GOD’S INNUMERABLE WORKS

“MANY, O Lord my God, are YOUR Wonderful WORKS which You have done; and YOUR THOUGHTS toward us cannot be recounted…” – Psalm 40:5a

Scriptures attest to God’s INNUMERABLE WORKS and Thoughts: “MANY, O Lord my God, are YOUR wonderful WORKS which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psa.40:5). God’s Works great, wonderful, and innumerable; as they derive from His uncountable thoughts towards us – “thoughts of peace and not of evil”, to give us “a future and a hope” (Jer.29:11) God’s thoughts towards us are not just in past tense, but present and future. Moreover, His thoughts are innumerable. And so are His works! God knows what we’re going through. He is thinking about us. We’re work in progress. God isn’t done yet.

Psalm 40 delivers a steady stream of thanksgiving, as David recounted his deliverance. He was grateful to God for giving him a new lease on life, and committed himself to doing the Lord's will. Hebrews 10:5–9 quotes Psalm 40:6–8, applying it to Jesus the Messiah. David spoke in this Psalm, first on his own behalf, and then on behalf of the people of Israel. His patient waiting for the Lord was not in vain. God “inclined” to give him personal attention. God heard his cry, and moved: “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth – Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD” (vv.2-3a).

For David, what seemed like a private deliverance became a public testimony and witness to the Glory of God. When God responds to the prayers of the saints, it is never in half measures. He doesn’t bring us out of a pit to keep us down in the valley. No, God brings us out to lift us up! He set David’s feet upon a rock, established his steps, and gave him a new song!

Beyond his personal testimony, David declared that the Lord had given His people, Israel, many signs of His power and love: “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done” (v.5a). Some of these works of wonder were seen in the dramatic events of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. For instance, God told Moses: “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exo.7:3). God worked in wondrous ways to preserve David when his enemies pursued him just as He protected and provided for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings. He gave them clothes and shoes that did not wear out (Dt. 29:5). He fed them with manna and quail (Exo. 16:9–16, 31). He released water from a rock (Exo. 17:6). He gave them victory over terrible tribes (Exo.17:13; Num. 21:21–24).

David linked God’s innumerable thoughts toward him and His people, with His wonderful works for them. He was their Provider and Protector in the past and into the future. David therefore acknowledged that God’s wondrous deeds and thoughts were “more than can be told” (v.5). Psalm 139: 17-18 reflect similar thoughts: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.”

There is a corollary of this in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ: “And truly Jesus did MANY OTHER SIGNS in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name…And there are also MANY OTHER THINGS that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen” (Jh. 20:30–31; 21:25).