William J. Stewart | Texts To Pause & Ponder On
Psalm 139 is likely familiar to most Bible students because of how it characters God as our all-knowing (v 1-6), ever-present (v 7-12) Creator (v 13-16). These verses are filled with a number of great quotes. For example;
…there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. (Psalm 139:4)
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalm 139:7)
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. (Psalm 139:14)
Before speaking of the wicked and their ways (v 19-24), we find an excellent statement of love for the will of God. Notice:
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You. (Psalm 139:17-18)
What words come to mind when you think about God’s word? Precious is the word used by the psalmist. In Strong’s Concor-dance, this word is defined in this way:
…to be heavy, valuable; to make rare, be precious, be prized, be set by, withdraw.
Do you find God’s word to be valuable? Is the Bible your most prized possession in this life, not because of who gave it to you, a pretty binding or such, but for it’s content?
Each and every word of God is precious. We can spend enormous amounts of time studying a single verse and continue to gain greater and greater appreciation for the message therein. In fact, our study will often result in us looking at specific words within a text, and as we do so, we benefit even further.
But consider this, if a single verse of Scripture can be so amazing, so wonderful, so encouraging; how about the whole thing? If the parts are valuable, precious, and prized, then the whole is even more so.
In the words of the psalmist,
How great is the sum of them! (v 17b)
The writer uses hyperbole in v 18, stressing the exceeding greatness of God’s word. Of course there are more grains of sand in the world than words in the Bible, but his goal is for us to know how boundless, how immeasurable, how vast and inexhaustible the word of God is.
May we love and obey the Lord and His word.
