More Than the Sand
Updated: Oct 4
Sand has a way of coming home from the beach with us. It cakes onto wet feet, hides in bathing suits, settles into the car, and somehow turns up on the sofa days later.
Maybe that’s why David’s imagery in Psalm 139 is so striking. He writes, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!...” (Psalm 139:17–18 NLT).
I’ve never imagined counting the grains of sand on a beach. I can’t fathom counting even the ones that come home with us. Yet David speaks of God’s thoughts about us outnumbering the grains of sand.
I did a lot of thinking about sand one summer when my son broke his arm just before our annual beach trip. His orthopedic surgeon told me we couldn’t take him because sand would inevitably get inside his cast. I had a hard time accepting that. Surely we could keep him off the beach, cover his arm, or find some other way to keep the sand out.
I went over every possibility I could think of. But the more I planned, the more I realized the surgeon was right. I couldn’t take my son to the beach and be sure that not one grain of sand would find its way into his cast. So we stayed home.
That experience brought new life to the way I picture David’s words. Sand is so plentiful that I couldn’t escape it even when I had a very good reason to try. And Scripture says God’s thoughts about you and me are more numerous still.
I wonder how many of us find that hard to believe. We may be able to name every mistake we made this week, yet struggle to imagine that God thinks of us with care. Shame has a way of making one painful thought feel not only true, but like the only true thing about us: I’m too much. I’m not enough. If people really knew me, they’d turn away.
Psalm 139 doesn’t ask us to pretend God hasn’t seen the parts of us we wish we could hide. David begins the psalm by saying, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me” (Psalm 139:1 NLT). That’s what makes this truth so tender. God knows every part of us, and He holds us in His thoughts always.
The next time you find sand in a shoe or on the floor long after a beach trip, maybe you’ll remember Psalm 139. Then, let that imagery be the light of Truth you hold up against any dark thoughts that crowd your mind. You are fully known by God. You are always on His mind. And His thoughts about you outnumber all the grains of sand.
The Lagniappe
Enjoy "Your Thoughts For Us" By Austin Stone Worship
The Story Behind The Song Psalm 139 is the story behind “Your Thoughts for Us.”
Psalm 139 (NLT) O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night, but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Comments