Meditation for the week of September 3, 2006
Psalm 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
There are two kinds of people that we can’t quit thinking about. If someone angers us, we have a tendency to remember what they have done. We may fret about it and in some cases, we may even try to get even. But it is for sure that we simply cannot get them out of our minds. We think upon them. But our thoughts are not usually good thoughts.
If we love someone, they too have a place in our minds and thoughts. We call them. We write them and we try to spend time with them. We usually pray for them. These may be people in our families or they may be our friends, but either way we think upon them. But our thoughts for these people are usually good thoughts.
I believe that the Psalmist was a believer and that He knew that the Lord loved him. He knew that the Lord spent time thinking about him. In verse 5 of this Psalm, the Lord’s thoughts are more than can be numbered and seem to be linked with the wonderful works that God has done for those who worship Him instead of lies or false gods. The Psalmist had been tried and was now rejoicing since had been brought up out of an horrible pit. He had been delivered from his trials and now he realizes that the Lord had been thinking about him all the time. This Psalm is a Messianic Psalm since verse 6 seems to refer prophetically to the Lord according to Hebrews 10:5. So this gives us some idea as to how much the Lord was loved by His Father, even during the three hours of darkness and separation on the cross. And if we trust in Him and are going though a time of darkness and loneliness, I am confident that God as our Father is thinking on us as well.
One of the saddest things in life is that unbelievers will not be in the thoughts of the Lord even though God’s wrath abides on them (John 3:36). We fret because of evil doers (Psalm 37:1). But the Lord simply blots their names out of the book of Life (Revelation 3:5, Psalm 109:13). I personally believe that the name of every person that will ever be born was written in the Lamb’s book of Life at the foundation of the world since God knew that the death of Christ would be sufficient to save every person. However, as people reject the Lord as their Savior (John 3:18), they are blotted out. Unbelievers in the Bible are nameless, believers are often named or personally identified in some way. Notice that in Luke 16, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is never named but Lazarus is. In 2nd Timothy 2:19 we read, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.†I believe the word “know†implies the intimate relationship that the Lord has with His friends. He thinks about them, and His thoughts are good.
The Psalmist has been delivered, has a new song, has been a willing volunteer for the service of the Lord, has preached about the Lord’s faithfulness to others and now he tells us that the Lord thinks upon him. As the poor and needy one, he realizes that his sins are many and that his enemies are mighty. But He also knows that the Lord is able to deliver him from his enemies since He has done it before. And he hopes that the Lord will do it again soon. He says, “Make no tarrying, o my God.†Our final deliverance from all of the things that are against us will be at the Lord’s coming and we too can say, “Make no tarrying, O my God.†“Even so come Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).†The Lord has us in His thoughts. Amen.
Bruce Collins