Thoughts of God

[Soldier4Christ]

The word evil is the most often used translation of the Hebrew word ra‛  râ‛âh. This word though is also used to indicate destruction, that which is "bad", adversity, affliction, or calamity. If we look at this verse more closely though we see that this is not speaking of evil as many would consider it.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

The first portion of this verse uses light and darkness in complete contrast, opposing each other. The next portion then in the same line of thought uses peace in contrast to evil.

The idea of this portion of scripture is that God is all powerful, He is the creator of all things and therefore has the sovereign right to also destroy it as He so determines.

[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       11. SOVEREIGNTY

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Isaiah 45:7

       What a sad world this would be, were it governed by Fate. Were its blended lights and shadows, its joys and sorrows, the result of capricious accident - blind and wayward chance! How blessed to think that each separate occurrence that befalls me is "a thought of God" - the fulfillment of His own immutable purpose.

       Is it the outer material world? It is He who "forms the light and creates darkness" - who appoints the sun and moon for their seasons - who gives to the sea its decree - who watches the sparrow in its fall - who tends the lily in the field - and who paints the tiniest flower that blossoms in the meadow.

       Is it the moral world? All events are predetermined and prearranged by Him. It is He who makes peace and creates evil. Prosperity and adversity are His appointment. The Lord who of old prepared Jonah's shade-plant, prepared also the worm. He gives and He takes away. He molds every tear. He "puts them into His bottle." He knows them all, counts them all, treasures them all. Not one of them falls unbidden - unnoted.

       "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." Over every occurrence in nature and in providence He writes, "I the Lord do all these things."

       True, His thoughts are often mysterious, His ways past finding out. We are led at times, amid the bewildering mazes of His providential dealings, to exclaim, "O Lord, how great are Your works, and Your thoughts are very deep!" Be it ours to defer our verdict until their full development. We cannot envision the thoughts and intents of the architect or engineer in the first clearing of the ground for the foundation of some gigantic structure. The uninitiated eye can discover nothing but deep unsightly scars, or piles of unshapely rubbish - a chaos of confusion. But gradually, as week by week passes, we see his thoughts molding themselves into visible and substantial shapes of order and beauty; and when the edifice at last stands before us complete, we discern that all which was mystery and confusion at first, was a necessary part and portion of the undertaking.

       So is it, at present, regarding "the thoughts of God." Often, in vain, do we try to comprehend the purposes of the Almighty Architect amid the dust and debris of the earthly foundations. Let us wait patiently until we gaze on the finished structure of eternity.

       Oh, blessed assurance - 'precious thought' of God - that the loom of life is in the hands of the Great Designer - that it is He who is interweaving the threads of existence, the light and the dark, the acknowledged good and the apparent evil. The chain of what is erroneously called "destiny," is in His keeping. He knows its every connecting link - He has forged these on His own anvil. Man's purposes have failed, and are ever liable to fail - his brightest anticipations may be thwarted; his best-laid schemes may be frustrated.

       Life is often a retrospect of crushed hopes - the bright rainbow-hues of morning, passing in its afternoon into damp mist and drizzling rain. "Many are the thoughts in a man's heart," (which know no fulfillment nor fruition,) "but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand."

       "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse My actions." Isaiah 43:13

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       12. DIVINE JOY

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

       Wondrous 'thought of God!' - God resting in His love - His love not for unsinning angels, but for fallen, redeemed man! The idea is, the joy and satisfaction of one reposing after the completion of some arduous work. God rested at creation - He rejoiced with joy over a new-born world. But this was a feeble type of His complacent rest and rejoicing over the new-born ransomed soul.

       There is a beautiful sequence in the verse. It rises to a climax. First, God "saves." Then He "rejoices." Then He "rests," (the contemplative rest of joy.) Then, as if this were not enough, He rejoices over His people "with singing." Like an earthly warrior - first, the victory; then, the shout of joy; then the calm survey of the field of conquest; then the hymn of triumph.

       He "rests in His love!" With God, love is a disposition. People may, from impulse, perform an act of love. Momentary feeling and emotion, even in the case of a naturally unloving heart, may prompt to some deed of generosity and kindness. But God's nature and His name being love, with Him there can be nothing fitful, arbitrary, capricious. His love is no wayward, inconstant stream; but a deep, quiet, everflowing, overflowing river.

       A word or a look, may alienate and estrange your best earthly friend. But the Friend of friends is immutable. Oh, how intense must that love be for the guilty and the lost which is thus spoken of by the lips of Divine filial love - "therefore," says Jesus, "does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life for the sheep."

       "He will rejoice over you with singing." "As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." The returning prodigal is met, not only with the tear and the grasp of parental forgiveness; but high festival is kept within these paternal halls - "It is fit that we should make merry and be glad." The gladdest countenance in that scene of joy is not that of the haggard wanderer, but that of the rejoicing father, exulting over his "lost and found."

       "There is joy in heaven among the angels of God over one sinner that repents" - but it is a joy which, though spreading through the concentric ranks, and reaching to the very circumference of glory, is deepest in the center. It begins at the throne - the keynote of that song is struck by God Himself! So also in the parable of the lost sheep. See how Christ speaks, as if He had all the joy to Himself of that wanderer's return; "He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing," and says, "Rejoice with me!" The joy of His people is part of His own - "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

       "God is in the midst of you;" "He is mighty;" "He will save." What more does any poor sinner need than this - a present God, a mighty God, a Savior God? Able to save, willing to save - no, more - delighting to save. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him."

       Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you. Isaiah 43:4

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       13. SUFFICIENT GRACE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       "My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9

       The apostle's 'thoughts' were desponding ones, when his God whispered in his ear this precious thought of comfort. A thorn in the flesh - a messenger from Satan - had been sent to buffet him. We know not specially what this thorn may have been. It is purposely left indeterminate, that each may make an individual application to his own case and circumstances.

       But who, in their diversified and chequered experience, has not to tell of some similar trial? - some dead fly in life's otherwise fragrant ointment - some sorrow which casts a softened shadow over perhaps an otherwise sunny path? Infirm health, worldly loss, domestic anxiety, family bereavement, the discharge of arduous and painful duty, the treachery of tried and trusted friends, the sting of wounded pride or disappointed ambition, the fierce struggle with inward corruption and unmortified sin, the scorpion-dart of a violated and accusing conscience; the world all the time, perhaps little knowing or dreaming of the inward conflict, the life-long trial, the fountain of tears, though "a fountain sealed."

       As the apostle earnestly entreated that his thorn might be taken away, so may you, reader, also have prayed fervently and long, that your trial might be averted, your sorrow mitigated, if not removed; and you doubtless imagine that it would be far better, were this messenger of Satan, this spirit of evil exorcized and cast out. But here again, God's thoughts are often not our thoughts. What was the answer to the apostle's earnest petition when "three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away." It was not granting the removal of the trial - but it was better. It was the promise of grace to bear it. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you." It was enough; he asked no more. He may have demurred at first to the strange answer - so unlike what he expected, so unlike what he wished. But he was led before long, not only joyfully to acquiesce, but heartily to own and acknowledge the higher and better wisdom of the Divine procedure - "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

       This, too, may be God's dealings with you. Often and again, it may be, have you taken your hidden sorrow - the burdening secret of your heart - laid it on the mercy-seat, and with importunate tears implored that it might be taken away. Yet the sorrow still remains! But, nevertheless, remember, the prayer is not unanswered. It has been answered - not perhaps according to your thoughts or desires, but according to the better thoughts and purposes of your heavenly Father.

       The thorn is still left to pierce and lacerate; but strength has been given to bear it. The trial, be what it may, has taught you, as it did Paul, the lesson of your own weakness and your dependence on Divine aid. It has been a needful drag on your chariot wheels - a needful clipping of your wings - lest, like the great apostle, "you should be exalted above measure." Who can complain of the heaviest of sorrows if they have thus been the means alike of discovering to us our own weakness, and of endearing to us the all-sufficient grace of a Savior God?

       Blessed, comforting assurance - "in all time of our need," that God will deal out the requisite grace. Seated by us like a physician, with His hand on our pulse, He will watch our weakness, and accommodate the supply to our several needs and circumstances. He will not allow the thorn to pierce too far - He will not allow the temptation to go beyond what we are able to endure. "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation." "As your day is so shall your strength be."

       Grace "sufficient" will be given - sufficient for every emergency. His arms are ever lower than our troubles. I will go forth bearing my cross, fortified with the assurance, and breathing the prayer, "Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen O God, that which you have wrought for us."

       Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with My victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       14. COVENANT FAITHFULNESS

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor My covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

       The mountains are the most stable objects in the material

       world - nature's noblest emblem of immutability. But these have "change" written upon their stupendous brows. Time is furrowing them with wrinkles - wearing down their colossal forms. Atmospheric influences are subjecting them to continual waste and decay. The hoary-crowned Alp is included in the doom, "All these things shall be dissolved." But, more enduring than mountains of primeval granite is God's kindness. Whatever is dearest to us may change - and sooner or later must perish. The gourd we have lovingly nurtured and tended may wither, like Jonah's, just when most needed. The gold we have taken a life-time to amass, may be forfeited by one adverse turn of capricious fortune. The brook which for long years has sung its joyful way at our side, may be dried in its channel. The "staff and beautiful rod" which blossomed in our household may be broken, and strewed in withered leaves at our feet. The cistern - hewn with such pains - may be fractured by a stroke of the chisel while hewing it, and lie scattered on the ground in fragments of shapeless ruin.

       But God's love is immutable and immovable! Mark the succession of golden links - "precious thoughts," in our motto-verse. He speaks of the "covenant," - "the covenant of peace," - of "My peace" - a covenant not to be "removed." These are glorious guarantees. Mountains, rocks, forests, all may decay and will decay; but "the Lord lives" - "His years shall have no end;" - "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, upon those who fear him."

       Nothing can assail the believer's safety or undermine his security. The oriental shepherds were used to girdle their flocks and folds with a belt of fire, to scare away the devouring wolves. 'I,' says God to His Zion, and to each child of Zion, 'I will be that fiery defense. This covenant of My peace will be as a wall of flame - once within My fold you are safe forever. My sheep shall never - can never, perish.' "Our cause," says Luther, "is in the very hands of Him who can say with unimpeachable dignity, 'No one shall pluck it out of My hands.' I would not have it in our hands, and it would not be desirable that it were so. I have had many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have been able to place in God's hands, I still possess." "As soon might Satan," says Charnock, "pull God out of heaven, undermine the security of Christ, and tear Him from the bosom of the Father, as deprive His people of their spiritual life."

       Believer, rejoice in this faithful, covenant-keeping God. Anchor your soul on this Rock of the Divine veracity. The great adversary may try at times to impair your confidence - shake your trust - lead you to question your personal interest in the great salvation. But what are his negatives, to one affirmative of that God who cannot lie? His covenant of peace has something better than your own ever-fluctuating frames and feelings to rest upon. It is ratified by His own oath and promise. "The counsel of the Lord stands forever; the thoughts of His heart to all generations."

       Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds and protects His people, both now and forever. Psalm 125:2

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       15. CHASTENING LOVE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Rev. 3:19.

       I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10

       Do the well-known tones of a mother's voice hush the child asleep that has been startled from its couch by unquiet dreams? These two "thoughts of God" - the voice of our heavenly Parent may well lull our tossed spirits to rest, and lead us to pillow our heads in confiding acquiescence in His holy will.

       There are times, indeed, when, despite of better convictions and a truer philosophy, our own thoughts are mingled with guilty doubts - unworthy surmises - regarding the rectitude of the Divine dealings. We are led to say or to think with aged Jacob, "All these things are against me;" - there can be no kindness or faithfulness, surely, in such a sorrow as this! "Yes," is the reply of the Divine Chastener, "that trial, with all its apparent severity, is a thought of My love - a proof, and pledge of My interest in your well-being. In these fierce furnace-fires I have chosen you - in these I will keep you; from these, I will bring you forth a vessel refined and fitted for the Master's use."

       "That this affliction is unspeakable love," says one who could write from the depths of experience, "I have no doubt; because He who has sent it is no new Friend, but a tried and a precious One." "The afflictions with which we are visited," says another, "are so many notes in which God says, 'I have not forgotten you.'" He sits, as refiner of His own furnace, tempering the fury of the flames. The human parent, in meting out chastisement, may act at times capriciously, guided by wayward impulse; "but He disciplines us for our profit, that we may be made partakers of His holiness."

       Rather, surely, the acutest discipline, the hardest strokes of the rod, than to be left unchecked and unreclaimed in our career of worldliness, forgetfulness, and sin - God uttering that severest word, "Why should you be stricken any more? you will only revolt more and more." As if He had said, "Why should I any longer 'think' of you, or attempt to reclaim you? My warnings and remonstrances are in vain - I will return to My place - I will give you up." Oh, most fearful of chastisements - when God's loving thoughts, and patient thoughts, and forbearing thoughts are exhausted, and when our stubborn unbelief brings Him to utter the doom of abandonment.

       Tried one, recognize henceforth, in your sorest afflictions, a Father's rod, hear in them a Father's voice, see in each what will invest them with a halo of subdued glory, a mysterious, it may be, but yet a 'precious thought' of God, and that thought kindness and mercy. That loss of worldly substance - it was a thought of God. That withering disappointment, the blighting of young hope - it was a thought of God. That protracted sickness, that wasting disease - it was a thought of God. The smiting of that clay idol - it was a thought of God.

       This is surely enough to wake up the tuneless broken strings of your heart to melody - "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." He is never so near to you as in a time of trial - never does He so reveal His heart as then. Electricity brings the thoughts of earth near - but trial is the wire on which ''travel to the smitten spirit, and every message is a thought of love."

       I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. Psalm 31:7

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       16. UNBOUNDED PATIENCE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"



       Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart is torn within Me, and My compassion overflows. No, I will not punish you as much as My burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. Hosea 11:8-9

       What a tender unfolding of the heart of God is here! It is the yearning thought of the fondest of Fathers over a nation of wayward prodigals. How grievous had been their ingratitude. He speaks in the beginning of the chapter of His loving thoughts to Israel "when a child," - His specially gentle upbringing of Ephraim, even "as a nurse cherishes her children;" - "I taught Ephraim also to walk, taking them by their arms. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." Yet what is the requital for all this lavish, endearing tenderness? "My people are bent to backsliding from Me."

       Surely the next entry in the Divine record will be the sentence of righteous retribution - "Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone." No! it is a burst of fond parental love; such as, at times, is dimly pictured on earth, when we see a mother with breaking heart and eyes dim with weeping, locking in her embrace the prodigal boy who has wounded her, embittered her existence, and scorned her tears.

       Listen to the tender apostrophe, "How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel?" (give you over, that is, to the vengeance of the enemy.) He remembers "the cry" of Sodom and Gomorrah of a former age, and "their sin, which was very grievous." The iniquity of Israel and Ephraim can be compared in turpitude only to that of these inhabitants of the plain, on whom "the Lord rained brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Admah and Zeboiim were two adjoining cities in the Valley of Sodom which were involved in this terrible overthrow. "How," says He, "shall I make you as Admah? how shall I set you as Zeboim?" - and then, when He sums up with the declaration, "I will not return to destroy Ephraim," He gives as the reason - "for I am God, and not man!"

       Yes, truly, Your thoughts, O God, are not as man's thoughts; Your ways are not as man's ways; had they been so, long before now how many of us would have been "given up," and had executed against us the guilty cumberer's doom - the God we have so often grieved and provoked by our obstinacy and rebellion, swearing in His wrath that "we should never enter into His rest." But, for all this, His anger is turned away from us; His hand of mercy is outstretched still! Well may we say, with the stricken monarch of Israel, "Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man."

       Backslider, return! Though you may have tried the patience of your God by years of provocation, yet He still "keeps silence;" He waits to be gracious; He is not willing that any should perish. Let His goodness and patience, his tenderness and long-suffering, lead you to repentance.

       Trembling penitent, bowed down under a sense of your base ingratitude, your prolonged alienation, fearful lest a guilty past may have cut you off from the hope of pardoning mercy - return! You are saying, perchance, in the bitter reproach of self-abandonment and despair, "I am given up" - I am delivered over to the tyranny of my spiritual enemies - the Lord has cast off forever, He can be favorable no more!

       No! hear His wondrous, precious thoughts - the musings of that Infinite Heart you have wounded, "How shall I give you up? Man would crush his enemy, but I am God, and not man. I will not destroy, I will save." "Behold," He says in another place, "you have spoken and done evil things as you could," (that is, they could not have been worse,) "yet, return unto Me!"

       "My wayward children," says the Lord, "come back to Me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." Jeremiah 3:22

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       17. A GRACIOUS ALTERNATIVE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me. Isaiah 27:5

       God had just spoken of the certain destruction that would overtake obstinate and incorrigible sinners. These He describes under the similitude of "briers and thorns set against him in battle." "I will go through them," says He, "I will burn them up together." He guards us, by a preliminary statement, against entertaining the supposition that He has any delight in the exercise of such stern retribution - "Fury is not in me." There is with Him, whose nature and whose name is Love, no vindictive passion, no capricious wrath, no wayward impulses of anger analogous to those in man. His thoughts, in this respect too, are not our thoughts. His hatred at sin is a principle. It is the deliberate recoil of His own infinitely Holy nature from iniquity - that iniquity which His Justice and Righteousness require Him to punish. Let us beware of a harsh and repulsive theology that would assimilate God to the avenging deities of the heathen. He is "slow to smite." He "delights in mercy." "Judgment is His strange work." "He visits iniquity unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate him. He shows mercy unto thousands (of generations) of those who love him."

       At the same time, neither must we forget that He is 'glorious in holiness.' To that very revelation which He made to Moses of His name and memorial as "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and in truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin," He appends the solemn averment, "and that will by no means clear the guilty."

       Oh, most solemn, most terrible 'thought' to those who are still as "thorns and briers against Him in battle" - who are still enemies by nature and wicked works. They cannot escape His wrath. They cannot elude His righteous retribution. If they continue in sin, they can know only in their bitter experience "what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God." "He will burn them up together." He is to all such "a consuming fire."

       But our motto-verse contains a wondrous alternative of mercy. At the very moment when sinners are rushing with blind madness against the thick bosses of Jehovah's buckler - He whom they have made their enemy has a 'thought' in His heart of loving reconciliation. Listen to the gracious proposal - "Or, let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me."

       Who is "the Strength of God?" Let Scripture answer - "Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the Son of man whom You made strong for Yourself." Christ is "the Power of God" - "the Arbitrator between us, who has laid His hand upon us both." He, also, is "our peace." "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." Peace, "not as the world gives," was His parting, special legacy. It is a sure and well-grounded peace, purchased by His atoning blood, and secured and perpetuated by His continual intercession. Hence the gracious Proposer of reconciliation adds the assurance - "And he SHALL make peace with Me." It is a glorious certainty. Take hold of that arm, and salvation is sure. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." A present peace, a sure peace, a permanent peace, peace now, and peace forever. "None is able to pluck you out of His hand."

       "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord." "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You that lead Joseph like a flock. Stir up Your STRENGTH, and come and save us!"

       "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       18. TENDER DEALING

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards. Hosea 2:14-15

       "Therefore" has a strangely beautiful connection in this verse. God's people had been grievously backsliding. He had been loading them with mercies; they had been guiltily disowning His hand. They had taken the gifts and spurned the Giver. "She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold." No, more, she had shamelessly gone after her lovers - she had deliberately preferred the ways of sin to the ways of God. What will His thoughts be towards this treacherous one? Can they be anything else but those of merited retribution - casting her out, and casting her off forever?

       We expect when we hear the concluding word, "therefore," that it is the awful summing up of His controversy - the turning of the Judge to pronounce righteous sentence. We listen, but lo! utterances of love are the exponents of 'the thoughts of God.' "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards."

       It is the way He deals with His people still. They often forget Him in the glare and glitter of prosperity. He hushes the din of the world - takes them out into the solitudes of trial - and there - while abased, humbled, chastened - He unburdens in their ear His thoughts of love, forgiveness, and "comfort." Oh, what infinite tenderness characterizes the dealings of this Heavenly Chastener! How slow to abandon those who have abandoned Him! Every means and instrumentality is employed rather than leave them to the bitter fruits of their own guilty estrangement.

       The kindest human thoughts towards an offender are harshness and severity compared with His. What were the thoughts - the deeds - of the watchmen in the Canticles towards the Bride, as she wandered disconsolate in search of her heavenly Bridegroom - and that, too, in consequence of her own unwatchfulness and sloth? They tore off her veil. They smote her - reviled her - loaded her with reproach. But when she found her lost Lord, though she had kept Him standing amid the cold dews of night - He smites her not - He upbraids her not - no angry syllable escapes His lips. He brings her into the wilderness, and speaks comfortably unto her - and the next picture in the inspired allegory, is the restored one coming up from that wilderness "leaning on her Beloved."

       Reader! is God dealing with you by affliction? Has He blighted your earthly hopes - "caused your mirth to cease," - "destroyed your vines and fig-trees," and made all around you a desert? Think what it would have been, had He allowed you to go on in your course of guilty estrangement - your truant heart plunging deeper and deeper in its career of sin! Is it not mercy in Him that He has dimmed that false and deceptive glitter of earth? You would not listen to His voice in prosperity. You took the ten thousand precious gifts of His bestowing - but there was no breathing of gratitude to the Infinite Bestower. You sat, it may be - sullen, peevish, proud, ungrateful, at the very moment when His horn of plenty was being emptied in your lap.

       He has brought you into "the wilderness." As Jesus did with His disciples of old when He would nerve them for coming trial, He has taken you to "a high mountain alone," - "a solitary place" - apart from the world. He has there humbled you and proved you. He may have touched you to the quick - touched you in your tenderest point - severed hallowed companionships - leveled in the dust clay idols - but it was all His doing. "Behold, I will allure" - "I will bring into the wilderness" - "I will comfort." He leads us into the wilderness, and He leads us up, and He leads us through.

       As He gives us our comforts - our "oil and wine," our "wool and flax," our "vines and our fig-trees" - so when He sees fit does He take them away. Whatever be the voices He may be now addressing to me, be it mine to recognize in them the thoughts and utterances of unalterable love, and to say -

       I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for He speaks peace to His people, His faithful ones. Psalm 85:8

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       19. A GRACIOUS REMEMBRANCE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       I remember how eager you were to please Me as a young bride long ago, how you loved Me and followed Me even through the barren wilderness. Jeremiah 2:2

       Backslider! listen to this Divine retrospect - a precious and encouraging 'thought' regarding your past. This may be the present sorrowful feeling and confession of your heart - "I am not what once I was. Once I loved my God. I can remember hallowed seasons of communion and fellowship, of which, alas! the memory is now all that remains. I once was enabled to live, somewhat, at least, under the sovereignty of that lofty motive, walking so as to please Him. But I have forsaken and forgotten my first love. I have to mourn over a treacherous, wandering heart. I am conscious of deterioration - spiritual declension. Self-indulged sin - permitted worldliness, in some subtle shape or form, has crept in - blunted the fine edge of conscience, dulled the sensibilities of my spiritual nature, dimmed my soul to its grander destinies, and left me to muse in my better moments, in sadness and tears, over the wreck of former joys."

       Are you prone to feel, in this desponding contrast between past devotedness and present faithlessness, as if the Lord's countenance and favor must be withdrawn from you forever - that there can be nothing but the bitterness of an ever sadder and more hopeless estrangement? No, no! He remembers that time, "the kindness of your youth" - these early vows, that early pledged love; the vows so poorly kept, the love so strangely diminished. While the pages of your own memory are all blurred by sin, He remembers the earlier entries and inscriptions of devotedness that stood on these yet unblotted leaves. He remembers the efforts (it may be - the feeble efforts) you made in His service - the secret struggles in the closet, the fervid prayers and recorded vows of the sanctuary, the testimony borne for Him in the world.

       How tenderly and lovingly does God deal with his backsliding children! He has no delight in remembering their sin. He loves to exhume rather from a forgotten past, anything He sees in them worthy of commendation, even, notwithstanding much, it may be, of present frailty, inconsistency, and self-righteousness. He speaks of "my servant Job." He speaks of Lot as "that righteous man." See in the case of Peter what his Lord "remembers," when the erring disciple confronts him on the lake-shore. It is not the faithless hours of his apostolic manhood; but it is "the kindness of his youth." Not Jerusalem, with its recent Palace-hall; but Bethsaida, Capernaum, Caesarea-Philippi, and many other scenes and associations of hallowed, devoted love.

       And so with us. He is willing in our case, too, to forget the long-intervening season of coldness, and distance, and alienation, if we tender the promise of renewed obedience. Yes, fearful one, take courage! Cast your eye back on those gracious seasons "when the candle of the Lord did shine, and when by His light you walked through darkness." On that time, which the lapse of years may have partially dimmed or obliterated, the loving thoughts of your God delight to rest. "You may have banished Me," He seems to say, "from your thoughts; but I have not banished you from Mine" - "I remember the kindness of your youth."

       Now let Your unfailing love comfort me, just as You promised me, Your servant. Psalm 119:76

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       20. CORRECTION IN MEASURE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       I will correct you in measure. Jeremiah 30:11

       Here is a gracious and alleviating "thought of God" in a season of trial - "I will correct you," says He. He does not disguise that He will send affliction - that He will subject His own people to chastisement. He knows them too well - He loves them too well - to allow the unbroken sunshine, the unfurrowed, waveless sea. The rough stone needs polishing - the musical chord must be strained to give forth sweet sounds - notes of harmony; but all is "in measure."

       Amid our tossings, night and day, on the deep of trial, how comforting the assurance, "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then You knew my path." He suits the yoke to the neck; He adapts His chastisements to the characters and necessities, the strength and endurance of His people. All are meted out, all are weighed in the balances of undeviating rectitude.

       There is no needless wrinkle on any brow - no redundant or superfluous drop in the cup of suffering. He who paints every flower and moulds every raindrop in the natural world, fashions every tear in the dimmed eye, and imparts every delicate touch and shading to grief. Fear not, Abraham! even though your Isaac be called to the altar - I will test, but I will not "tempt" your faith - I will stay my rough wind in the day of my east wind. A father may err - he may wear a needless frown - he may punish with undue and unnecessary severity - "But thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, which leads you by the way that you should go."

       Tried one! seek that this be the end of God's present dealing -  that "He teaches you to profit." Too often, in seasons of sorrow, our great aim is to receive or impart comfort. That is a limited and selfish view. God has a higher end - a nobler lesson - "He disciplines us for our profit." Trial is a season for expecting great blessings to ourselves, and for greatly glorifying God. It was from the bruised spices of old that the perfumed clouds of incense arose. It is the fallen, withered rose, that emits the sweetest fragrance - the butterfly shuns it, the bee passes it by - the very rays of sunshine can gild it with no beauty; yet it loads the summer air with richer perfume than when it hung in full-blown glory on its parent branch.

       Where the lava stream once carried desolation and ruin down the mountain side, vines are often seen hanging their purple clusters; so, where the stream of sorrow once swept ruthlessly down, are there now clusters of heavenly graces -  the fruits of righteousness - to the glory and praise of God.

       I may not be able at times to see the "measure" in His correction. There may, to the eye of sense, appear nothing but a capricious exercise of sovereign power. No chastening for the present may seem to be joyous but grievous, nevertheless afterward it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Oh, let me joyfully endorse every such affliction with an "Even so, Father!" "not my will, but Your will."

       "Who shall say no, if eternal infinite grace shall say yes? To that yes my spirit springs forth with a hearty Amen, if it be for Your glory, Lord; and if not, with as hearty a no." (Evans)

       Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Matthew 6:32

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       21. PROMISED DELIVERANCE

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him - I will set him on high, because he has known My name. Psalm 91:14

       Here we have the prodigal looking and longing for a father's welcome  - the prisoner striving to break his chains and set himself free - the wounded bird struggling in the furrow, and wailing out its plaintive note, "Oh that I might flee away, and be at rest!"

       "I will deliver him," is the gracious thought and declaration of an unseen but gracious God. "No, not only will I deliver him - save him from wrath and condemnation - but I will 'set him on high' - I will bestow upon him exalted honors - I will adopt him as My child, and finally glorify him."

       Most frequently, indeed, He delivers independently and irrespectively of any antecedent love on our part. "For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable." His grace often triumphs in the case of those who have never cast one look of love towards Him - He "sets on high" those to whom for a whole lifetime His name has been unknown. Nevertheless, to any who may be seeking after Him, if haply they may find Him - to those who feel their chains, and are longing for emancipation - who, by reason of permitted sin or omitted duty, may be in spiritual darkness, exclaiming, in the bitterness of their estrangement, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat!" - it is an encouraging thought to such, that they have His own promise of deliverance.

       The Believer, in Solomon's Song, is beautifully likened to a dove in the clefts of the rock. The timid, fluttering, trembling wanderer is welcomed into the crevices of the Rock of Ages. He can fold his weary wing under the shadow of the Almighty; he can find rest and peace in the very Being whom he has offended. Yes, desponding one, He is waiting to be gracious. If you are now casting one fond, ardent, loving look towards your God - if you are cherishing one longing desire for His returning favor - "He will deliver you." This will be your testimony, as it has been of many - "I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along."

       "What have I to do any more with idols?" was the soliloquy and resolve of penitent Ephraim, when, divorcing himself from all sinful attachments, all rival claimants for the throne of his affections, he turned his face towards his God. "I have heard him and observed him," says the great Being who was watching the penitent's tears, counting the throbs of his anguished spirit. And He adds the assurance of supporting grace and strength - "I am like a green fir-tree; from Me is your fruit found."

       Do I "know His name?" Acquainting myself with God, am I now at peace? Do I feel that His loving-kindness is better than life? Amid the brokenness of nature's cisterns, am I turning with earnest longing to the infinite and only satisfying fountain-head, like the deer panting for the waterbrooks? All other objects of earthly love and enjoyment are perishable. But "the name of the Lord is a strong tower - the righteous runs into it, and is safe." "Great is the blessing," says one who knew well that name, "that the anchor of our love is firmly fixed beneath the cross of Christ. The silver cord of life may be snapped in a moment; but this is embedded in the cleft of the Rock forever."

       Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, have never abandoned anyone who searches for You. Psalm 9:10

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       22. THOUGHT UPON THOUGHT

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and He that formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3

       What a library of "precious thoughts!" What an unlocking of the full heart of God do these verses contain! In reading them, we may say indeed with the Psalmist, "Many, O Lord my God, are Your thoughts which are to us." Each clause is in itself a volume. Well may the Divine speaker begin with the words, "Do not be afraid!" These tender thoughts and tender assertions remind us of the gush of parental affection when a child is in danger or is afraid, and when its most loving earthly friend heaps assurance on assurance to quiet and lull its misgivings.

       "I have redeemed you," seems to be the foundation-thought of comfort in this cluster of exceeding great and precious promises. No other blessing could have been ours but for "Redeeming love." And as Christ is the Alpha, so is He the Omega of all consolation. Hence this inspired register of spiritual privileges is terminated by the assurance, "I am your Savior." The pendant chain of "precious thoughts" has these two words for its support, "Redeemer," "Savior;" and each separate link in the intermediate line of blessings is connected with Him who is the"Beginner" and "Finisher" of our faith.

       God, indeed, forewarns us in the diversified symbols here employed, that the trials of His people are to be varied in kind, as well as severe in degree; "waters," "rivers," "fires," "flames." Yet we may well rise above them all, under the sublime consciousness, that the chain from first to last is in the hands of Him who died for us.

       We are here further assured, not only that God is the Author of our troubles, but that He himself is in them all; that His 'thoughts' are upon us as we "pass" through the waters, and "walk" through the fires. He is minutely cognizant of all that befalls us; and is alike able and willing to grant us assistance and support. Others cannot do so. It is in their case like watching the bursting of the distant thunderstorm, or the vessel plunging in the distant sea, without the ability to render assistance. But "You know my thoughts afar off." God is not only our "refuge and strength," but "a present help in trouble." "We went through the flood on foot, there did we rejoice in Him."

       More than this - He has set bounds to our trials. The rivers and streams will purify, but not overflow or overwhelm. The fires will refine, but not scorch or burn. He has too deep an interest in those of whom He says, "I have called you by your name, you are Mine," to allow our afflictions to go further than He sees to be absolutely needful. Never are His "thoughts" more fondly centered upon us than in a time of trouble. His loving presence tempers the fury of the fiercest furnace-flames - His everlasting arms are underneath the deepest and darkest waves.

       O Lord God Almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as You, Lord? Faithfulness is Your very character. You are the one who rules the oceans. When their waves rise in fearful storms, You subdue them. Psalm 89:8-9

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[David_james]

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THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
by John MacDuff, 1864
Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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       23. EVERLASTING ESPOUSALS

       "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

       And I will betroth you unto Me forever; yes, I will betroth you unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. Hosea 2:19

       The most endearing as well as the most exalted relationships of earth are employed to illustrate and symbolize God's love to His people. He is represented comforting as a mother, pitying as a father, sympathizing as a friend, healing as a physician, bestowing as a king. Here He is described as entering into everlasting espousals with His Church, and with every redeemed member of it - in the depths of a past eternity, pledging His vow to His betrothed Bride - putting the espousal-ring on her finger; summoning Righteousness, Judgment, Loving-kindness, and Mercies, as witnesses of the magnificent ceremony, to sign and ratify the marriage-contract.

       How uncertain are earth's apparently securest ties! Brother may be severed from brother, husband from wife, child from parent, friend from friend. But, in our union with God - linked to Him in the bonds of the everlasting covenant - the pang of separation can neither be felt nor feared. Age can never plough its furrows on the brow. Sickness can never blanch the cheek. Death can never unlock the fountain of tears. The grave can never close over our "loved and lost." "I will betroth you unto Me forever!"

       As in the human union which here, as in other passages, is made the type and symbol of the nobler covenant, that Divine espousal is reared on the twofold basis of HONOR and of LOVE. Righteousness and Judgment, the two representatives of God's honor, come first; Loving-kindness and Mercy follow. It is a union founded on everlasting truth, justice, and rectitude. These attesting witnesses sign the contract around the Cross of Calvary. There "mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it." What an endless dowry did that mighty Sacrifice purchase and secure for the Bride of heaven!

       Soon the festal-day shall be here; when the betrothed spouse shall be presented to the heavenly Bridegroom - ushered into the blest pavilion of His own presence. The marriage-procession is even now on foot. The train is sweeping along to the hall of the King's palace. Righteousness, Judgment, Loving-kindness, Mercy, these are the four torch-bearers lighting the way to the gladsome scene. Have we heard and obeyed the midnight summons, "Behold, the Bridegroom comes; go out to meet Him?"

       Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know Me and understand that I am the Lord who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken! Jeremiah 9:24

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[David_james]

   

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    THE THOUGHTS OF GOD
    by John MacDuff, 1864
    Free from http://www.gracegems.org/
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           24. WONDROUS COMFORT

           "How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!"

           "I, even I, am the one who comforts you." Isaiah 51:12

           How soothing the thought for the weary head to lean upon, that in the midst of our bitterest trials, we have the great God of heaven for our comforter! 'Dry your tears,' He seems to say, 'I am by your side, you poor afflicted one - other comforts may fail you - other comforters may prove utterly powerless to gauge the depths of your sorrow and to heal your aching wounds - but I, as God, infinite in Wisdom, Omniscience, Love, know all the peculiarities of your case - I will be to you better than the best and tenderest of human friends. My delight is to "uphold all who fall, and to raise up all those who are bowed down." I have 'precious thoughts' reserved for the day of calamity - thoughts that are whispered and confided into the ear only of the sorrowful. "I, even I" - the same hand that has wounded will bind up; the same hand that is strong to smite will be strong to save. I will give you solaces undreamt of in the day of prosperity; songs in the night, and wells of refreshing in the valley of weeping.'

           'Is it sickness that has blanched your cheek, and chained you down for weeks and months - it may be years - to a couch of pain and languishing? - "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you!" Is it your worldly schemes that have been blighted - moth and rust corrupting the earthly treasure? - I will give you compensating riches, beyond the spoiler's touch and the throw of capricious fortune! Is it bereavement that has traced lines of sadness on your brow, created vacant chairs in your household, left stripped and desolate your heart of hearts? Be still. I will take the place of the mourned. I will come and fill up these aching voids - that yawning chasm with My own loving presence. The rill is gone, but you will have in exchange the Infinite Fountainhead! Is it sin that is making sad your countenance? the bitter thought of estrangement from Me whose favor alone is life? Wearied with the successive failure of all worldly sources of satisfaction and happiness, are you turning with longing, wistful gaze, like the battered flower to the sunlight, towards Myself, "the living God," wondering if there can be peace and forgiveness for such as you? "I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions." I will heal your backsliding, I will love you freely; for My anger is turned away from you.'

           "I, even I." Do not doubt His ability or willingness to comfort; God is beautifully spoken of as "the God of all consolation," "the comforter of all who are cast down." Wide as the family of the afflicted are, He has consolations commensurate with every diversity of experience. He has a thought of comfort for every thought of sorrow. "In the multitude of the sorrows I have in my heart," says the Psalmist, "your comforts delight my soul." His message to the Church of old, after burden on burden of reluctantly-spoken woe, was, "Comfort, comfort my people," - (repeating the word is the usual Hebrew method of intensifying) as if He wished to tell, with what delight He passed from the gloomy prophetic utterances of judgment, to the joyous promises of mercy and love.

           "He does not afflict willingly," [or, as this may be rendered literally from the Hebrew - 'He does not afflict with the heart'] "nor grieve the children of men." As if affliction in itself were alien to the heart and the 'thoughts of God!'

        And let the thought of God the Comforter be all the more precious to me, since that God is Immanuel - our Brother on the throne of heaven. Himself once the Prince of Sufferers, He is supremely qualified, by the exquisite sensibilities of His human nature, to enter into every pang that rends the heart. "I, even I," the God-Man who shed tears over the bereaved of Bethany - I, who welcomed weeping penitence to My feet - I, who myself struggled with temptation, grappled with superhuman anguish, lived a life of sorrow, and died a death of shame - I, even I - that same Jesus - "am He that comforts you."

        Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up. Psalm 71:20

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