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!!!
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