The very deep thoughts of the Lord
[Psalms 92]
Today, my wife went to the Koreatown in Los Angeles in order to get a rainbow rice cake for our youngest daughter Karis’ birthday in her kindergarten. Karis said that she told her mother that she would wear a Korean tradition cloth, hanbok, and take the rainbow rice cake to her kindergarten this Friday in order to celebrate her birthday. Haha. So, after ordering the rice cake today, my wife went to pick up our children to the church, the after school. When she arrived there, I think Karis introduced her mother to her friend in Korean like this: “얘가 내 엄마야” (This child is my mother). Hahaha. When I listened this, on one hand I laughed, but on the other hand, I thought that Karis seemed to consider her mother as her friend. Haha. When I think of my three children, I am experiencing that God is raising them even though I am truly lacking as their father.
When I think of these precious children God gave me as gifts, I think of the words of Job 1 that I read last night before going to bed. In particular, verse 5 comes to my mind: “When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, ‘Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus Job did continually.” Job was a man who was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (v. 1). He continually offered burnt offerings according to the number of his children because he thought, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts” (v. 5). From these words, we can see that as a father, Job cared about the hearts of his children. He didn’t want his children to sin against God by cursing God in their hearts. That was why he offered burnt offerings according to number of his children. As I continued reading the book of Job yesterday, I saw the word “curse” appearing several times. For example, when Satan smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (2:7), his wife saw him suffering and said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” (v. 9) As I meditate on these words, I am challenged to be wary of sinning against God in my heart or mind and diligently fight the spiritual battle while seeing the image of Job who is blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. In order to bear this spiritual battle well, we must be transformed by the renewing our mind (Rom. 12:2). In order to do this, we must know the Lord's thoughts while meditating on His word and think about His thoughts so that our thoughts can be consistent with His thoughts .
This is what the psalmist said in Psalms 92:5 – “How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep.” Here, centering on the words “Your thoughts are very deep,” I want to meditate on His deep thoughts in two ways under the heading “The very deep thoughts of the Lord”. As we do so, I hope and pray that we get to know and believe in His thoughts so that we may be able to keep our hearts and gain strength to keep transforming.
First, I would like to think about the very deep thought of the Lord toward the wicked.
The very deep thought of the Lord toward the wicked is, in a word, destruction. Even though the wicked sprout up like grass, and all those who do iniquity flourish, they will be destroyed forever (v. 7). This word tell us how to view the prosperity of the wicked:
(1) As we are seeing in real life, the wicked sprout up quickly.
The psalmist says that the wicked “sprouted up” by comparing the wicked with grass. It means that the wicked succeed quickly in cunning without any effort. In other words, the wicked can succeed quickly without laboring through the cunning means, but in reality it isn’t the true success of receiving blessings (Park).
(2) The prosperity of the wicked may seem like the lushness of wild grass, but the important thing is that it has no fruit.
In other words, the wicked are not bearing any fruit in the sight of God in their prosperity. The prosperity of the wicked is like a fruitless grass, that is what the Bible describes about the wicked.
(3) The quick prosperity of the wicked is to eventually destroy forever.
For example, as pigs are fed well to gain weight to be brought to a slaughterhouse, the purpose of the wicked's prosperity is for eternal destruction. Regarding the prosperity of the wicked in this verse, Pastor D. L. Moody said: ‘The wicked must grow like grass to be fuel.’
One day, while meditating on Psalms 73, I received few lessons from God about the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. Here, a more specific word about the prosperity of the wicked says that the wicked are growing like grass and even if they grow up in the end it will be destroyed forever (Prov. 20:21). We don’t need to be envious and jealous of the quick success or rise of the wicked (Ps. 73:3). What is the reason? The reason is that, just as the wicked speed up their success, so will their destruction. Look at Psalms 73:18-20: “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.” Like success, the destruction of the wicked will be more quickly than success. They will be destroyed in a moment like awakening in a dream. In Psalms 92:9, the psalmist says, “For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For, behold, Your enemies will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered.” The wicked, those who do sin, will perish as enemies of God and will all be scattered. Therefore, we don’t have to be jealous and envious to see our enemies succeed and rise. Although the wicked and those who do sin seem to overcome for a while while persecuting the Church of God, we know that they will be destroyed by God’s judgment in the future (v. 11, Park). So we must stand firmly in faith without being shaken.
As I pondered these words, I came to think of these very little things about the very deep thoughts of the Lord. It was the question, ’Why does God make the wicked grow and flourish for a while?’ I thought about what God’s intention is. That God's intention is for us, God's children. In other words, it is for us that the wicked prosper and grow for a while. Look at Proverbs 13:22b – “… And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” In light of this word, the Bible says that the growth of the wicked (for example, wealth of the wicked) are for us. This is the deep will of God. When we know this deep divine will of the Lord, we realize that there is no need to be envious or jealous of the growth of the wicked, the rise of the wicked, or the prosperity of the wicked. Also, I think that the reason why the Lord allows the rise of the wicked is to test us. I think the test is to see whether the righteous confess the words of Psalm 73:25 or not by trusting God completely, even in the midst of seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and the righteous going through suffering: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”
Second and last, I would like to think about the very deep thought of the Lord toward the righteous.
When the wicked prosper (Ps. 92:7), and the righteous suffer persecution for his enemies, evildoers (v. 11), we often wonder why God, who loves, causes us to suffer such unfair persecution and suffering. However, we must keep in mind that even in the midst of suffering, there is the Lord’s very deep thought. Psalms 92 tells us three things about the very deep thoughts of the Lord:
(1) The very deep thought of the Lord is that when we suffer, the Lord does great work, that is, He carries out His great salvation.
Look at Psalms 92:5 – “How great are Your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep.” The great work of the Lord that the psalmist is talking about here refers to salvation. In other words, the God of our salvation is the God who rescues (saves) us, the righteous ones, by destroying the wicked in the midst of the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. The very deep thought of the Lord in saving us is to reveal to us His greatness, and that He is Savior. His will is to reveal to us that He is God!
(2) The very deep thought of the Lord is to please us and to praise the Lord because of His saving grace for us.
Look at Psalms 92:4a – “For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done ….” God gives us the joy of salvation (Ps. 51:12) through His great act of salvation. Therefore, the Lord makes us to praise God by giving thanks in the joy of salvation. So the psalmist says in Psalms 92:1-4: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”
(3) The very deep thought of the Lord is to make us flourish in the courts of God.
Look at Psalms 92:13 – “Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God.” Here, the word “Planted in the house of the Lord” is a parable of the fact of union with Christ (Park). In other words, it says that we will rise forever in heaven, the court of God, as those who are united with Jesus Christ. Although the wicked rise for a while on this earth, it is the promise that the righteous will rise forever in heaven. In the courts of God, we will flourish like the palm tree and will grow like a cedar in Lebanon (v. 12). In other words, we will live eternally in the glorious body that will not perish, exhaling the fragrance of Christ in the court of God forever. And unlike the fruitlessness of the wicked, the righteous will “yield fruit in old age” and “shall be full of sap and very green” (v. 14). In other words, God will make the righteous to bear fruit and the righteous will have abundant vitality (Park). This is the Lord's very deep thoughts for us. Why is God telling us these promises? The reason is because the Lord loves and honors us. Look at Psalms 92:10 – “But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.” Here, “I have been anointed with fresh oil” means that God treats those He loves like distinguished guests when we think of the Jewish custom in which the Jews anointed precious guests and treat them preciously (Park). In this way, God will welcome us to His court, heaven, and treat us like His distinguished guests. And there He will make us live with the Lord forever.
How can we count the very deep thoughts of the Lord? But one thing is for sure: the Lord is always thinking of us. This is what the psalmist says: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand When I awake, I am still with You” (139:17-18). Although we cannot count all of the innumerable and very deep thoughts of the Lord for us, even if we suffer for a while in this world we will rejoice, be grateful and praise the Lord in His courts forever for His saving grace. Let us believe this and live with confidence.
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On Wednesday night after praising the Korean gospel song, “Gathered here, within this place”,
James Kim
(May the Lord's deep thoughts become my thoughts)