Psalms 139:17-18

DISCOURSE: 735
A CHRISTIAN’S DELIGHT IN GOD

Psalms 139:17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

THESE words will admit of a twofold interpretation: they may be considered as referring to the thoughts which God had entertained in his bosom respecting David, or to those which David entertained respecting God. If we take them in the former sense, the import of them is to this effect: ‘It is impossible for me ever to enumerate the mercies which, in thine eternal counsels, thou hast prepared for me, and which I am daily receiving at thy hands: and if I should attempt to number them through the whole day, I should make so little progress, that in the following morning I should have all my work to do again.’ In this view, they agree with what the inspired penman says in another psalm, “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered [Note: Psalms 40:5.].” If we take them in the latter sense, their meaning is, ‘My delight in contemplating all thy glorious perfections, and all the wonders of thy love, O my God, is inexpressible: it is my sweet employment day and night, insomuch that my first waking thoughts ever recur to thee.’ In this sense they accord with what he says in the 104th Psalm: “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord [Note: Psalms 104:33.].” It is to this latter sense that I rather incline; because there is a remarkable coincidence between the general subject of the 104th Psalm with that which is before us, (both of them speaking altogether of God as the Creator and Governor of the world;) and because the expressions of delight in God, in both the psalms, stand in immediate connexion with his aversion to sinners, whom, for their opposition to God, he consigns over to merited disgrace and punishment [Note: Compare Psalms 104:34. with Psalms 139:18.]. But, in either case, this is clear, namely, that David found his happiness in contemplating the Deity: and whether we extend his views to the wonders of God’s love in general, or confine them to those which had been vouchsafed personally to himself, they will equally afford me occasion to shew you the nature and blessedness of Christian experience.

Let us consider,

I. The nature of Christian experience—

The world at large have no conception of delighting themselves in God: they rather say to God in their hearts, “Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways [Note: Job 21:14.].” And they endeavour to put him far from them: for they will not entertain him in all, or any of their thoughts [Note: Psalms 10:4]. Nor has the hypocritical professor of religion any real delight in God: for Job says of him, “Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God [Note: Job 27:8; Job 27:10.]?” But of the true Christian this is a very leading feature [Note: Psalms 37:4.Isaiah 58:14.]: he delights,

1. In the contemplation of God—

[His mind soars upwards to the Deity; who is, as it were, ever present to his view. In all the works of creation, in all the dispensations of Providence, and in all the wonders of redemption, he sees the glory and excellency of his God. He can behold nothing, he can think of nothing, which does not set God before him in some of his glorious perfections. The wisdom, the power, the goodness, the patience, the forbearance, the love, the mercy of his God, pass in review before his eyes, and call forth his devoutest acknowledgments; and the display of these, in his own personal experience, calls forth in him such admiring thoughts as no language can adequately express.
But it will be remembered, that this psalm speaks particularly of the omnipresence and omniscience of the Deity; and these perfections, which are so terrible to the ungodly, and of which they would, if possible, divest him, are to the true Christian a source of exquisite delight. Wherever he goes, he sees God at his right hand, ready to direct him in all his ways, ready to succour him in all his exertions, ready to preserve him in every danger. In many instances, his views are misapprehended, his actions misinterpreted, his character traduced. But he comforts himself in the thought that God knoweth his heart, and is acquainted with every motion there; and that, whether he interpose or not to vindicate his character in this world, he will do it in the world to come; and that, if man have his day, God also will have his [Note: See 1 Corinthians 4:3. The Greek.]. True, he is conscious that God sees his infirmities; but he knows that God can distinguish what man cannot so easily discern, the difference between unallowed infirmities and wilful sins; and that if he behold our weaknesses, he is also acquainted with our sighs, our tears, our groans, every one of which attests the desire of our hearts, even where there has been too evident a failure in our attainments.]

2. In communion with him—

[These perfections of God, which are the subjects of the Christian’s contemplation, are also the subjects of his devoutest praise. “Truly, his fellowship is with the Father, and with the Son, Jesus Christ.”
Throughout the day “he walks with God,” as Enoch did, communing with him, and committing to him his every concern. He would not willingly take a step but in entire dependence upon God. Not in his stated devotions only does he call upon God, but in ten thousand ejaculations through the day, according as circumstances arise to call them forth. In the whole habit of his mind “he dwells in God;” as “God also, by the constant communications of his grace, dwells in him.” This mutual in-dwelling of God in his people, and his people in him, is frequently spoken of in the Holy Scriptures [Note: John 6:56 and 1 John 4:15.]; and it well conveys the idea of that rest in God which every true Believer enjoys, and of that familiar intercourse, if I may so express myself, which subsists between his God and him.

But the expression in my text deserves a more particular consideration: “When I awake, I am still with thee.” This implies all that we have before spoken; namely, that in his meditations and prayers he was with God through the day: and it goes further to remark, that such was the entire rest of his soul in God, that, with the early dawn, as soon as he awoke, his very first thoughts rose to God, who was the one object of all his desires, and the one source of all his happiness. Now this is, perhaps, as striking a feature in the Christian’s experience as any that can be named. During the day, a Christian may have much to occupy his mind, and much to engage a great intensity of thought: at such seasons, therefore, the contemplation of the Deity, and of communion with him, may be in appearance suspended: but, as the needle of a compass, which, by force, or superior attraction, has been diverted for a while from its proper rest, as soon as it is at liberty to resume its wonted position shews to all its faithful subjection to the polar influence; so does the soul of a Christian, as soon as it is relieved from the pressure of contingent circumstances, return to God, as its proper, its chosen, and its only rest. And I wish you all, my Brethren, to be observant of yourselves in this particular; and never to think that you have attained the full measure of communion with God, till you can say, “When I awake, I am still with thee.”]

Having described the nature of Christian experience, I shall need but few words to shew,

II.

The blessedness of it—

The Psalmist strongly marks this: “How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God!” Whether we understand him as speaking of God’s thoughts of him, or of his thoughts of God, it is evident that the preciousness of them was felt in his own soul. Now this experience is truly blessed, because it fills the Christian’s soul,

1. With a sense of its obligations—

[What do the ungodly world lose, whilst they overlook the hand from whence their blessings flow! Verily, in their richest enjoyments, they have little perception of them, wherein they are not equalled by the beasts themselves. It is the taste of God’s love in them which gives to every one of them its highest zest. I hesitate not to say, that Lazarus, in the midst of his utter destitution, had, in the crumbs with which he was sustained, a sublimer gratification, than the Rich Man ever knew in all the pomp and delicacies with which he was surrounded. In truth, the discovery of God in every thing gives to the Christian a continual feast, and furnishes him with incessant occasions of unfeigned joy — — — Inanimate things proclaim unwittingly the honour of their God; but the believer sounds it forth continually with the devoutest acclamations. “All thy works praise thee,” says the Psalmist; “but thy saints bless thee.”]

2. With a persuasion of its security—

[Those who know not God are at a loss where to flee, or what to do, in any great emergency. But the Christian is assured, that “God is at his right hand, and that therefore he can never be moved.” He sees “God as a wall of fire round about him:” not a wall only, that might possibly be scaled, but “a wall of fire,” that will devour any who shall dare to assail us. “His very name is,” to the Christian, “a strong tower,” to which he runneth, and is safe. He sees “chariots of fire and horses of fire all around him;” and in perfect confidence he says, “If God be for me, who can be against me?”
Say, whether such an one be not happy? Hear his triumphant strains, and judge:—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter:) nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: Romans 8:35.].” If such an one be not happy, where shall happiness be found on earth?]

With an anticipation and foretaste of its eternal bliss—
[Such views of God, and such communion with him, what are they, but the very beginnings of heaven upon earth? The believer who can say “It is thus that I am with my God in this world,” may add, with an emphasis peculiar to himself, “When I awake in the eternal world, I shall be still with thee;” changing my place indeed, but neither my company nor my employment — — —]

Address—

[Beloved Brethren, has God from all eternity occupied his thoughts about you, and will not you turn your thoughts to him? Delay not. I will not say, Rob not him of his glory: I will rather say, Rob not yourselves of happiness. You cannot doubt the felicity of those who thus contemplate and enjoy their God. O let not the vanities of time and sense stand in competition with him! Look at the worst that befals a Christian, and you shall find him blessed in the midst of all. See him “poor in spirit;” see him “mourning and weeping;” see him “persecuted for righteousness’ sake:” in every state he is pronounced “blessed,” “blessed,” “blessed.” On the other hand, tell me where you will find the worldling blessed under any circumstances whatever. No: “in the fulness of his sufficiency he is in straits.” Know for a certainty, that he alone is, or ever shall be, blessed, whom God, the Judge of quick and dead, shall pronounce so. He alone is truly blessed, who has God for his God, his portion, “his eternal great reward.”]