The Thoughts of God - Part 2

Eduardo Elizondo speaks on the importance of seeking the thoughts of God and understanding His nature. Mr. Elizondo mentions that our thoughts are inherently evil and that God weighs the spirits behind our intentions. He also talks about committing our works to the Lord and how it establishes our thoughts—Eduardo references Proverbs 16 and Psalm 1 as guides for seeking the thoughts of God. Overall, the emphasis is on our need to align our thoughts with God's and seek His guidance in all we do. Hello everybody, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are, and great to be here with you all again and to continue what we started last time in the thoughts of God where we talked a little bit about the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 10 and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and what our obedience means. We talked about how God judges the thoughts and not just the actions and how He really can see our thoughts and also we talked about the nature of our thoughts and that our thoughts are evil inherently. Our human nature is inherently evil and we also talked a little bit about seeking the thoughts of God and that that's what God desires, that we would seek Him and seek His thoughts, that we would know Him, that we would love Him, that we would understand Him. The next question that follows is how do we do this? How do we seek the thoughts of God? How do we get to understand our Heavenly Father? How do we really get to know Him and have a deep relationship with Him and with Jesus Christ because we know they're both God and they both have wonderful thoughts that they have put in the Bible, but we want to understand how do we put this into practice? How do we seek the thoughts of God? We know that they are, you know, higher than the heavens above the earth. That's what it says in Isaiah 55, but God wants us to have His thoughts, to understand Him, to know Him and to think the way that He does, to start really becoming more into His likeness, not just His image like it says in Genesis. And today we're going to start to talk about these things like how do we do this? How do we seek the thoughts of God? How do we understand Him? How do we develop this relationship closer with Him? Let's go to Proverbs 16, and the book of Proverbs is a translator. It really translates the spiritual things and the deep things of God into practical application in life and the how-to. We could call the book of Proverbs a how-to manual in how to understand and not only to understand, but to do, to apply every day. So in Proverbs 16, we're going to read a couple of Proverbs that tell us a lot of things about the thoughts of God and about our thoughts as well as we were studying last time about God judging the thoughts. It says in Proverbs 16 in verse 2, we're going to begin in verse 2, where it says, all the ways of man are cleaning his own eyes, but the Lord wastes the spirits. And we're going to pause there because this is very important as background to what we're going to talk about today is how all the ways of man are cleaning his own eyes. We always think that whatever we're doing is right and that's the correct thing and that's what we should be doing. Whether it is or it isn't, we still think that, and that's what it says, all the ways of man are clean in his own eyes. But there's a difference. God says, you may think that you're right, you may think that what you're doing is right, it says, but the Lord wastes the spirits, he himself wastes the spirits. And when he says the spirits, it's because we know there is the spirit of man, we know there is the Holy Spirit of God, we also know there is the spirit of the Antichrist, the spirit of Satan, the devil. So we know that there's different spirits and not only that, and here also it's giving the understanding that it's not just the spirit, it's what is your intention? What is moving you? That's behind it. What is the spirit? Because the spirit means air, both in the Hebrew and in the Greek, it means air. How are you being inspired? What are you inspired to do? What are you inspired your ways to be? That's what it says, the Lord wastes the spirits, the spirit that is moving you. It could just be your human spirit, it could be the spirit from the enemy, it could be the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God, which is what we are striving for. Because we know we have been baptized, we know we have the Holy Spirit within us. And it is interesting that it says the Lord wastes the spirits, he knows exactly what is moving us. And we saw last time, we read it, where Jesus was telling Peter, get behind me Satan, for your thoughts are not with the things of God, but with the things of man. So he weighed the spirit that was at that point that was inspiring Peter to say those things, no Lord, may this never happen to you, may you never suffer. When it was part of the plan of God and the creed from before the foundation of the earth, that the Lamb of God would die for our sins. So the Lord weighs the spirit, that's just one example where God is weighing the spirits and he actually talks to Satan because he knows he's the one that was inspiring Peter at that moment. There were other things later, you know, Peter also talked about how he was going to die for Jesus. And Jesus was like, no, you're not going to, before the cock crows, you're going to deny me three times. He weighed the spirit. He knew that was coming from his own carnal nature and his desire, his desire to be with Jesus until the end. So the Lord weighs the spirit, those are just two examples. As we talk about the thoughts of God, it's important to remember that God weighs the spirits, that the Lord weighs the spirits. With what attitude, with what intention, we do the things that we do. What is inspiring us? What is it that's moving us, moving our ways? Because in our own eyes, it tells us you have some blindness. They are cleaning your own eyes and it says all, not some, it says all the ways of man are cleaning his own eyes. Why? That tells us that there's very few people that, and maybe evil people too, maybe they also are convinced that that is clean, that that's what they're supposed to be doing, right? Repaying, you know, an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth or whatever it is. But all the ways of man are cleaning his own eyes. Everybody feels justified in doing that, even if it's not what the Word of God says. We all do that. We all feel justified. We all feel, you know, vindicated and right and, you know, it's our self-righteousness that we do have. That's our nature. But the Lord weighs the spirits and as we approach this topic, this is the one thing to remember, that He is weighing all the spirits. And then we go to verse three where it says, commit your works unto the Lord, specific action to take. Commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts shall be established. And it's interesting because it says, commit your works, the things that you do to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established. Why would that be? Because if we commit our works unto the Lord, that means we're praying. We're sharing with God what we are going to do. We are communicating with Him. We are putting things into His hands. We are, as we are to pray, that His will be done. So we are submitting everything and subjecting everything to His will. And if we commit our works unto the Lord, then our thoughts will be established. They will be established. It will be firm because God can do that. He can direct our steps. He's never going to force us to do anything, but He's going to guide us. If we ask for that guidance and if we listen to that guidance when it comes, because it always comes as a still small voice, so to speak, it's not a literal voice, but it is the Spirit of God that inspires us, that moves us in the right direction with His Word, with what is written, because He left it all written. But this is something that we have to do in order to seek the thoughts of God when we commit our works to the Lord, that we are not so set on our own ways that it's going to be my way, it's going to be what I say, what I do, and it's going to be that way. That is stubbornness, and we know that it's the sin of witchcraft. So God does not like that. But if we commit our works unto the Lord, He will establish our thoughts. He will actually make that happen, and how to go about those things. And how is it that our thoughts shall be established? What do we have to do besides committing our works to the Lord so that our thoughts shall be established? Established on what? Let's go to Psalms, because in Psalm 1, it's important to read this Psalm and to understand that this Psalm is not just, you know, oh, for the patriarchs of the Bible, or, you know, for other people, for like super-righteous people, or a lofty goal, no, this is for each one of us, for you and for me. This Psalm was written so that we would strive to do this, so that we would strive to do exactly what it says here, and talking about how do we seek the thoughts of God, this Psalm is a perfect outline of how to seek the thoughts of God. It says in verse 1 of Psalm 1, it said, Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. And he says blessed because it's a blessing that comes from God. He gives us that blessing. He gives us everything, and as we heard in the opening prayer, He is loving and gracious, and He gives us all things. Everything that we have. He is merciful, He is patient, He is kind. He is everything that we would ever desire to be, and everything that we would ever decide to have. And that's why He gives us this blessing, is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. That means, you know, walking with the wicked, doing the things that the wicked are doing, actively practicing lawlessness. And I know that we are all striving to do that, to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, to not practice lawlessness. And then it says, nor stand in the way of sinners. Stand in the way of sinners. What does that mean? That means to not keep company with bad people. To get away from evil. Get away from sinners. Get away from evil company. Now, it means sinners as the wicked, as a way of practicing, because we all sin. Now, it is the blood of Jesus Christ that justifies us, so we're not practicing sin. So that's not what the psalmist is referring to here. It's talking about the way of sinners, the ones that have sin as a way of life. But we are not to stand in that way. That means keeping company with them, even if we're not doing it. That's why it says, stand in the way of sinners. The first one is that does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. It is doing what the wicked tells them to do, and we're not supposed to do that. Nor stand in the way of sinners. Don't even keep company. Don't even go there. You know, how many times have we heard of people that, you know, end up in jail or something, like, wrong place, wrong time? Well, that is the example of those that are standing in the way of sinners. They may not have committed the crime themselves, but they were involved in it. And that's why it says, nor stand in the way of sinners. So not even keeping company, obviously not doing it, not practicing it. And then it says, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. And that is even more said in those ways, more said, in the seat of the scornful. And sometimes that seat of the scornful can be the seat of judgment. Remember how the Pharisees, you know, they sat in the seat of Moses and rendering the judgments of Moses, and Jesus said that, they sit in those seats, but don't do how they do. Do what they tell you, but don't do as they do, because they're not doing what God wants. And sometimes we can fall into that seat of the scornful if we're judging our brother or our sister. If we're doing those things, we are sitting in the seat of judgment, the seat of the scornful. And that's just one example. The sitting just implies, we're set, you know, we're camping here, we're not moving, we're not even thinking about moving, we're sitting in the seat of the scornful, and blessed is the man who does not do that. So it's not walking, not actively doing those things, it's not standing with them or having company with them, with the sinners, but it's also not sitting in the seat of the scornful, to set our ways in that seat. And sometimes that is the judgment seat that believes, you know, just like we read in Proverbs that I'm right, they're wrong, you know, and they're doing this and they're doing that and they're doing that. And that's what Jesus said. It's like, why are you looking, you know, at the sliver in your brother's eye when you haven't looked at the beam that you have in your own eye? So that's why we're not to do these things. And then it tells us what to do. So first is what not to do, but then he guides us to what to do. In verse 2 it says, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and night. And this meditation is thoughts. In only meditation, this is delight. To delight in something is to have joy, to have pleasure in it, to enjoy it. And that takes time. That takes time because we cannot delight in something that we don't really know deeply or that we don't study constantly. The law of the Lord. You know how much we, you know, we even have a song, you know, How I Love Thy Law. And we sing that, but how much time do we dedicate to actually understand that law, to really know exactly what it says, because that law reveals the mind of God, reveals the thoughts of God, all his commandments, all his judgments, and not only the ones in the Old Testament, the ones in the New Testament as well, where he says, love your enemies, love one another the way I have loved you, love the brethren, where he says all those things, all of those things are his laws. Do we delight in those things, brethren? Is our delight in the law of the Lord? Do we meditate? Do we meditate in that law day and night? Because I think we should. Because when we do that, if we do that, and when we do that, and when we at least strive to do that, God will bless us. God will bless us with his thoughts. God will bless us with understanding. God will bless us in all kinds of ways. That is drawing near to him, like it says in Isaiah 55, to draw near to God. And he will give us his thoughts. Those are his thoughts. That's the way that God thinks with his law that is perfect, and that is wonderful. It changes the mind. It changes the heart. It changes the way that we think. It connects the neurons in our brains. And in verse 3 it says, and he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaves shall not wither. And all, circle all, that he does shall prosper. If we really achieve that high lofty goal that is meditating in the laws of God day and night. But it says, he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, bringing forth its fruit in its season, its leaves does not wither. And all that he does shall prosper. And that's what we read in the Bible. We have an example of Joseph, that's what Potiphar said, everything that he touches flourishes. And same thing, even in jail, as a second in command, the palace, everything, everything that he did was prospering. I wonder how much he memorized the laws of God. He had them in his heart and he was meditating day and night because everything that he did was prospering. And he uses this terminology here in verse 3, it says, and he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season. Let's go to Revelation, we'll come back to Psalm 1, but Revelation 22, because it's the same terminology as what we just read. In Revelation 22, and this is talking about New Jerusalem, it says, then he showed, speaking about the angels, it says, then he showed me, the Apostle John talking about this angel, he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the middle of the street and on this side and on that side of the river was a tree of life, producing 12 manner of fruits, each month yielding its fruit, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. How similar is that that we just read in Psalm 1, and we're going to go back to Psalm 1 to finish the Psalm, but it says that in the middle of the street is this, this tree of life, and it produces 12 manner of fruits, and first we see this river, and we know that it's a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but here, here it's talking about the water of life. That's what he saw, and obviously, you know, this isn't a vision, but we can, from what we can read, we can assume that this is spiritual, it's New Jerusalem, and this water of life is clear as crystal, and it was flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and that's what's going to happen when we start meditating more on his laws. He's going to give us more and more of that water of life, of his Holy Spirit, so that we can meditate, so that we can have the thoughts of God, so that we can know God better every day as we meditate on his law, and not just as stated in the Bible, but also as practice, and as he shows us, this is how you live this out, this is how you live this other commandment out, this is how you practice, you know, no, choose to do this instead of that. He's walking, like sometimes we read that, you know, those scriptures in Isaiah, right, like the teacher shall not be taken away from you, and they will declare it this way and go that way. Well, we do have a teacher right now. We have a Lord and Master in Jesus Christ, and he wants to do that, but there are conditions. We have to delight ourselves in the law of the Lord. We have to want that law, to know that law, to study it, to internalize it, to think, to meditate on it day and night. I know it's a tall order, but it's going to really change our lives if we do that. It's going to change how we think, and then all of these things, these are promises, and God's promises do not fail, and we will be like those trees. They're bringing fruit in its season. Which fruit? The fruit of the Spirit. We will be bringing the fruit of the Spirit, because that's what the Holy Spirit is going to bring. That's what God, the Father, and Jesus Christ are going to give us through the Holy Spirit, and then everything will prosper, not because of us, but because of God, and as a testimony that what he says is true, that what he promised is going to happen, and then it says the wicked are not so, verse 4, in Psalm 1, but they are like chaff, which the wind drives away. It doesn't last. It can be green, but then it just goes, and then he tells us in verse 5, Therefore the wicked shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. And right there, just as a sidebar, here it's telling us the wicked shall not stand in judgment. What is that? First resurrection. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. What is that? First resurrection. The congregation of the righteous is the first resurrection, and the judgment, standing in the judgment, is the second resurrection, after a thousand years were completed. They're both right there. The wicked will not be in these two, in that sense. That's what it's saying. Why? Because they will be resurrected. It doesn't tell us where. It doesn't tell us when, but what we know is that they will be thrown into the lake of fire. They're not going to stand up for another judgment. The wicked already had their opportunity and decided to do wickedly, and they will be thrown into the lake of fire. But the righteous will stand up in the congregation of the righteous in the return of Jesus Christ. And the ones that are not wicked, the rest of the dead, will stand in judgment. So there's the two resurrections right there. It says, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous. So all our ways are clean in our own eyes, but the Lord weighs the sphere, what sphere it moves us. But God actually knows the way of the righteous. He knows because He's guiding the righteous. He's actually guiding us. Because our Lord and Master is doing that. Jesus Christ is guiding us. Do this. Go here. Don't do that. With His Spirit. It says, but the way of the wicked shall perish. And that's what is going to happen. But this is how. How do we seek the thoughts of God? Doing what He says in Psalm 1. First not doing those things, of walking in the counsel of the wicked, or standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of the scornful. But also, but delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. The rest are the promises. The rest are the promises on what's going to happen. But that's how we do it. Let's go now to Psalm 33. We're going to go to Psalm 33 because in here there are a lot of the thoughts of God. And the Bible is full of that. The Bible is full of the thoughts of God. This never ends. We're just going to see a few. But I would like for us to take a moment and reflect that the thoughts of God is what we are to seek. All the time. And to know, to be mindful that His thoughts are here and what He says, what He tells us to do, to meditate on His law day and night, that's what we have to do every day. That we have to seek the thoughts of God. God will give us His thoughts. He will. And His thoughts are incredible. There's absolutely nothing like it. Nothing like it. I mean the description of New Jerusalem alone is to blow our minds away. But there's so much more. In this life. And then at the resurrection. But God wants for us to understand Him. To know Him. To love Him. He wants for us to do all of these things. Psalm 33 we're going to start in verse 10. Because we're going to read some of the thoughts of God in this psalm which are amazing. And we're going to think about these things. I want you to meditate on these things as we're reading them and to think about them and later on take peace and meditate on your own and remember these things. Remember how much God loves you. How much God cares. And not just you. We're going to see here. Because these are the thoughts of God towards all. It says in verse 10. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He frustrates the plans of the people. And it's just like we heard from Fred, right? Like He brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He does care about the nations. He does. He directs. He knows what happens with nations as a whole. And He deals with people in different levels like Fred was explaining. But it's true. He does. He brings Himself, the counsel of the nations, to nothing. He does. The nations think that we're going to do this, we're going to be a superpower, we're going to do... No. He can bring it all to nothing. And He does. He does. So at the national level this applies as we heard. We cannot be, in the church of God, so proud to say, well, nobody else matters. We're the only ones that matter because we're the called ones and the chosen ones and this. No. We cannot say that. Ever. We cannot say, well, that's too low. That's just for people in the world and politics. It's all corrupted. Yes. That's probably true. But that doesn't mean that we're above any of that. All of that affects us. And this is the world we live in. And we can actually learn some things of how God deals with people. Because it says that the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. And then He says, but you see how He goes from the general to the specific. He frustrates the plans of the people, of the specific people. Not just of the people as a nation, but also He frustrates the plans of certain individuals as well. If He wants to. That's His will. That's probably what happened to a lot of us when we were being called, or before we were called, when God was drawing us to Himself. He frustrated our plans. He brought us to the bottom of despair, right? We were touching rock bottom. We had no one else to help us. He frustrates the plans of the people because God does whatever He pleases on the heavens and on the earth. He can do that. Of course, He has given men free moral agency. That's not what this means, that there's no free moral agency. But He can intervene, and He does intervene with the nations and with the people. And He actually uses people to intervene. That's exactly what happened to all those seven nations in the land of Israel. That He was going to bring Israel to inherit those nations because of the wickedness of those nations. That's what He said. He said, it's not because of your righteousness. It's because of the wickedness of these nations. So that means, in a sense, it's like He cares for those nations. He needs to punish them for their sins. That's what He said. And the plan was, wipe them all out. Because with the understanding of the second resurrection, and with the understanding of His law, of how wicked those works were, that was the most loving, the best thing to do. But this is part of the plans of God, the thoughts of God. He frustrates the plans of the people individually too. To call us, to convert us, to remove every crutch that we have in life so that we rely only on Him. That's why He frustrates the plans of the people. He takes away everything sometimes. That's what He did with Job. Job was greatly blessed. He was really embodying that Psalm 1, that everything He does shall prosper. He was so prosperous before this happened. But then, God frustrated the plans of Job. He brought him to nothing, to within probably inches of his life. Because if Satan is given permission to attack, he's going to do as much as he's permitted to do. But then it says in verse 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever. The thoughts of His heart to all generations. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. Whatever He wants to do is going to take place. Now, whether we cooperate or not, that's our decision. But He has called us, and He has wonderful plans for us to be with Him forever and ever. To be His kingdom, to be part of that new Jerusalem. That is the counsel of the Lord, and it stands forever. That's not going to change. We do have free moral agency if we choose to walk away. But if we choose to stay close to God, and to seek Him with all our heart, and to meditate on His laws, because that's going to be the foundation of that kingdom of God, that will never ever end. There's going to be righteousness and justice. It says that that's the foundation of His throne. So that's why the thoughts of His heart to all generations. These are the thoughts of His heart. This is the thoughts of His heart. Verse 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance. Here, it's an amazing thing, but you see that? You see that how He's talking about Israel, and He's talking about the church. It says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance. And let's remember that part of our purpose is to bring them to jealousy. You know, that's why it's a partial hardening of the heart, as it says in Romans, right? Has occurred to Israel and to all the fullness of the nations of the people that He has chosen for His own inheritance. That's us, the saints. And it's blessed. And we also are a holy nation. So it's talking about both. You can take it in either way, Israel the church, or the church and the church. But it's true. It says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And we are that royal priesthood, and not to exalt ourselves, but to actually abase ourselves, knowing that all glory goes to God in everything, all the time, because He makes it happen. Because He is the giver of all good things, because we are only the recipients of those good things, and of His love, and of His thoughts. But those are His thoughts, that He would dwell in us, that He would live in us, that we would have His thoughts, that we would act like Him, that we would talk like Him, that we would treat others the way that He treats us, with compassion, with care, with love, with understanding, telling the truth, even if it hurts at times. But that's what He wants. That's why we are blessed, as the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His own inheritance. That's us, brethren. And then it says in verse 13, the Lord looks down from heaven, He beholds all the sons of men, circle all, for those that say, that put themselves above everybody, and everything, and say, oh, poor people in the world, oh, they don't matter, oh, that is so mundane. No, the Lord looks down from heaven, and He beholds all the sons of men. From His dwelling place, He looks intently, let's pay attention to that, intently, upon all, again, circle all, the inhabitants of the earth. He does deal with everybody, but on different levels, as Fred explained. Not with everybody, not with all unto salvation right now. And we know that, and we've seen that, and we understand that. But that doesn't mean that God doesn't care about people. That doesn't mean that God doesn't care about nations. If we have thought that in the past, that's probably just out of pride. But we should stop that, because the Bible clearly says, from His dwelling place, He looks intently upon all, the inhabitants of the earth. And then He tells us some more of the thoughts of His heart, that stand to all generations. This is what He does. And this is what He's thinking, verse 15. Together He fashions their hearts alike. He considers all their works. That's what He's doing, He's fashioning our hearts alike, like the heart of God, the heart of Jesus Christ, who was perfect. He was perfect in the flesh, even though He had human nature. He had the law of sin and death within Him. But God the Father is fashioning our hearts, like the heart of His beloved firstborn son, who is sitting at His right hand. And how? It says He considers all their works. Why? Because that's how He's fashioning our hearts. He is fashioning all our hearts. And we could even say that it's because it says, all inhabitants of the earth, because no life is wasted. Even if the only thing they're learning right now is how not to live, and how miserable we're going to be, if we go against the laws of God, they're still learning something that is going to be good for later, if they're called in this life, for maybe being part of the greater number of multitude, or in the second resurrection. All of that. He considers all their works. He knows our thoughts, and He knows our works. And this is what some of the thoughts that God has for us. And then He says, verse 16, these are the thoughts of God. The king is not saved by a great army. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. We know that. David knew that. That's why he wasn't trusting in himself. He always put it in God's hands. He never lost a battle, but he never went to battle if God told him not to go. The king is not saved by a great army. And David was a great warrior, but he knew he's not saved by his own might. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither shall it deliver anybody's great strength. And a horse is very powerful. I mean, that's the measure that we use even for vehicles, right? How many horsepower, right? 300 horsepower, you know, 400 horsepower. Like that's how we... The thoughts of God is like, a horse is a vain thing for safety, and your car with all the 400 horsepower to you. You know, it's a vain thing. It will not deliver anybody's great strength, or your car or whatever. Like, it doesn't matter. Don't put your trust in those things. These are the thoughts of God that He's fashioning our hearts, that He's doing it sometimes by frustrating our plans, that He saves us. God is the one that saves us, so we shouldn't trust in our things, in our possessions, our horse, you know, like whatever it is. We don't have a horse, but some of you do. But it says, because the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His loving kindness. Do you see that the detail says the eye of the Lord? He said already, we read it. You know, we read that the Lord looks down from heaven. He looks intently, but now we see the eye of the Lord. The very eye on the Lord is upon those who fear Him. That's you and I, brethren. Those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His loving kindness. Do we fear God? Are we hoping in His loving kindness? Because the more that we study that law and meditate on it day and night, the more that we're gonna trust Him, because the more that we read His word and see the deliverance, that's why there's a testimony in all the stories of all the deliverance for all the people of God throughout history, so that we know and we would believe and that we would hope in that loving kindness, that we would know that His eye is upon us to fear Him. And this is what we are to do. So we've seen many things, right? We've seen in Proverbs that, you know, we have to commit our works unto the Lord. We've seen in Psalm 1 that we are to meditate on His law, the light in His law and meditate on it day and night. Now we're seeing that we are to fear Him, that we are to hope in His loving kindness. That's how we get the thoughts of God. But we have to think about God and think about His thoughts, because if we think about God and think about His thoughts, we are gonna be blown away, brethren. We're gonna be blown away by His love, by His mercy, by His wisdom, by His strength, by His character altogether. If we read the thoughts of God, which are here, and we take them literally, we understand that this means literally that He has His eye upon us. He's watching over us intently. And why does He do that? Verse 19, to deliver their soul from death. And to keep them alive in famine. Isn't that a great comfort, brethren? We read Psalm 91, this goes with it. This goes with it too. He's going to deliver our soul from death, and He's talking about eternal death. Deliver our soul from eternal death? Just think about what a wonderful gift that is in and of itself. It says, and to keep them alive in famine. There's very hard times coming, very hard times, and we all know that. And there's going to be the martyrdom of the saints, but we pray that God gives us the courage. We are to pray that God gives us the courage to go through whatever we need to go. But the thought of His heart is to keep us alive in famine. He doesn't want us to die of hunger. He doesn't want that. These are the thoughts of God that we read through all generations. He wants to deliver His loved ones. He wants to deliver those who are loving Him back and knowing Him and meditating on His law day and night and putting all, entrusting all their works to Him. He wants to deliver those who fear Him, those who hope in His loving kindness. He wants to deliver us. These are the thoughts of God. And in verse 20, it says, our soul waits for the Lord. That's what we are to do. So we see what to do and what God does, what to do and what God does back and forth, because that's our relationship. That's what it means. It means to be with God. He gives us thoughts. He gives us His thoughts, and we are to act upon that. So yes, He's going to keep us alive in famine, but we have to wait for the Lord. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. He's not the horse and He's not any of the things that we own, nothing like that. He Himself is our help and our shield. And then when we get to know the thoughts of God and the mind of God, and we meditate on these things, this is the result. Verse 21, for our heart shall rejoice in Him, in Him. We're rejoicing in the Lord Himself, because we have an amazing God who is good at the core, who has thoughts of loving kindness, of mercy, of protection, of care. That's the God that we serve. He wants us, He loves us. We're the apple of His eye, brethren. So our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. We have to trust. We have to wait. We have to commend our works into His hands. We have to fear Him. We have to hope in His loving kindness. We have to do these things, but you see the thoughts of the Lord? They're intertwined with all of these, because this is a love story. It's the love of God for His people, for those that He is calling, for those, as He says here, right? The people that He has chosen for His own inheritance. And inheritance is what we have, what we obtain, and it's precious. And that's us, brethren. Not to puff ourselves up is because of Him, and for Him, and by Him, and unto Him. But our heart shall rejoice in Him, because then we know Him, because we not only know His law, we know His character, we know His mind, we know His thoughts, that He wants to deliver our soul from death, that He wants to keep us alive in famine. He wants to take care of us. He wants to bless us. He wants to love on us. That's what God wants to do. And that's what He does, as much as He possibly can, without spoiling us, right? Or, you know, aborting this project, right? Because we, like, sometimes, too many blessings, we've seen it. There's the example of Solomon. That's what can happen. That's what God wanted to do, and He said, and I'm gonna give you even more. He was so happy with Solomon. What happens? Sometimes, it can be too much. That's why God wants us to delight in Him, for Him to be our inheritance, because we are to be kings and priests in the kingdom. And if we read in the Pentateuch, we can read about the Levites, that they were separated from God, and He said, the Lord is your inheritance. You will not have inheritance. Part of inheritance among your brethren is nothing. You're not gonna have lands. You're not gonna have homes and possessions and all of these things. You're just gonna have a place to live, and you're gonna get, you know, the patrimony, the tithes, and offerings from the people. But you're gonna have land. The Lord is your inheritance, and you know you and I, brethren, are going to be the priests in the millennium, and the Lord is our inheritance, too. That's why our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trust in His holy name. And then in verse three, it says, let your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in you. How much do we hope in God? Do we hope with all our heart, in everything, in every thought? Because if we do, that lovingkindness is gonna be, according to that, is going to be wholehearted, full, abundant. This joy, you're gonna feel in your heart. There's nothing to be compared to that, because of knowing God, because of knowing His thoughts, because knowing and having that confidence in our Heavenly Father. We're gonna read some more thoughts of God. Let's go one Psalm back to Psalm 32. Psalm 32, because this also has a lot of the thoughts of God. And like I said, there's many, many, the whole Bible is full with the thoughts of God, of what He's going to do, of how He wants us to do things, His instructions, His commandments, everything, everything, like all of that comes from the thoughts of God. But I would like for us to take that from this message, that the thoughts of God are infinite, and they're wonderful, and they're toward us. And they show His love, His compassion, His understanding. The relationship that we are to have with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and He's beautiful. And when we read the Bible, to know that we're reading the thoughts of God, the mind of God, the ways of God, and that's what we want, that's what we desire. And this is a Psalm of David, it says a contemplation. And that's what we're trying to do right now, to contemplate, to think on the thoughts of God. And we're gonna see something wonderful. There's so many thoughts in here that reveal His heart, His intentions, His love, His understanding, for us to be nurtured, not only in our minds, but in our hearts, in our emotions, in our feelings too, knowing how much God loves us. Because it says here in verse one, blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. And that's all of us baptism, right? The very beginning, the very beginning, when we repent, and then God forgives us, whose sin is covered, and He gave His only begotten Son for us. He gave the most precious person that He had beside Him, being equal with Him, He gave Him for us, so that our transgression would be forgiven and our sin covered. Verse two, blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit, Lord ways the spirits, is no guile, no guile, to have honesty, to have that purity of heart and of mind. Not in self-deceit mode that everything I do is right, like we just read in Proverbs, no. Not that all the ways of man are clean in His own eyes, no. In the way that is the blood of Christ, that's why He doesn't impute iniquity. And that we see through the lens of the law of God and the word of God, to see the truth. And what it says is, in whose spirit there is no guile, there is no deceit. And part of that is admitting our mistakes when they happen and repenting, from the heart sincerely to others and to God. That is where the spirit, there's no guile, is the Holy Spirit. If we have the Holy Spirit of God, there's gonna be less and less guile, the more the more that we have the Spirit of God in us. And we have to ask every day. But this is a blessing from God. And God does not impute iniquity, not from anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus Christ says. And now we have things to do now, but the reason that, you know, our sin is forgiven and our sin is covered and we don't have iniquity imputed to us, is not because of anything that we can ever do. But we are to have that Spirit of God, and we are to be without guile. And then he tells us here, some more things that we need to do. Verse three, when I kept silent, my bones wore away through all my groaning, all the day long. That happens to us too. Sometimes if we know we've done wrong, there's some alarms or red lights going off, it's like, hey, you haven't done what I said. But if we're meditating in that law of God, we're gonna know that. We're gonna know that, but we shouldn't stay silent. Or our bones are gonna wear away and are groaning all day long. This is for by day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Right now, at least in the northern hemisphere, it's summer and we see the heat of summer and can bring us down if it's too hot of a day. And we don't feel that we have the energy. But sometimes that's how we feel. Sometimes his hand is heavy upon us if we're not repenting, if we're not confessing our sin to God. If we don't wanna acknowledge, if we kind of put on the blinders, they're like, no, no, no, no, my ways are clean in my own eyes. The Lord weighs his spirits. What spirit moved us to do that? But we are not to keep silent. We are not to keep silent. That's why it says that the strength, you know, hand was heavy because God is a loving God. And as a loving God, a loving father, he's going to correct us. He's going to instruct us. He's going to admonish us and punish us at times when needed. He's not gonna let us be, continue in that evil way or remain with that sin. He's gonna bring one thing and maybe another until we see. He's going to do that because he loves us as a father loves his children. And then he says what happened then, right? In verse five, and this is, you know, Psalm of David. This contemplation is that I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. He came clean. He remembered, right? Oh, in good spirit, there's no guile. We need to confess. You know, it's not only that our transgression is forgiven, but it's, we have to confess it. We have to repent. We have to bring it before God, knowing, you know, as it says, with boldness before the throne of grace, because God is ready to forgive. And he understands. Jesus Christ understands our condition perfectly because he lived it. He lived in the flesh. I acknowledge my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord. I'm going to acknowledge my sin. I'm going to acknowledge my mistake. And I'm gonna be honest. I'm going to confess and repent. Meditate on that law so that my programming is before I fall in it again, that I go the right way. And it says, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. And it says, Selah. Meditate on the forgiveness of God upon repentance. These are the thoughts of God. And because he is good and ready to forgive and merciful and long-suffering. I mean, look, even with the world, how far things are going and they are going to go before God intervenes, because he always gives place for repentance. But what we are to do is in verse six, for this reason, let every godly one pray to you in a time when you may be found. And that's what we read in Isaiah, right? Seek the Lord while he may be found. So let every godly one who's talking to us pray to you. Pray to God. Seek that relationship. Seek him. Not just eternal life. Not just his commandments. That's part of it. Seek God in a time when he may be found. Surely in the floods of great waters, they shall not come near him. You see the thoughts of God? To keep us alive in famine. That the flood of great waters do not come near us. You know what? A thousand may fall on your right hand, 10,000 at your right side, right? But nothing will happen to you. These are the thoughts of God. But these also have to be our thoughts. Verse seven, you are my hiding place. Let the Lord be your hiding place. Let Jesus Christ be your rock to protect you, to preserve you. He says, you shall preserve me from trouble. These are the thoughts of God in you. He knew God and he knew that God was gonna preserve him from trouble. And he did his entire life as much as he had to pay for his sins with his sons rebelling against him and all of these. But he still preserved him from trouble. He says, you shall encircle me with songs of deliverance, selah. And I wonder if that's gonna happen in the Sea of Glies that there's gonna be songs of deliverance. If we're all gonna be encircled by the angels and the multitudes of angels singing songs of deliverance. Here are your saints, Lord. Here are those who follow you, king of the saints. And if we will be encircled with songs of deliverance, these are the thoughts of God. And then in verse eight, it actually says what God said. In verse eight, you said, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. I will counsel you. My eye shall be upon you. And that's what we read in Psalm 33. His eye is upon those who fear him, those who hope in his loving kindness. So this is what God is thinking. He wants to instruct us. He wants to teach us in the way that we should go. He wants to counsel us. And this is not just on paper, not just on the Sabbath. This is all the time that our teacher would be with us and guide us. This is the way, walk in it through the Holy Spirit, through the Holy Spirit. This is what God wants. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. In that way are his laws and his commandments. That's the reason we are to meditate on them day and night. That's the way to seek and have the thoughts of God. But, you know, his eye will be upon us. But then there's a warning. Verse nine, be not like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding. They do not understand. We would like them to understand, but they don't understand, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle. E'er else they will not come near you. God is saying, come to me because you get to know me. You get to experience me. You get to see the wonders of my word, the wonders that I'm gonna do in your life. Even through the trials, the tribulations, everything, everything, come to me. Don't be like the horse, don't be like the mule. This is what God thinks. These are the thoughts of God toward us. He is seeing us, his eye is upon us. But we are not to be like the horse and like the mule that is by force, ugh, you know. Finally, this person's praying. Finally, this person's starting to understand, starting to pay attention. No. Or like Israel, that it says, you know, it's like from the top of your head to the sole of your foot, there is no place. There is no place, you know, to punish you anymore. Beaten from head to toe. But God doesn't want that, that for us. He wants to instruct us and teach us in the way which we should go. This is what God is thinking. I will counsel you. And this is what God has for us. He has all of these thoughts for us. Not because we're anything special, but because he has had mercy on us. Because we have been the weak and base things of the world. And not to exalt us, to exalt himself. To show that he's not by any human power that we are called or that we are his. But we are. But we are. Because these are the thoughts of God. Verse 10, the wicked has many sorrows, but his steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the Lord. Songs of deliverance, his steadfast love. You see the thoughts of God around us, centered around us. Again, not because we're anything, and not to exalt ourselves. This is just how much God loves you. He loves you, that he's thinking, that he's intently watching upon you, with his eye on you. He wants to keep you, he wants to instruct you. He wants to counsel you. He wants to protect you. He wants to keep you alive in the famine. He wants to preserve you from the great waters of the flood. And when we get to understand these thoughts of God, when we get to understand all of the things that he has in his heart constantly for us, day in and day out, then just like we read in the other psalm, it says here in verse 11, be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice and shout for joy. That's what we are to do, because when we really get to see the thoughts of God, that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna shout for joy. Because this is amazing, to know the thoughts of God, to see, we've read tonight how much he cares. It says, all you upright in heart, but it's not because we're upright because of our righteousness. We saw it at the beginning of this psalm. It's because of the blood of the lamb. It's because God has a plan for us. He doesn't need us, he wants us there. He wants our full cooperation, but he wants us to know him, to love him. And today we've seen how to have the thoughts of God, how to know God a little bit more, how to see his thoughts. There's a lot more other things that we can learn about this topic. And there's other things that maybe in a future message we'll delve into regarding the thoughts of God, but we've seen some today as to what to do. We've seen so many things of what to do, in hoping his steadfast love, in trusting in him, in fearing him, in putting, you know, commanding our works to him so that our thoughts can be established in meditating day and night in his laws, in his commandments, in loving him, in knowing and understanding his thoughts that he has toward us to deliver us from famine, to deliver us from the floods of great waters, to protect us, to deliver our soul from death, from eternal debt, to be with them forever. There is nothing like this. And those are the thoughts of his heart to all generations. He loves us so much, he wants us in his kingdom. Let's now all together meditate and seek the thoughts of God.