THINK THOUGHTS LIKE GOD

Thinks Thoughts

2 Sam. 14:14 “For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.”

"Yet doth He devise means." Literally, the statement is that God "thinks thoughts." Redemption revealed in a sentence. This was the highest argument employed by the wise woman of Tekoah, as, at the instigation of Joab, she sought to persuade David to recall Absalom. The story in itself is a somewhat perplexing one. Opinions widely differ as to why Joab thus set himself to bring back Absalom. These, however, need not concern us now. It is of great interest to observe that this woman knew God, and here uttered one of the most beautiful things, and the truest, ever said about Him. This is the whole of redemption revealed in a sentence.

Man is banished from God by his own sin and that most righteously; and, in the interest of the perfect order of all things, is necessarily banished.

Nevertheless he, the banished one, is not abandoned by God. His love is unchanged toward the sinning man, even though His wrath is kindled against his sin. This is the love that will not let us go.

But how can the banished one be saved from being an outcast? The answer is that "God . . . devises means." In all the fullness of human history we learn how much that statement is worth.

Literally, the statement is that God "thinks thoughts." These must be thoughts of holiness; and they are thoughts of love. Then they are thoughts in which both these combine, and discover a way of rescue, of recall, of restoration for banished souls. The thoughts of God then become thoughts of self-emptying, of sacrifice, and of taking all the responsibility for the wrong of the banished one. Thus guilt is cancelled, and the way of return is made possible. It is a glorious word, this; and introduces us to the unfathomable mystery of the love of God which in its working can never be interpreted; but in which the soul finds its healing and its perfect rest.

We should think like that!!!