God’s Thoughts of Peace Toward Us

God has thoughts (an anthropomorphism to help us understand God).
1. God’s thoughts are infinitely great in number (Ps. 40:5; 139:17) and they are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8,9).
2. He knows His “thoughts,” i.e., the purposes or counsel which He reckoned or devised.
3. God thinks "toward" us (cf. Ps. 40:5,17) as well as about us (Psalm 139:1,6,17,18; John 6:64).
4. God “knows” His thoughts.
  1. It is of primary importance that He knows His thoughts and purposes, not that we know them.
  2. May the child not trouble himself with things too great for him (cf. Isa. 40:28).
God has two things that He thinks toward us.
1. First, they are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil."
  1. Peace – a relationship of harmony and joyful cohesiveness.
  2. They are not thoughts "of evil," i.e., bad, in the sense of a punishment for past sins or a seeking of retribution.
2. And, God's thoughts are "to give you an expected end," i.e., a future with an expectation - a hoped for ending.
His telling us that He knows His thoughts toward us brings us to a right attitude.
1. Patient submission.
2. Learn peace, for our Father, Who loves us, is in control.
3. We ought to have great hope and a good expectation (Ps. 62:5).