The Thoughts of God #2

We talked (in part one) a little bit about the Scripture in 2-Cor. 10, and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and what obedience means. We talked about how God judges the thoughts and not just the actions, and how He really can see our thoughts.

We also talked about the nature of our thoughts, and that our thoughts are evil inherently, that our human nature is inherently evil. We also talked a little bit about seeking the thoughts of God, and that that's what God desires:

• that we would seek Him
• that we would seek His thoughts
• that we would know Him
• that we would love Him
• that we would understand Him

The next question that follows is:

• How do we do this?
• How do we seek the thoughts of God?
• How do we get to understand our Heavenly Father?
• How do we really get to know Him?
• How do we have a deep relationship with Him and with Jesus Christ?

Because we know:

• They're both God
• They both have wonderful thoughts that they have put in the Bible

But we want to understand:

• How do we put this into practice?
• How do we seek the thoughts of God?

We know that They are higher than the heavens above the earth (Isa. 55). But God wants us to have His thoughts:

• to understand Him
• to know Him
• to think the way that He does
• to start really becoming more into His likeness

Not just His image like it says in Genesis.

Today we're going to start to talk about these things, like:

• How do we do this?
• How do we seek the thoughts of God?
• How do we understand him?
• How do we develop this relationship closer with Him?

The Book of Proverbs is a translator. It really translates the spiritual things and the deep things of God into practical application in life! We could call the book of Proverbs a how-to manual. How to understand, and not only to understand, but to do, to apply every day.

So, we're going to read a couple of Proverbs that tell us a lot of things about the thoughts of God, and about our thoughts, as well. We were studying last time (in part one) about God judging the thoughts.

Proverbs 16:2: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits."

We're going to pause there because this is very important as background to what we're going to talk about today: How "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…"

We always think that whatever we're doing is right, and that's the correct thing, and that's what we should be doing. Whether it is or it isn't, we still think that. That's what it says: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…"

But there's a difference. God says, you may think that you're right, you may think that what you're doing is right, but it says:

"…but the Lord weighs the spirits." He Himself weighs the spirits! When He says the spirits, it's because:

• we know there is the spirit of man
• we know there is the Holy Spirit of God

we also know

• there is the spirit of the antichrist
• the spirit of Satan the devil

So, we know that there are different spirits, giving the understanding that it's not just the spirit, it's:

• What is your intention?
• What is moving you?
• What is behind it?
• What is the spirit?

Because the 'spirit' means air, both in the Hebrew and in the Greek.

• How are you being inspired?
• What are you inspired to do?
• What are you inspired your ways to be?

That's what it says, "…the LORD weighs the spirits"—the spirit that is moving you!

• it could just be your human spirit
• it could be the spirit from the enemy
• it could be the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God, which is what we are striving for
  • we know we have been baptized
  • we know we have the Holy Spirit within us

"…the LORD weighs the spirits." He knows exactly what is moving us! We saw last time where Jesus was telling Peter:

Get behind me Satan, for your thoughts are not with the things of God, but with the things of men.

So He weighed the spirit that was, at that point, inspiring Peter to say those things.

No, Lord, may this never happen to You. May You never suffer.

When it was part of the Plan of God and decreed—from before the foundation of the earth—that the Lamb of God would die for our sins.

"…the LORD weighs the spirits." That's just one example where God is weighing the spirits. He actually talks to Satan, because God knows Satan is the one who was inspiring Peter at that moment.

We know there were other things later. Peter also talked about how he was going to die for Jesus. And Jesus said:

No, you're not going to. You know, before the cock crows, you're going to die me three times.

He weighed the spirit! Jesus knew that was coming from Peter's own carnal nature and his desire to be with Jesus until the end. So "the LORD weighs the spirits."

Those are just two examples. But as we talk about the thoughts of God, it's important to remember that God weighs the spirits, that "…the LORD weighs the spirits." With what attitude, with what intention we do the things that we do.

• What is inspiring us?
• What is moving us?
• What is moving our ways?

In our own eyes, it tells us we have some blindness. They are clean in our own eyes. And that says ALL, not some, it says 'ALL the ways of man are clean in his own eyes" (v 2).

Why? That tells us that there are very few people… Maybe evil people too, maybe they also are convinced that that is clean, that that's what they're supposed to be doing. Repaying 'an eye for an eye' or 'a tooth for a tooth' or whatever it is.

"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…" Everybody feels justified in doing that! Even if it's not what the Word of God says, we all do that. We all feel justified. We all feel vindicated and right. It's our self-righteousness that we do have. That's our nature. "…but the LORD weighs the spirits."

And as we approach this topic, this is one thing to remember, that He is weighing all the spirits!

Verse 3: "Commit your works unto the LORD… [specific action to take] …and your thoughts shall be established."

And it's interesting because it says, v 3: "Commit your works… [the things that you do] …to the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established."

Why would that be? Because IF we commit our works unto the Lord, that means:

• we're praying
• we're sharing with God what we are going to do
• we are communicating with Him
• we are putting things into His hands
• we are to pray that His will be done
• we are submitting everything and subjecting everything to His will

IF we, v 3: "Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established."

They will be established; it will be firm, because God can do that, He can direct our steps. He's never going to force us to do anything, but He's going to guide us:

• IF we ask for that guidance
• IF we listen to that guidance when it comes

That's a still small voice, so to speak; it's not a literal voice, but it is the Spirit of God that inspires us that moves us in the right direction:

• with His Word
• with what is written

because He left it all written!

This is something that we have to do in order to seek the thoughts of God when we commit our works to the Lord. That we are not so set in our own ways that it's going to be:

• my way
• what I say
• what I do

It's going to be that way! That is stubbornness. And we know that is the sin of witchcraft! God does not like that. But IF we commit our works unto the Lord, He will establish our thoughts! He will actually make that happen and how to go about those things.

• How is it that our thoughts shall be established?
• What do we have to do besides committing our works to the Lord, so that our thoughts shall be established?
• Established on what?

It's important to read the Psalms and to understand that Psa. 1 is not just for the patriarchs of the Bible, or, for other people, like super-righteous people, or a lofty goal. No! This is for each one of us. For you and for me! This Psalm was written so that we would strive to do this; so that we would strive to do exactly what it says here. How do we seek the thoughts of God? Psa. 1 is a perfect outline of how to seek the thoughts of God.

Psalm 1:1: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…"—because it's a blessing that comes from God!

• He gives us that blessing
• He gives us everything
• He is loving and gracious
• He gives us all things, everything that we have
• He's merciful
• He's patient
• He's kind
• He's everything that we would ever desire to be and everything that we would ever decide to have

That's why He gives us His blessing!

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…"

That means walking with the wicked, doing the things that the wicked are doing, actively practicing lawlessness!

I know that we are all striving to do that, to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, to not practice lawlessness!

"…nor stand in the way of sinners..." (v 1). What does that mean? Not keep company with bad people!

• to get away from evil
• to get away from sinners
• to get away from evil company

It means 'sinners' as a way of practicing because we all sin.

Now, it is the blood of Jesus Christ that justifies us, so we're not practicing sin! That's not what the Psalmist is referring to here.

It's talking about the way of sinners, the ones that have sin as a way of life. But we are not to stand in that way, which means keeping company with them, even if we're not doing it. That's why it says, "…stand in the way of sinners…"

The first one is that does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. It is doing what the wicked tells them to do, and we're not supposed to do that.

"…nor stand in the way of sinners…"

Don't even keep company; don't even go there. How many times have we heard of people that end up in jail for something like 'wrong place, wrong time'? That is the example of those that are standing in the way of sinners!

They may not have committed the crime themselves, but they were involved in it. That's why it says "…nor stand in the way of sinners…"

So, not even keeping company. Obviously, not doing it, not practicing it. Then it says. "…nor sit in the seat of the scornful." That is even more said in those ways, more set in the seat of the scornful. Sometimes that seat of the scornful can be the seat of judgment!

Remember how the Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses and rendering the judgments of Moses. Jesus said that they sit in those seats, but don't do how they do; do what they tell you, but don't do as they do, because they're not doing what God wants!

Sometimes we can fall into that seat of the scornful if we're judging our brother or our sister. If we're doing those things, we are sitting in the seat of judgment, the seat of the scornful. That's just one example. But this sitting just implies we're sat:

• we're camping here
• we're not moving
• we're not even thinking about moving

sitting in the seat of the scornful, and blessed is the man who does not do that!

He's not walking, not actively doing those thing she's not standing with them or having company with them, with the sinners, he's also not sitting in the seat of the scornful to set our ways in that seat, Sometimes that is the judgment seat that believes just like we read in Proverbs that 'I'm right, they're wrong.' They're doing this and they're doing that and they're doing that. That's what Jesus said. It's like, why are you looking at 'the sliver in your brother's eye' when you haven't looked at 'the beam' that you have in your own eye?

That's why we're not to do these things. Then it tells us what to do. So, first is what not to do. But then He guides us to what to do.

Verse 2: "But his delight is in the Law of the LORD; and in His Law does he meditate day and night."

This meditation are His thoughts! It says "delight." To delight in something is:

• to have joy
• to have pleasure in it
• to enjoy it

That takes time because we cannot delight in something that we don't really know deeply or that we don't study constantly: The Law of the Lord! We even have a song: How Love I Thy Law. We sing that, but how much time do we dedicate to actually understand that Law, to really know exactly what it says, because that Law reveals the mind of God! Reveals the thoughts of God!

All His commandments, all His judgments, and not only the ones in the Old Testament, the ones in the New Testament where He says:

• love your enemies
• love one another the way I have loved you
• love the brethren

When He says all those things, all of those things are His Laws.

• Do we delight in those things, brethren?
• Is our delight in the Law of the Lord?
• Do we meditate?
• Do we meditate in that Law day and night? I think we should!

When we do that, if we do that, and when we do that, and when we at least strive to do that:

• God will bless us with His thoughts
• God will bless us with understanding
• God will bless us in all kinds of ways

That is drawing near to Him, like it says in Isa. 55, to draw near to God. He will give us His thoughts. Those are His thoughts. That's the way that God thinks with His Law that is perfect, which is wonderful.

• it changes the mind
• it changes the heart
• it changes the way that we think
• it connects the neurons in our brain

Verse 3: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not wither, and all that he does shall prosper."

If we really achieve that high lofty goal that is meditating in the Laws of God day and night. But it says:

Verse 3: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not wither, and all that he does shall prosper."

That's what we read in the Bible. We have an example of Joseph. That's what Potiphar said: 'Everything that he touches flourishes.' And same thing, even in jail, as the second in command in the palace, everything that Joseph did was prospering.

I wonder how much he memorized the Laws of God. He had Him in his heart and he was meditating day and night, because everything that he did was prospering. And he uses this terminology here in:

Verse 3: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season…"

Rev. 22—it's the same terminology as what we just read. This is talking about New Jerusalem, it says, And then he shows, speaking about the angels; how similar is that that we just read in Psa. 1?

Revelation 22:1: "Then he showed me a pure river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the middle of the street, and on this side and that side of the river, was the Tree of Life, producing twelve manner of fruits, each month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (vs 1-2).

How similar is that to what we just read in Psa. 1? It says that in the middle of this street is the Tree of Life that produces 12 manner of fruits. First we see this river and we know that it a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

But here John is talking about the Water of Life. That's what he saw. Obviously, this is in a vision. But we can, from what we can read, assume that this is a spiritual, it's New Jerusalem. This Water of Life is clear as crystal. And it was flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb.

And that's what's going to happen when we start meditating more on His Laws. He's going to give us more and more of that Water of Life, of His Holy Spirit.

• so that we can meditate
• so that we can have the thoughts of God
• so that we can know God better every day

As we meditate on His Law, and not just as stated in the Bible, but also as practiced. As He shows us, this is how you live this out. This is how you live this other commandment out. This is how you practice or choose to do this instead of that.

He's walking. Sometimes we read those Scriptures in Isa. Like, the teacher shall not be taken away from you, and they will declare this way and go that way. Well, we do have a teacher right now! We have a Lord and Master in Jesus Christ, and He wants to do that, but there are conditions. We have to:

• delight ourselves in the Law of the Lord
• want that Law
• know that Law
• study it
• internalize it
• think
• meditate on it day and night

I know it's a tall order, but it's going to really change our lives if we do that. It's going to change how we think. Then all of these things, these are promises, and God's promises do not fail!

We will be like those trees that are bringing fruit in its season. Which fruit? The fruit of the Spirit, because that's what the Holy Spirit is going to bring. That's what God the Father and Jesus Christ are going to give us through the Holy Spirit.

Then everything will prosper, not because of us, but because of God! As a testimony that what He says is true, that what He promised is going to happen.

Psalm 1:4: "The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff, which the wind drives away."

It doesn't last. It can be green, but then it just goes. Then He tells us in:

Verse 5: "Therefore, the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."

Here it's telling us "…the wicked shall not stand in judgment…" What is that? Second resurrection!

"…nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." What is that? First resurrection!

The congregation of the righteous is the first resurrection! The judgment, standing in the judgment is the second resurrection after the thousand years are completed! They're both right there.

The wicked will not be in these two in that sense. That's what it's saying. Why? Because they will be resurrected and doesn't tell us where, and doesn't tell us when. But what we know is that they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. They're not going to stand up for another judgment.

The wicked already had their opportunity and decided to do wickedly, and they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  But the righteous will stand up in the congregation of the righteous in the return of Jesus Christ.

The ones who are not wicked, the rest of the dead, will stand in judgment. So there's the two resurrections right there.

Verse 6: "For the LORD knows the way of the righteous…"

Proverbs 16:2: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits."

What spirit moves us? But God actually knows the way of the righteous! He knows because He's guiding the righteous. He's actually guiding us because our Lord, our Master is doing that. Jesus Christ is guiding us:

• do this
• go here
• don't do that

with His Word!

"…but the way of the wicked shall perish" (v 6).

And that's what is going to happen. But this is how. How do we seek the thoughts of God? Doing what He says in Psa. 1. First, not doing those things of the 'walking in the council of the wicked, or standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of the scornful.' But delighting in the Law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night!

The rest are the promises are what's going to happen; but that's how we do it.

Psa. 33 in here there are a lot of the thoughts of God, and the Bible is full of that. The Bible is full of the thoughts of God. This never ends. We're just going to see a few. I would like for us to take a moment and reflect that the thoughts of God are what we are to seek all the time:

• to be mindful that His thoughts are here
• to be mindful of what He says, what He tells us to do
• to meditate on His Law day and night

That's what we have to do every day. That we have to seek the thoughts of God. God will give us His thoughts. He will! His thoughts are incredible. There's absolutely nothing like it; nothing like it!

The description of New Jerusalem alone is to blow our minds away. But there's so much more in this life, and then at the resurrection. But God wants for us:

• to understand Him
• to know Him
• to love Him

He wants for us to do all of these things!

We're going to read some of the thoughts of God in these Psalms, which are amazing. We're going to think about these things. I want you to meditate on these things as we're reading them; think about them, and later on take these and meditate on your own and remember these things. Remember how much God loves you; how much God cares. Not just you, as we're going to see, because these are the thoughts of God toward all.

Psalm 33:10: "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the people."

He does care about the nations; He does, He directs. He knows what happens with nations as a whole, and He deals with people in different levels.  He does. He brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He does! The nations think:

• we're going to do this
• we're going to be a superpower
• we're going to do

NO! The LORD can bring it all to nothing! He does!

So at the national level, this applies. We cannot be in the Church of God and be so proud to say, 'Well, nobody else matters. We're the only ones that matter because we're the called ones and the chosen ones.'

We cannot say that ever!

We cannot say, 'That's too low. That's just for people in the world and politics. It's all corrupted.' Yes, that's probably true, but that doesn't mean that we're above any of that. All of that affects us; this is the world we live in. We can actually learn some things of how God deals with people because it says that:

Verse 10: "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing… [then how he goes through the general to a specific] …He frustrates the plans of the people"—of the specific people!

Not just of the people as you know as a nation, but also the He frustrates the plans of certain individuals, as well; if He wants to, that's His will. That's probably what happened to a lot of us when we were being called or before we were called when God was drawing us to Himself.

• He frustrated our plans
• He brought us to the bottom of despair
  • we were touching rock bottom
  • we had no one to help us

He frustrates the plans of the people because God does whatever He pleases in the heavens and on the Earth. He can do that.

Of course, He has given men free moral agency. That's not what this means that there's no free moral agency, but He can intervene, and He does intervene with the nations and with the people.

He actually uses people to intervene. That's exactly what happened to all those seven nations in the land of Israel that He was going to bring Israel to inherit those nations because of the wickedness of those nations. That's what He said: 'It's not because of your righteousness. This is because of the wickedness of these nations.'

So that means in a sense, it's like He cares for those nations; He needs to punish them for their sins.

The plan was wipe them all out, because with the understanding of the second resurrection and with the understanding of His Law, of how wicked those works were, that was the most loving, the best thing to do.

But this is part of the Plans of God, the thoughts of God. He frustrates the plans of the people individually, too:

• to call us
• to convert us
• to remove every crutch that we have in life so that we rely only on Him

That's why He frustrates the plans of the people; He takes away everything sometimes. That's what He did with Job; Job was greatly blessed. He was really like embodying that someone that everything He does shall prosper.

He was so prosperous before this happened. But then God frustrated the plans of Job. He brought him to nothing, to within probably inches of his of his life. If Satan is given permission to attack, he's going to do as much as he's permitted to do.

Verse 11: "The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations."

Whatever He wants to do is going to take place whether we cooperate or not, that's our decision. He has called us and He has wonderful plans for us:

• to be with Him forever and ever
• to be His Kingdom
• to be part of that New Jerusalem

That is the counsel of the Lord and He stands forever; that's not going to change. We do have free moral agency if we choose to walk away. But if we choose:

• to stay close to God
• to seek Him with all our heart
• to meditate on His Laws

because that's going to be the foundation of that Kingdom of God that will never ever end!

It's going to be righteousness and justice. It says that that's the foundation of His Throne. That's why the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

These are the thoughts of His heart!

Verse 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance."

Here it's an amazing thing! But you see that? You see that how He's talking about Israel and He's talking about the Church.

Verse 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance."

And let's remember that part of our purpose is to bring them to jealousy. You know, that's why it's a partial hardening of the heart, as it says in Romans: Has occurred to Israel and to all the fullness of the nations of the people that He has chosen for His own inheritance. That's us, the saints! It's blessed. We also are a Holy nation. So, it's talking about both. You can take it either way.

Israel the Church or the Church and the Church; but it's true. It says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…" We are that royal priesthood and not to exalt ourselves, but to actually abase ourselves, knowing that all glory goes to God in everything all the time:

• because He makes it happen
• because He is the giver of all good things
• because we are only the recipients of those good things

of His love and of His thoughts!

Those are His thoughts; that:

• He would dwell in us
• He would live in us
• we would have His thoughts
• we would act like Him
• we would talk like him
• we would treat others the way that He treats us
  • with compassion
  • with care
  • with love
  • with understanding
  • with telling the truth, even if it hurts at times

That's what He wants! That's why we are blessed as "the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen for his own inheritance." That's us, brethren!

Verse 13: "The LORD looks down from heaven; He beholds all the sons of men.

For those that say that put themselves above everybody and everything and say, 'O poor people in the world. They don't matter; that is so mundane.' NO!

Verse 13: "The LORD looks down from heaven; He beholds all the sons of men. From His dwelling place He looks intently upon all the inhabitants of the earth" (vs 13-14).

He does deal with everybody, but on different levels. Not with everybody, not with all unto salvation right now.

• we know that
• we've seen that
• we understand that

But that doesn't mean that God doesn't care about people. That doesn't mean that God doesn't care about nations.

If we have thought that in the past, that's probably just out of pride. But we should stop that, because the Bible clearly says, "…From His dwelling place He looks intently upon all the inhabitants of the earth.'

Then He tells us that some more of the thoughts of His heart that stands to all generations. This is what He does, and what He's thinking.

Verse 15: "Together He fashions their hearts alike; He considers all their works."

That's what He's doing. He's fashioning our hearts like the heart of God, the heart of Jesus Christ, Who was perfect. He was perfect in the flesh, even though he had human nature; He had the law of sin and death within Him. God the Father is fashioning our hearts like the heart of His Beloved Firstborn Son, Who is sitting at His right hand.

• How? It's as He considers all their works!
• Why? Because that's how He's fashioning our heart! He is fashioning all our hearts!

We could even say that it's because it says "all inhabitants of the earth," because no life is wasted.

Even IF the only thing they're learning right now is how not to live, and how miserable we're going to be IF we go against the Laws of God, they're still learning something that is going to be good for later IF they're called in this life for maybe being part of the great innumerable multitude, or in the second resurrection. All of that!

"…He considers all their works." He knows our thoughts and He knows our works. These are what some of the thoughts that God has for us:

Verse 16: "The king is not saved by a great army; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength."

We know that! David knew that! That's why David wasn't trusting in himself; he always put it in God's hands. He never lost a battle, but he never went to battle if God told him not to go!

 "The king is not saved but a great army…" David was a great warrior, but he knew he's not saved but his own might!

"…a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength" (vs 16-17). A horse is very powerful.
I mean, that's a measure that we use even for vehicles: How many horsepower: 300 horsepower, 400 horsepower.

But the thoughts of God are like a horse is a vain thing for safety. In your car with all the 400 horsepower, too. It's a vain thing! It will not deliver any by its great strength, or your car or whatever. It doesn't matter. Don't put your trust in those things.

These are the thoughts of God!

• He's fashioning our hearts
• He's doing it sometimes by frustrating our plans
• He saves us

God is the One Who saves us; we shouldn't trust in our things, in our possessions, our horse; whatever it is. We don't have a horse, but some of you do.

Verse 18: "Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His loving kindness."

Do you see that the detail says the eye of the LORD? We read that the LORD looks down from heaven! He looks intently. But now we see the eye of the LORD, The very eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him! That's you and I, brethren. Those who fear Him! "…upon those who hope in His loving-kindness."

• Do we fear God?
• Are we hoping in His loving-kindness?

Because the more that we study that Law and meditate on it day and night, the more that we're going to trust Him. The more that we read His Word and see the deliverance. That's why there's a testimony and all the stories of all the deliverance for all the people of God throughout history.

So that we know and we would believe. That we would hope in that loving-kindness. That we would know that His eye is upon us, to fear Him. This is what we are to do. So we've seen many things.

We've seen in Proverbs that we have to commit our works unto the Lord. We've seen in Psa. 1 that we are to meditate on His Law, to delight in His Law and meditate on it day and night.

Now we're seeing that we are to fear Him; that we are to hope in his loving-kindness. That's how we get the thoughts of God.

But we have to think about God and think about his thoughts. Because IF we think about God and think about His thoughts, we are going to be blown away:

• by His love
• by His mercy
• by His wisdom
• by His strength
• by His character altogether

If we read the thoughts of God, which are here, and we take them literally. We understand that this means literally. That:

• He has His eye upon us
• He is watching over us intently

Why does He do that?

Verse 19: "To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine." Isn't that a great comfort?

We read Psa. 91—this goes with it, too. He's going to deliver our soul from death; He's talking about eternal death!

Just think about what a wonderful gift that is in and of itself. "…to keep them alive in famine."

There are very hard times coming, very hard times; we all know that. There's going to be the martyrdom of the saints; but we pray that God gives us the courage to go through whatever we need to go through! But the thought of His heart is to keep us alive in famine! He doesn't want us to die of hunger. He doesn't want that.

These are the thoughts of Godthrough all generations. He wants to deliver His loved ones. He wants to deliver those who are:

• loving Him back
• knowing him
• meditating on His Law day and night
• putting all and trusting all his works to Him

He wants to deliver

• those who fear Him
• those who hope in His loving-kindness

He wants to deliver us! These are the thoughts of God!

Verse 20: "Our soul waits for the LORD…"

That's what we are to do so we see what to do and what God does! Back and forth, because that's our relationship. That's what it means. It means to be with God! He gives us His thoughts, and we are to act upon that! So yes, He's going to keep us alive in famine, but we have to wait for the LORD. Our soul waits for the LORD.

"…He is our Help and our Shield" (v 20).

It is not the horse and is not any of the things that we own. Nothing like that. He Himself is our Help and our Shield. Then when we get to know the thoughts of God and the mind of God, and we meditate on these things, this is the result:

Verse 21: "For our heart shall rejoice in Him…"

We're rejoicing in the Lord Himself, because we have an amazing God:

• Who is good at the core
• Who has thoughts of loving kindness
• of mercy
• of protection
• of care

That's the God that we serve!

• He wants us
• He loves us
• we're the apple of His eye

So our heart shall rejoice in Him!

• we have trusted in His Holy name
• we have to trust
• we have to wait
• we have to command our works into His hands
• we have to fear Him
• we have to hope in His loving kindness
• we have to do these things

But do you see the thoughts of the Lord? They're intertwined with all of these!

This is a love story! This is the love of God for His people!For those that he is calling; the people that He has chosen for His own inheritance! Inheritance is what we have, what we obtain, and is precious! That's us, brethren! Not to puff ourselves up; it's:

• because of Him
• for Him
• by Him
• unto Him

But our heart shall rejoice in Him; then we know Him:

• we not only know His Law
• we know His character
• we know His mind
• we know His thoughts

• He wants to deliver our soul from death
• He wants to keep us alive in famine
• He wants to take care of us
• He wants to bless us
• He wants to love on us

That's what God wants to do; that's what He does as much as He possibly can without spoiling us, or aborting His project.

Because we sometimes have too many blessings. We've seen it. There's an example of Solomon. That's what can happen. That's what God wanted to do. He said, and I'm going to give you even more. He was so happy with Solomon. What happens? Sometimes it can be too much.

That's why God wants us to delight in Him, for Him to be our inheritance, Because we are to be kings and priests in the Kingdom.

In the Pentateuch we can read about the Levites that they were separated from God. He said that the Lord is your inheritance.  You will not have inheritance. Baring inheritance among your brethren is nothing You're not going to have lands. You're not going to have homes and possessions, and all of these things.

You're just going to have a place to live, and you're going to get the patrimony—the tithes and offerings—from the people. But you're not going to have land. The Lord is your inheritance!

You and I are going to be the priests in the Millennium. The Lord is our inheritance, too! That's why our hearts shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His Holy name.

Verse 22: "Let Your loving kindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in You."

• How much do we hope in God?
• Do we hope with all our heart in everything?
• In every thought?

Because if we do, that loving kindness is going to be according to that. It's going to be wholehearted, full, abundant. This joy you're going to feel in your heart. There's nothing to be compared to that:

• because of knowing God
• because of knowing His thoughts
• because knowing and having that confidence in our heavenly Father

We're going to read some more thoughts of God.

Psa. 32 also has a lot of the thoughts of God, and like I said, there's many. The whole Bible is full with the thoughts of God:

• of what He's going to do.
• of how He wants us to do things
• of His instructions
• of His commandments

Everything! All of that comes from the thoughts of God. But I would like for us to take from this message; that the thoughts of God:

• are infinite
• are wonderful
• they're toward us
• they show His love
• they show His compassion
• they show His understanding
• they show the relationship that we are to have with God the Father and Jesus Christ

It's beautiful! When we read the Bible. to know that we're reading:

• the thoughts of God
• the mind of God
• the ways of God

That's what we want; that's what we desire!

This is a Psalm of David. It says a contemplation. That's what we're trying to do right now. To contemplate! To think on the thoughts of God!

We're going to see something wonderful. There are so many thoughts in here that reveal:

• His heart
• His intentions
• His love
• His understanding

For us to be nurtured, not only in our mind, but:

• in our heart
• in our emotions
• in our feelings

Knowing how much God loves us!

Psalm 32:1: "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

That's all of us at baptism, the very beginning. When we repent God forgives us. "…whose sin is covered." He gave His only Begotten Son for us! He gave the most precious person that He had beside Him, being equal with Him, for us, so that our transgression would be forgiven, and our sin covered.

Verse 2: "Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit… [the Lord weighs the spirits] …there is no guile."

• to have honesty
• to have that purity of heart and of mind

Not in self-deceive mode; that everything I do is right like we just read in Proverbs, or 'the ways of men are clean in his own eyes.' No!

In the way that it's the blood of Christ. That's why He doesn't impute iniquity. And that we see through the lens of the Law of God and the Word of God. To see the Truth!

"…In whose spirit there is no guile"—there is no deceit! Part of that is admitting our mistakes when they happen, and repenting from the heart sincerely to others and to God. That is the Spirit that there is no guile; it's the Holy Spirit. If we have the Holy Spirit of God there's going to be less and less guile; the more that we have the Spirit of God in us.

We have to ask every day. These are blessings from God, and God does not impute iniquity, not from anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus Christ did!

We have things to do now. But the reason that our sin is forgiven and our sin is covered, and we don't have iniquity imputed to us is not because of anything that we can ever do. It's not because of anything that we can ever do.

• we are to have that Spirit of God
• we are to be without guile

Then He tells us here some more things that we need to do!

Verse 3: "When I kept silent, my bones wore away through my groaning all the day long."

That happens to us, too. Sometimes if we know we've done wrong, if there are some alarms or red lights going off, it's like 'Hey, you haven't done what I said.'

But if we're meditating in that Law of God, we're going to know that, but we shouldn't stay silent or our bones are going to wear away, and are groaning all day long.

Verse 4: "For by day and by night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah."

Right now, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, it's summer, and we feel the heat of summer. It can bring us down if it's too hot of a day and we don't feel like we have the energy. Sometimes that's how we feel; sometimes His hand is heavy upon us:

• IF we're not repenting
• IF we're not confessing our sin to God
• IF we don't want to acknowledge
• IF we kind of put on the blinders

and say, 'No, no, no, no; my ways are clean in my own eyes. The Lord weighs the spirit,. What spirit moved us to do that?

We are not to keep silent. That's why it says that the hand was heavy, because God is a loving God, and as a loving God, as a loving Father He's going to:

• correct us
• instruct us
• admonish us

• punish us at times

• He's going to let us be continuing that evil way. or remain with that sin
• He's going to bring one thing and maybe another until we see

He's going to do that because He loves us, as a Father loves His children. And then it says what happened:

Verse 5: "I [David] acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden…."

• he came clean
• he remembered

In whose spirit there is no guile; we need to confess. It's not only that our transgression is forgiven. But:

• we have to confess it
• we have to repent
• we have to bring it before God

Knowing as it says 'with boldness before the Throne of Grace, because God is ready to forgive, and He understands. Jesus Christ understands our condition perfectly, because He lived it; He lived in the flesh.

Verse 5: "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, 'I will confess my transgression to the LORD,'…"

• I'm going to acknowledge my sin
• I'm going to acknowledge my mistake
• I'm going to be honest
• I'm going to confess and repent
• I'm going to meditate on that Law

So that my programming is before I fall in it again! Sothat I go the right way.

"…and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah" (v 5)—meditate on the forgiveness of God upon repentance!

These are the thoughts of God!

He is good and ready to forgive; merciful and long suffering. Look even with the world how far things are going—and are going to go—before God intervenes, because He always gives place for repentance.

Verse 6: "For this reason let every Godly one… [talking to us] …pray to You [God]  in a time when You may be found."

That's what we're read in Isaiah. Pray to God. Seek that relationship. Seek Him, not just eternal life, not just His commandments. That's part of it! Seek God in a time when He may be found.

"…surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come near him" (v 6).

Do you see the thoughts of God?

• to keep us alive in famine
• that the flood of great waters do not come near us
• a thousand may fall at your right hand
• ten thousand at your right side
• but nothing will happen to you

These are the thoughts of God! But these also have to be our thoughts!

Verse 7: "You are my hiding place…"

• let the Lord be your Hiding Place
• let Jesus Christ be your Rock
• to protect you
• to preserve you

"…You shall preserve me from trouble…" (v 7).

These are the thoughts of God!

David knew! He knew God! He knew that God was going to preserve him from trouble, and God did his entire life. As much as he had to pay for his sins with his sons rebelling against him, but God still preserved him from trouble.

"…You shall encircle me with songs of deliverance. Selah" (v 7).

I wonder if that's going to happen on the Sea of Glass. That there's going to be songs of deliverance, if we are all going to be encircled by the angels; the multitudes of angels singing songs of deliverance!

• here are Your saints, Lord
• here are those who follow You, King of the saints

if we will be enircled with songs of deliverance.

These are the thoughts of God!

Verse 8—David speaking the words of the LORD: "You said, 'I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be upon you.'" Tie in Psa. 33:

• His eye is upon those who fear Him
• His eye is upon those who hope in His loving kindness

So this is what God is thinking!

• He wants to instruct us
• He wants to teach us in the way that we should go
• He wants to counsel us

This is not just on paper; not just on the Sabbath. This is all the time That our Teacher would be with us and guide us: 'This is the way, walk in it through the Holy Spirit.'

This is what God wants: 'I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go…'

That way is His Laws and Commandments. That's the reason we are to meditate on them day and night. That's the way to seek and have the thoughts of God!

His eye will be upon us, but then there's a warning:

Verse 9: "Be not like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding—which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."

God is saying,

Come to Me, because you get to know Me. You get to experience Me. You get to see the wonders of My Word. The wonders that I'm going to do in your life, even through the trials, the tribulations, everything. Come to Me! Don't be like the horse! Don't be like the mule!

This is what God thinks, these are the thoughts of God toward us!

He is seeing us. His eye is upon us. But we are not to be like the horse and the mule; that is by force.

• finally this person is praying
• finally this person is starting to understand
• finally this person is starting to pay attention

Or like Israel that he says, 'It's like from the top of your head to the sole of your foot'; there is no place to punish you anymore. We are beaten from head to toe.

But God doesn't want that for us! He wants to instruct us and teach us in the way that we should go. This is what God is thinking, 'I will counsel you.' This is what God has for us. He has all of these thoughts for us. Not because we are anything special. But because He has had mercy on us, because we have been the weak and base things of the world!

Not to exalt us, but to exalt Himself! To show that it's not by any human power that we are called or that we are His! But we are.

These are the thoughts of God!

Verse 10: "The wicked has many sorrows, but His steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the LORD."

• songs of deliverance
• His steadfast love

You see the thoughts of God centered around us. Again, not because we are anything. We're not to exalt ourselves. This is just how much God loves you! He loves you! He is thinking and intently watching upon you with his eye on you.

• He wants to keep you
• He wants to instruct you
• He wants to counsel you
• He wants to protect you
• He wants to keep you alive in the famine
• He wants to preserve you from the great waters of the flood

When we get to understand these thoughts of God.
when we get to understand all of the things that He has in His heart constantly for us day in and day out

Verse 11 "Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy…"

That's what we are to do. Because when we really get to see the thoughts of God, that's what we're going to do. We're going to shout for joy!

This is amazing to know the thoughts of God; to see! We've read how much He cares.

"…all you upright in heart" (v 11),

Not because we're upright because of our righteousness, which we saw at the beginning of this Psa.

• it's because of the blood of the Lamb
• it's because God has a plan for us

He doesn't need us; He wants us there; He wants our full cooperation. But He wants us to know Him, to love Him.

We've seen:

• how to have the thoughts of God
• how to know God a little bit more
• how to see His thoughts

There are a lot of other things that we can learn about this topic. There's other things that maybe in a future message we'll delve into regarding the thoughts of God.

But we've seen some today as to what to do. We've seen so many things of what to do:

• in hoping in His steadfast love
• in trusting in Him
• in fearing Him
• in commanding our works to Him

So that our thoughts can be established.

• in meditating day and night in His laws
• in His commandments
• in loving Him
• in knowing and understanding His thoughts

That he has toward us

• to deliver us from famine
• to deliver us from the floods of great waters
• to protect us
• to deliver our soul from death, eternal death
• to be with Them forever

There is nothing like this. Those are the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

• He loves us so much
• He wants us in His kingdom

Let's now all together meditate, and seek the thoughts of God!

Scriptural References:

• Proverbs 16:2-3
• Psalm 1:1-3
• Revelation 22:1-2
• Psalm 1:4-6
• Proverbs 16:2
• Psalm 33:10-22
• Psalm 32:1-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 2 Corinthians 10
• Isaiah 55
• Psalm 91

EE:bo/po
Transcribed: 10/28/24

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