Psalms 139:17

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

Psalms 139:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 139:17

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
&c.] The word ^F18 signifies that which is scarce and rare, and not to be attained and enjoyed; see ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ) ( Psalms 49:8 ) ; the thoughts and counsels of God are impenetrable and unsearchable; he knows our thoughts, as Aben Ezra observes, but we do not know his, ( Psalms 139:2 ) ; as well as it likewise signifies the worth and value of them; God's thoughts are infinitely beyond ours, and infinitely more valuable and more important, and are concerning our welfare and happiness: it is marvellous that God should think of us at all; it is more so that his thoughts should not be thoughts of evil, to bring that evil upon its we deserve, but thoughts of peace and reconciliation in and by his Son, in whom he was reconciling the world to himself; thoughts of salvation and eternal life, and of the way and means of bringing it about; thoughts to provide for our present supply in this world, and to lay up for us for the world to come; see ( Jeremiah 29:11 ) ( Psalms 40:17 ) ( 31:19 ) . It may be interpreted of the thoughts which David had of God in his meditations of him, which were sweet, precious, and comfortable to him; of his lovingkindness to him, covenant grace, precious promises, and gracious dealings with him; but the former sense seems best. The Targum is,

``to me how precious they that love thee, the righteous, O God!''

and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, "thy friends";

how great is the sum of them!
or "the heads of them"; that is, not the chief of thy friends, but the sum of thy thoughts, these in the bulk, in the general, are not to be counted; and much less the particulars of them, these are not to be entered into or described.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (wrqy) "difficiles", Cocceius; "quam rarae"; so some in Vatablus.

Psalms 139:17 In-Context

15 My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, [And] curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, [Even] the days that were ordained [for me], When as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.