‘Multitude of thoughts’
“In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19).
Every day, our thoughts are more than we can count, and how many of them are to our benefit instead of burdening us down? Depending on the day, of course, your answer may vary.
What is common however, is that we all have a multitude of thoughts, whether for good or bad. Albert Barnes wrote of our thoughts, “How many are vain and frivolous; how many are skeptical; how many are polluted and polluting!” Sometimes the very thoughts we try to mute are the very ones we mull around the most.
As if it weren’t hard enough to keep our thoughts under control on a good day, how much more difficult does this become when we’re walking through trying times! To keep our focus anywhere other than our problems requires a great deal of perseverance. Our thoughts are plenty and our minds tend to wander. David described this as “the multitude of my thoughts,” (Psalm 94:19). The word “multitude” here is the same word used to describe the great multitudes of people that followed Jesus in the Gospels, and describes an abundance, a great number, or a large crowd.
David wrote Psalm 94 during a time when he and his people were facing intense persecution. He wrote these words of comfort not just for himself, but for those who were experiencing tribulation alongside him. He encouraged his people to keep their focus on God. When he was experiencing all of these anxious and perplexing thoughts, David reminded himself of God, that “thy comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19).
You may wonder, what are God’s comforts and how can I even think of delight when I am downtrodden with the multitude of my thoughts?
Spurgeon said in his sermon “Comforted and Comforting” that “God is the God of all comfort; — not merely of some comfort, but of all comfort. If you need every kind of comfort that was ever given to men, God has it in reserve, and he will give it to you. If there are any comforts to be found by God’s people in sickness, in prison, in want, in depression, the God of all comfort will deal them out to you according as you have need of them.”
Whatever our thoughts may be centred around — health, food for the table, financial uncertainties, recession, depression, working woes, unrest in the world — God is, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” Whatever the condition, God has the comfort. Reassurance for anxiety; hope for depression; faith for doubts; benevolence for selfishness. In the multitude of our thoughts, we must allow Him room to work.
The delight of His comforts does not mean that we dance around with gladness even when we’re sad. The word “delight” here literally means to soothe, and to give solace.
God will not abandon us in our time of affliction, though anxiety can at times be overwhelming. God will not allow the wicked to triumph, though they seem to prosper. When we find ourselves caught up in our circumstances, we must call Him to mind. His comforts do not guarantee no problems, but they do guarantee His presence therein.
As we cannot get warm without making an effort to do so by putting on more clothes, nestling under a blanket or standing by a fire, so we cannot be comforted if we do not seek out the very One who will provide it to us.
