through the medium of books. In the Bible you have a volume of Gods thoughts in writing.
I. Thoughts, in order to be precious, must be good.
morally good–good in themselves, and good in their influence on those who embrace them, pure and purifying. Millions on earth, and millions more in heaven, can bear testimony that Gods thoughts have elevated the mind, given to the heart quickening impulses towards virtue, and kindled aspirations after God and purity.
II. Thoughts to be precious must be true–great intellects sometimes waste their energies on the untrue and unreal. They live in an ideal world, a creation of their own fancy, and by their writings allure many into the same world of dreams and allegory. You must give the intellect reality, substance, truth, in order to satisfy its deeper cravings. In the Bible we have a volume of Gods thoughts, and they are all true. Some portions have been written in poetry, but it is not the poetry of fiction or fancy, but the poetry of truth, eternal truth.
III. Thoughts are sometimes precious because of their originality. It is truly refreshing to come in contact with a great mind, who conducts you into loftier mental altitudes than usual, opens out landscapes of thought where the mind may revel with a transport of joy over thoughts which are fresh, noble, and pure. In the Bible we have a volume of Gods thoughts, many of them original, belonging exclusively to God. They were hidden in the bosom of God before the beginning of creation, and God only could make them known to the intelligent universe.
IV. Thoughts, in order to be precious, must be benevolently related to me. The Bible assures me that Gods thoughts are benevolent and merciful. The Gospel is the out-breathing of the great Fathers love towards His rebel children, the yearnings of His heart over His prodigal family, the advertisement of His anxiety to see His alienated creatures return, and of His willingness to forgive and forget their infinite wrong.
V. Thoughts, in order to be precious, must be practicable. The scheme which the Gospel reveals is not hypothetical; it is not the offer of a boon on conditions which are impossible. It is gloriously possible. It is the proclamation of an all-sufficient remedy, that redemption is effected, that it is free for all, that every difficulty has been removed, every claim met, and that now nothing is wanting on the part of man but an open heart to receive and welcome the gift Divine. This is Gods thought, and it is precious. (R. Roberts.)
Gods unexpressed thoughts
Some of Gods thoughts are expressed, but many more remain unexpressed. His unexpressed thoughts, we believe, infinitely exceed both in number and grandeur His expressed thoughts. Some think science is making very rapid progress in the discovery of Gods thoughts in the realm of matter, but the progress is slow when compared with the infinite multitude of thoughts which yet remain to be disclosed. Think of the sunbeams. They have been irradiating the world from the very beginning of creation. Think, again, of the iodine in the seaweed. It has been there ever since the sea lashed its shores first. The sunbeam is Gods thought, the iodine is Gods thought; but there is a third thought, springing from the combination under certain conditions of the ray of light and the iodine. You take the iodine from the seaweed, sprinkle its vapour on a piece of glass, hold that glass in the sunlight, stand in front of it, and you have yourself photographed. This third thought of photography has only been recent]y discovered. The thought was present to God when He created the first ray of light and put the first drop of iodine in the seaweed, and yet it has taken man thousands of years to discover that thought, so simple now that we know it. So still there are infinite abysses which we cannot fathom, and infinite heights which we can never reach. We have only reached the alphabet of knowledge as yet. We are in the infancy of our being, mastering with difficulty our elementary primer. Neither the youth nor the manhood of mind will be reached by us in this world. We shall all die mere infants in knowledge. But there is mental manhood in store for us somewhere in the universe of God. We fondly hope and firmly believe that in heaven God will reveal to us His deeper and higher thoughts. We are now groping outside and knocking at the door of the temple of truth. Then we shall be admitted into the interior, and perhaps feel ourselves at first bewildered with its infinite vastness, The universe, with its infinitude of worlds and its unknown immensity, is that temple, and it is full of Gods thoughts. Those thoughts are expressed in endless variety in every star and system, in perhaps myriads of systems never yet brought within the range of any telescope. They are written on orders of beings and intelligences of which now we have no conception, and of which the universe may be full. In our vast explorations we shall meet Gods thoughts at every step we take, in the very atmosphere which souls breathe, in the canopy which encompasses them, in every spirit that flits by, or that pauses to commune with us, in the fresh and novel scenes which every system will open out to us. When we travel over infinite space, when the universe is laid open to our inspection, when there is no limit placed on our scrutiny of its infinite mysteries except the limit which a finite creature must ever feel when he has to do with the Infinite, fresh revelations of the Godhead will burst upon us, and with greater rapture than now we shall exclaim, How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! (R. Roberts.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts] reeycha, thy cogitations; a Chaldaism, as before.
How great is the sum of them!] mah atsemu rasheyhem; How strongly rational are the heads or principal subjects of them! But the word may apply to the bones, atsamoth, the structure and uses of which are most curious and important.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy thoughts: thy is taken either,
1. Passively, my thoughts of thee; or rather,
2. Actively, thy thoughts, counsels, or contrivances on my behalf, which are admirable and amiable in mine eyes. Thou didst not only form me at first, but ever since my conception and birth thy thoughts have been employed for me, in preserving and providing for me, and blessing of me.
How great is the sum of them! thy gracious designs and providences towards me are numberless, as it follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!…. The word r signifies that which is scarce and rare, and not to be attained and enjoyed; see 1Sa 3:1; the thoughts and counsels of God are impenetrable and unsearchable; he knows our thoughts, as Aben Ezra observes, but we do not know his, Ps 139:2; as well as it likewise signifies the worth and value of them; God’s thoughts are infinitely beyond ours, and infinitely more valuable and more important, and are concerning our welfare and happiness: it is marvellous that God should think of us at all; it is more so that his thoughts should not be thoughts of evil, to bring that evil upon its we deserve, but thoughts of peace and reconciliation in and by his Son, in whom he was reconciling the world to himself; thoughts of salvation and eternal life, and of the way and means of bringing it about; thoughts to provide for our present supply in this world, and to lay up for us for the world to come; see Jer 29:11. It may be interpreted of the thoughts which David had of God in his meditations of him, which were sweet, precious, and comfortable to him; of his lovingkindness to him, covenant grace, precious promises, and gracious dealings with him; but the former sense seems best. The Targum is,
“to me how precious they that love thee, the righteous, O God!”
and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, “thy friends”;
how great is the sum of them! or “the heads of them”; that is, not the chief of thy friends, but the sum of thy thoughts, these in the bulk, in the general, are not to be counted; and much less the particulars of them, these are not to be entered into or described.
r “difficiles”, Cocceius; “quam rarae”; so some in Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Omniscience of God. | |
17 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. 19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here the psalmist makes application of the doctrine of God’s omniscience, divers ways.
I. He acknowledges, with wonder and thankfulness, the care God had taken of him all his days, Psa 139:17; Psa 139:18. God, who knew him, thought of him, and his thoughts towards him were thoughts of love, thought of good, and not of evil, Jer. xxix. 11. God’s omniscience, which might justly have watched over us to do us hurt, has been employed for us, and has watched over us to do us good, Jer. xxxi. 28. God’s counsels concerning us and our welfare have been, 1. Precious to admiration: How precious are they! They are deep in themselves, such as cannot possibly be fathomed and comprehended. Providence has had a vast reach in its dispensations concerning us, and has brought things about for our good quite beyond our contrivance and foresight. They are dear to us; we must think of them with a great deal of reverence, and yet with pleasure and thankfulness. Our thoughts concerning God must be delightful to us, above any other thoughts. 2. Numerous to admiration: How great is the sum of them! We cannot conceive how many God’s kind counsels have been concerning us, how many good turns he has done us, and what variety of mercies we have received from him. If we would count them, the heads of them, much more the particulars of them, they are more in number than the sand, and yet every one great and very considerable, Ps. xl. 5. We cannot conceive the multitude of God’s compassions, which are all new every morning. 3. Constant at all times: “When I awake, every morning, I am still with thee, under thy eye and care, safe and easy under thy protection.” This bespeaks also the continual devout sense David had of the eye of God upon him: When I awake I am with thee, in my thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him and we did then set him before us.
II. He concludes from this doctrine that ruin will certainly be the end of sinners. God knows all the wickedness of the wicked, and therefore he will reckon for it: “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God! for all their wickedness is open before thee, however it may be artfully disguised and coloured over, to hide it from the eye of the world. However thou suffer them to prosper for a while, surely thou wilt slay them at last.” Now observe, 1. The reason why God will punish them, because they daringly affront him and set him at defiance (v. 20): They speak against thee wickedly; they set their mouth against the heavens (Ps. lxxiii. 9), and shall be called to account for the hard speeches they have spoken against him, Jude 15. They are his enemies, and declare their enmity by taking his name in vain, as we show our contempt of a man if we make a by-word of his name, and never mention him but in a way of jest and banter. Those that profane the sacred forms of swearing or praying by using them in an impertinent irreverent manner take God’s name in vain, and thereby show themselves enemies to him. Some make it to be a description of hypocrites: “They speak of thee for mischief; they talk of God, pretending to piety, but it is with some ill design, for a cloak of maliciousness; and, being enemies to God, while they pretend friendship, they take his name in vain; they swear falsely.” 2. The use David makes of this prospect which he has of the ruin of the wicked. (1.) He defies them: “Depart from me, you bloody men; you shall not debauch me, for I will not admit your friendship nor have fellowship with you; and you cannot destroy me, for, being under God’s protection, he shall force you to depart from me.” (2.) He detests them (Psa 139:21; Psa 139:22): “Lord, thou knowest the heart, and canst witness for me; do not I hate those that hate thee, and for that reason, because they hate thee? I hate them because I love thee, and hate to see such affronts and indignities put upon thy blessed name. Am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee, grieved to see their rebellion and to foresee their ruin, which it will certainly end in?” Note, Sin is hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear God. “I hate them” (that is, “I hate the work of them that turn aside,” as he explains himself, Ps. ci. 3) “with a sincere and perfect hatred; I count those that are enemies to God as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy with them,” Ps. lxix. 8.
III. He appeals to God concerning his sincerity, Psa 139:23; Psa 139:24. 1. He desires that as far as he was in the wrong God would discover it to him. Those that are upright can take comfort in God’s omniscience as a witness of their uprightness, and can with a humble confidence beg of him to search and try them, to discover them to themselves (for a good man desires to know the worst of himself) and to discover them to others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast that any man may look into his heart: “Lord, I hope I am not in a wicked way, but see if there be any wicked way in me, any corrupt inclination remaining; let me see it; and root it out of me, for I do not allow it.” 2. He desires that, as far as he was in the right, he might be forwarded in it, which he that knows the heart knows how to do effectually: Lead me in the way everlasting. Note, (1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life. It is the way of antiquity (so some), the good old way. (2.) All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, nor tire in it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me It is the same Hebrew word, רעה, reah, which is used here as in the second verse, and means thought, not companion or friend, as many have rendered it, after the Chaldee translator, under the idea that the Psalmist is already condescending upon the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. The context requires that he should still be considered as speaking of the matchless excellence of divine providence. He therefore repeats — and not without reason — what he had said before; for we apparently neglect or underestimate the singular proofs of the deep wisdom of God, exhibited in man’s creation, and the whole superintendence and government of his life. Some read — How rare are thy thoughts; but this only darkens the meaning. I grant we find that word made use of in the Sacred History, (1Sa 3:1,) where the oracles of the Lord are said to have been rare, in the time of Eli. But it also means precious, and it is enough that we retain the sense which is free from all ambiguity. He applies the term to God’s thoughts, as not lying within the compass of man’s judgment. To the same effect is what he adds that the sums or aggregates of them were great and mighty; that is, sufficient to overwhelm the minds of men. The exclamation made by the Psalmist suggests to us that were men not so dull of apprehension, or rather so senseless, they would be struck by the mysterious ways of God, and would humbly and tremblingly sist themselves before his tribunal, instead of presumptuously thinking that they could evade it. The same truth is set forth in the next verse, that if any should attempt to number the hidden judgments or counsels of God, their immensity is more than the sands of the sea. Our capacities conseqently could not comprehend the most infinitesimal part of them. As to what follows — I have a waked, and am still with, thee, interpreters have rendered the words differently; but I have no doubt of the meaning simply being that David found new occasion, every time he awoke from sleep, for meditating upon the extraordinary wisdom of God. When he speaks of rising, we are not to suppose he refers to one day, but agreeably to what he had said already of his thoughts being absorbed in the incomprehensible greatness of divine wisdom, he adds that every time he awoke he discovered fresh matter for admiration. We are thus put in possession of the true meaning of David, to the effect that God’s providential government of the world is such that nothing can escape him, not even the profoundest thoughts. And although many precipitate themselves in an infatuated manner into all excess of crime, under the idea that God will never discover them, it is in vain that they resort to hiding-places, from which, however reluctantly, they must be dragged to light. The truth is one which we would do well to consider more than we do, for while we may cast a glance at our hands and our feet, and occasionally survey the elegance of our shape with complacency, there is scarcely one in a hundred who thinks of his Maker. Or if any recognize their life as coming from God, there is none at least who rises to the great truth that he who formed the ear, and the eye, and the understanding heart, himself hears, and sees, and knows everything.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Precious.Rather, weighty, the first meaning of the word. The parallelism requires this, as also the peculiar word for thoughts, for which see Psa. 139:2. We have here the antithesis to that verse: while the Divine penetration discovers the most intimate thought of man, man finds Gods secrets incomprehensible.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17, 18. From this wonderful rehearsal of God’s knowledge, power, wisdom, and tender care, the psalmist breaks forth into exclamations of praise.
Precious are thy thoughts “Precious,” here, literally means weighty, then costly, rare, whence the idea comes of difficult to attain, and, in matters of thought, difficult to comprehend, answering to unsearchable. Rom 11:33.
If I should count He puts them down as countless (see Psa 40:5) in number, weighty in value, wonderful in wisdom.
When I awake As often as I awake.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 139:17-19. How precious, &c. This expresses the zeal and affection that he had for God. “As thou hast taken such care of me, so are the thoughts of thee precious to me above all things.” The turn of the sentence shews this to be the meaning:”I am ever thinking of thee; as soon as I wake, I find thee still in my thoughts; I cannot bear the impious man; and, ye men of blood, depart from me.” Green renders the 17th verse, How precious unto me, O God, are the thoughts of thee! How numerous are the subjects of them!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 735
A CHRISTIANS DELIGHT IN GOD
Psa 139:17-18. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
THESE words will admit of a twofold interpretation: they may be considered as referring to the thoughts which God had entertained in his bosom respecting David, or to those which David entertained respecting God. If we take them in the former sense, the import of them is to this effect: It is impossible for me ever to enumerate the mercies which, in thine eternal counsels, thou hast prepared for me, and which I am daily receiving at thy hands: and if I should attempt to number them through the whole day, I should make so little progress, that in the following morning I should have all my work to do again. In this view, they agree with what the inspired penman says in another psalm, 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 [Note: Psa 40:5.]. If we take them in the latter sense, their meaning is, My delight in contemplating all thy glorious perfections, and all the wonders of thy love, O my God, is inexpressible: it is my sweet employment day and night, insomuch that my first waking thoughts ever recur to thee. In this sense they accord with what he says in the 104th Psalm: I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord [Note: Psa 104:33-34.]. It is to this latter sense that I rather incline; because there is a remarkable coincidence between the general subject of the 104th Psalm with that which is before us, (both of them speaking altogether of God as the Creator and Governor of the world;) and because the expressions of delight in God, in both the psalms, stand in immediate connexion with his aversion to sinners, whom, for their opposition to God, he consigns over to merited disgrace and punishment [Note: Compare Psa 104:34-35. with Psa 139:18-19.]. But, in either case, this is clear, namely, that David found his happiness in contemplating the Deity: and whether we extend his views to the wonders of Gods love in general, or confine them to those which had been vouchsafed personally to himself, they will equally afford me occasion to shew you the nature and blessedness of Christian experience.
Let us consider,
I.
The nature of Christian experience
The world at large have no conception of delighting themselves in God: they rather say to God in their hearts, Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways [Note: Job 21:14.]. And they endeavour to put him far from them: for they will not entertain him in all, or any of their thoughts [Note: Psa 10:4]. Nor has the hypocritical professor of religion any real delight in God: for Job says of him, Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God [Note: Job 27:8; Job 27:10.]? But of the true Christian this is a very leading feature [Note: Psa 37:4. Isa 58:14.]: he delights,
1.
In the contemplation of God
[His mind soars upwards to the Deity; who is, as it were, ever present to his view. In all the works of creation, in all the dispensations of Providence, and in all the wonders of redemption, he sees the glory and excellency of his God. He can behold nothing, he can think of nothing, which does not set God before him in some of his glorious perfections. The wisdom, the power, the goodness, the patience, the forbearance, the love, the mercy of his God, pass in review before his eyes, and call forth his devoutest acknowledgments; and the display of these, in his own personal experience, calls forth in him such admiring thoughts as no language can adequately express.
But it will be remembered, that this psalm speaks particularly of the omnipresence and omniscience of the Deity; and these perfections, which are so terrible to the ungodly, and of which they would, if possible, divest him, are to the true Christian a source of exquisite delight. Wherever he goes, he sees God at his right hand, ready to direct him in all his ways, ready to succour him in all his exertions, ready to preserve him in every danger. In many instances, his views are misapprehended, his actions misinterpreted, his character traduced. But he comforts himself in the thought that God knoweth his heart, and is acquainted with every motion there; and that, whether he interpose or not to vindicate his character in this world, he will do it in the world to come; and that, if man have his day, God also will have his [Note: See 1Co 4:3-4. The Greek.]. True, he is conscious that God sees his infirmities; but he knows that God can distinguish what man cannot so easily discern, the difference between unallowed infirmities and wilful sins; and that if he behold our weaknesses, he is also acquainted with our sighs, our tears, our groans, every one of which attests the desire of our hearts, even where there has been too evident a failure in our attainments.]
2.
In communion with him
[These perfections of God, which are the subjects of the Christians contemplation, are also the subjects of his devoutest praise. Truly, his fellowship is with the Father, and with the Son, Jesus Christ.
Throughout the day he walks with God, as Enoch did, communing with him, and committing to him his every concern. He would not willingly take a step but in entire dependence upon God. Not in his stated devotions only does he call upon God, but in ten thousand ejaculations through the day, according as circumstances arise to call them forth. In the whole habit of his mind he dwells in God; as God also, by the constant communications of his grace, dwells in him. This mutual in-dwelling of God in his people, and his people in him, is frequently spoken of in the Holy Scriptures [Note: Joh 6:56 and 1Jn 4:15-16.]; and it well conveys the idea of that rest in God which every true Believer enjoys, and of that familiar intercourse, if I may so express myself, which subsists between his God and him.
But the expression in my text deserves a more particular consideration: When I awake, I am still with thee. This implies all that we have before spoken; namely, that in his meditations and prayers he was with God through the day: and it goes further to remark, that such was the entire rest of his soul in God, that, with the early dawn, as soon as he awoke, his very first thoughts rose to God, who was the one object of all his desires, and the one source of all his happiness. Now this is, perhaps, as striking a feature in the Christians experience as any that can be named. During the day, a Christian may have much to occupy his mind, and much to engage a great intensity of thought: at such seasons, therefore, the contemplation of the Deity, and of communion with him, may be in appearance suspended: but, as the needle of a compass, which, by force, or superior attraction, has been diverted for a while from its proper rest, as soon as it is at liberty to resume its wonted position shews to all its faithful subjection to the polar influence; so does the soul of a Christian, as soon as it is relieved from the pressure of contingent circumstances, return to God, as its proper, its chosen, and its only rest. And I wish you all, my Brethren, to be observant of yourselves in this particular; and never to think that you have attained the full measure of communion with God, till you can say, When I awake, I am still with thee.]
Having described the nature of Christian experience, I shall need but few words to shew,
II.
The blessedness of it
The Psalmist strongly marks this: How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! Whether we understand him as speaking of Gods thoughts of him, or of his thoughts of God, it is evident that the preciousness of them was felt in his own soul. Now this experience is truly blessed, because it fills the Christians soul,
1.
With a sense of its obligations
[What do the ungodly world lose, whilst they overlook the hand from whence their blessings flow! Verily, in their richest enjoyments, they have little perception of them, wherein they are not equalled by the beasts themselves. It is the taste of Gods love in them which gives to every one of them its highest zest. I hesitate not to say, that Lazarus, in the midst of his utter destitution, had, in the crumbs with which he was sustained, a sublimer gratification, than the Rich Man ever knew in all the pomp and delicacies with which he was surrounded. In truth, the discovery of God in every thing gives to the Christian a continual feast, and furnishes him with incessant occasions of unfeigned joy Inanimate things proclaim unwittingly the honour of their God; but the believer sounds it forth continually with the devoutest acclamations. All thy works praise thee, says the Psalmist; but thy saints bless thee.]
2.
With a persuasion of its security
[Those who know not God are at a loss where to flee, or what to do, in any great emergency. But the Christian is assured, that God is at his right hand, and that therefore he can never be moved. He sees God as a wall of fire round about him: not a wall only, that might possibly be scaled, but a wall of fire, that will devour any who shall dare to assail us. His very name is, to the Christian, a strong tower, to which he runneth, and is safe. He sees chariots of fire and horses of fire all around him; and in perfect confidence he says, If God be for me, who can be against me?
Say, whether such an one be not happy? Hear his triumphant strains, and judge:Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter:) nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: Rom 8:35-39.]. If such an one be not happy, where shall happiness be found on earth?]
With an anticipation and foretaste of its eternal bliss
[Such views of God, and such communion with him, what are they, but the very beginnings of heaven upon earth? The believer who can say It is thus that I am with my God in this world, may add, with an emphasis peculiar to himself, When I awake in the eternal world, I shall be still with thee; changing my place indeed, but neither my company nor my employment ]
Address
[Beloved Brethren, has God from all eternity occupied his thoughts about you, and will not you turn your thoughts to him? Delay not. I will not say, Rob not him of his glory: I will rather say, Rob not yourselves of happiness. You cannot doubt the felicity of those who thus contemplate and enjoy their God. O let not the vanities of time and sense stand in competition with him! Look at the worst that befals a Christian, and you shall find him blessed in the midst of all. See him poor in spirit; see him mourning and weeping; see him persecuted for righteousness sake: in every state he is pronounced blessed, blessed, blessed. On the other hand, tell me where you will find the worldling blessed under any circumstances whatever. No: in the fulness of his sufficiency he is in straits. Know for a certainty, that he alone is, or ever shall be, blessed, whom God, the Judge of quick and dead, shall pronounce so. He alone is truly blessed, who has God for his God, his portion, his eternal great reward.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Under the idea that we may consider what is said before in this Psalm as spoken in the person of Christ, how blessed are the expressions in these verses! When Jesus, as the Head of his church, contemplated the manner in which the body was given him, and the infinitely important purpose intended by it; he may well be supposed to break out in language like this: Precious to him are God’s thoughts! the sum of them are incalculable as they relate, in love and mercy, to the church in him. To count them is impossible: but still he adds, When I awake I am where I was; that is, with thee. So infinite and eternal is God’s love in and towards Christ and his church, that it can neither receive augmentation, nor admit of decrease. Reader! pause, and ask, what son of Adam can use language like this?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Ver. 17. How precious also are thy thouyhts unto me ] i.e. The thoughts of thy wisdom, power, and goodness, clearly shining in these wondrous works of thine; it does my heart good to think and speak of them.
How great is the sum of them!
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 139:17-18
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God The translation precious is from the Hebrew root heavy or weighty (BDB 429, cf. Psa 116:15). The Septuagint translates this phrase, Thy friends, Oh God, have been greatly honored by me. For a parallel to Psa 139:17 see Psa 40:5.
How vast is the sum of them There are several interpretive issues in this phrase.
1. The term vast (BDB 782 II) is translated bones in Psa 139:16 but there seems to be no contextual link between them.
2. The term sum (BDB 910 I) is literally head. It could be sum of a column of numbers. The ancients added up, not down. This would make a good parallel to Psa 139:18 a.
However, AB (p. 296) asserts a better translation is essence, following Psa 119:160.
The LXX interpreted this word as rulers or principalities. There is obviously ambiguity here. Remember this is Hebrew poetry, using many hapax legomena and rare words.
Psa 139:18 If I count them, they would outnumber the sand Psa 139:17-18 are amazing in the sense that the all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present God cares about each of His human creatures!
When I awake, I am still with You The phrase awake is perfect tense in Hebrew. There have been several theories about its meaning.
1. that it refers to the Hebrew concept of God’s presence (cf. Psa 73:23)
2. that some Hebrew manuscripts have the term finished to give the sense of finished counting your blessings
3. some take this as eternal life with God (cf. Psa 17:15; Psa 23:6)
4. the psalmist falling asleep while counting God’s blessings and waking again to still find Him present (because he could not finish the counting, cf. Psa 3:5; Pro 3:24).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
How precious. Figure of speech Ecphonesis. App-6. See note on 1Sa 3:1.
thoughts = desires. See Psa 139:2.
GOD. Hebrew El. App-4.
sum. Hebrew, plural of majesty, denoting the fullness or vastness of them.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
precious: Psa 40:5, Pro 8:31, Isa 55:8, Isa 55:9, Jer 29:11, Eph 3:9, Eph 3:10
how great: Psa 31:19, Psa 36:7
Reciprocal: Gen 24:63 – to meditate Psa 63:6 – General Psa 68:19 – daily Psa 71:15 – I know Psa 92:5 – thoughts Psa 104:34 – meditation Psa 106:2 – utter Psa 119:148 – eyes Psa 147:5 – his understanding is infinite
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 139:17-18. How precious also, &c. From the wonders of Gods forming hand, the psalmist proceeds to those of his all-directing providence, which afford additional proofs of the divine omniscience and omnipresence. Are thy thoughts unto me Thy counsels, or contrivances, in my behalf, which are admirable and amiable in my eyes, and replete with kindness. Thou didst not only form me at first, but ever since my conception and birth thy thoughts have been employed for my good, preserving, providing for, and blessing me. How great is the sum of them! Thy gracious counsels, designs, and providential dispensations toward me are numberless. If I should count them Hebrew, , rather, shall I count them? that is, shall I attempt to count them? They are more in number than the sand I might as well undertake to number the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with thee Thy wonderful counsels and works on my behalf come constantly into my mind, not only in the day-time, but even in the night-season, whenever I awake. The thoughts and counsels of Jehovah, says Dr. Horne, concerning David, his appointment to the throne, his troubles, and his preservation in the midst of them, were precious and delightful subjects of meditation and praise, never to be exhausted of the rich matter they contained. With these in his mind he lay down at night, and when he awoke in the morning his thoughts naturally recurred to the pleasing theme. He began where he had left off, and found himself, in heart and soul, still present with God, still ruminating on him and his works.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
139:17 How {m} precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
(m) How should we esteem the excellent declaration of your wisdom in the creation of man?
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
David concluded that God’s plans for His people are very good and comprehensive. This meant that every day when David awoke from sleep, God was extending His thoughts toward him.