Daily Manna · Day 247 · September 4
Precious Thoughts
“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.”
Most of us find it easier to believe we are useful than to believe we are loved. Usefulness can be measured. On a quiet morning, though, it is hard to believe that anyone thought about us while we slept.
Pick up a handful of sand. You are holding more grains than you could count in a whole working day. That is the measure David reaches for, because ordinary numbers have already failed him. God's thoughts toward him are so many that he says, "If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand." He knows that if he tried to add them up, the beach would win.
The line that does the real work comes next: "when I awake, I am still with thee." So God had not paused while David slept. David woke up into something that had gone on the whole night, and he had added nothing to it. His counting stops when he falls asleep, but God's thoughts toward him keep going.
Tomorrow morning, keep your eyes closed for one more breath. Let this be your first sentence of the day: "I woke, and You were already here." Do it for a week, and notice how different the quiet house sounds by the end of it.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 247 is Except It Die (John 12:24).