Homilist Psalm 139:17-24 How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the sum of them!… : — 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 God's 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 God's thoughts are only precious to the man who appropriate them. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!WEB: How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! |
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