Salmos 139:17

17 ¡Cuán preciosos también son para mí, oh Dios, tus pensamientos! ¡Cuán inmensa es la suma de ellos!

Salmos 139:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 139:17

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
&c.] The word ^F18 signifies that which is scarce and rare, and not to be attained and enjoyed; see ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ) ( Psalms 49:8 ) ; the thoughts and counsels of God are impenetrable and unsearchable; he knows our thoughts, as Aben Ezra observes, but we do not know his, ( Psalms 139:2 ) ; as well as it likewise signifies the worth and value of them; God's thoughts are infinitely beyond ours, and infinitely more valuable and more important, and are concerning our welfare and happiness: it is marvellous that God should think of us at all; it is more so that his thoughts should not be thoughts of evil, to bring that evil upon its we deserve, but thoughts of peace and reconciliation in and by his Son, in whom he was reconciling the world to himself; thoughts of salvation and eternal life, and of the way and means of bringing it about; thoughts to provide for our present supply in this world, and to lay up for us for the world to come; see ( Jeremiah 29:11 ) ( Psalms 40:17 ) ( 31:19 ) . It may be interpreted of the thoughts which David had of God in his meditations of him, which were sweet, precious, and comfortable to him; of his lovingkindness to him, covenant grace, precious promises, and gracious dealings with him; but the former sense seems best. The Targum is,

``to me how precious they that love thee, the righteous, O God!''

and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, "thy friends";

how great is the sum of them!
or "the heads of them"; that is, not the chief of thy friends, but the sum of thy thoughts, these in the bulk, in the general, are not to be counted; and much less the particulars of them, these are not to be entered into or described.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (wrqy) "difficiles", Cocceius; "quam rarae"; so some in Vatablus.

Salmos 139:17 In-Context

15 No estaba oculto de ti mi cuerpo, cuando en secreto fui formado, y entretejido en las profundidades de la tierra.

16 Tus ojos vieron mi embrión, y en tu libro se escribieron todos los días que me fueron dados, cuando no existía ni uno solo de ellos.

17 ¡Cuán preciosos también son para mí, oh Dios, tus pensamientos! ¡Cuán inmensa es la suma de ellos!

18 Si los contara, serían más que la arena; al despertar aún estoy contigo.

19 ¡Oh Dios, si tú hicieras morir al impío! Por tanto, apartaos de mí, hombres sanguinarios.