How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. I awake, and I am still with You. Psalm 139:17-18
My words…
A Prayer of Praise to You Whose Thoughts are Vast…
What is difficult is precious. The higher the difficulty level of a task, the more recognition and honor is accompanied with its completion. When David contemplated Your thoughts, he described them as difficult (some translations) and precious (other translations). What proceeds from Your mind is too difficult for me to comprehend. And that is what makes Your thoughts precious to me. David weighed the possibility of counting Your thoughts. Looking across the landscapes of his region, he could only find one natural element that was in more abundance than any other – sand. He compared the task of counting Your thoughts to counting grains of sand, a task that no man could ever successfully complete. Archimedes had some great ideas about counting sand. I wonder if You were on his mind when he theorized about the number of grains of sand it would take to fill the universe (one followed by 80 quadrillion zeros – who knew?). I imagine You smiling as You listened to his explanations to King Gelon. We, Your children, push the limits of our understanding because we want to know more. We need to know more. But we’ll never know the limitless depths of Your thoughts. It cannot be described by a one followed by a bunch of zeros. As much as I delight in meditating on Your boundlessness, it is the last few words of this passage that brings my spirit prostrate before You. You, the only God, the One whose thoughts outnumber grains of sand many times over, like to hang out with me. When I open my eyes after sleeping, anytime I take the time to look – there You are. Then I know that it’s not only Your thoughts that are vast but Your love for me as well.
