Mon., 9/1/14 Devotion (Ps. 40:17a)

Today's encouragement comes from Psalm 40, v. 17a, which says this:

"But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. . . . "

David wrote these words (above). He was "poor and needy" in that he knew he was bankrupt before God--having no righteousness of his own. All of David's favor with God came through his union (by faith) with Christ. But what is very intriguing in this verse is the expression, "The LORD thinks upon me."

Can we picture the God who created the entire universe "thinking" on us, His church? He does. We may not think of ourselves as particularly interesting--but the body of Christ, and the individual members therein are of infinite inter-est to God. He "thinks" on us; and all His thoughts are for our good, our wel-fare, our betterment, and our prosperity. Let *us* think on Christ today, and thank God for His goodness.

[Puritan quote of the day: "Do not say thus, 'I shall never be helped; I am in a sad condition and shall never be better.' . . . This you cannot say, for who knows what God will do?" --William Bridge, in, "A Lifting Up for the Down-cast"]