Psalm 145:5-6 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

The NIV goes for poetic symmetry in their translation, while the Japanese is probably more literal, but the difference is small. (The Japanese says “I will” for all of verse 5, rather than “They will” and then “I will.”) David has just been talking about generational transfer of information about God, and here he is talking about his part in that. I like the Japanese expression for “meditate” in verse 5: “dye my thoughts” The picture is of soaking in a solution until the color is transferred. This is precisely what Paul was talking about in Philippi­ans 4:8, when he tells us to think about good stuff. What we think about makes a difference! The traditional translation to Proverbs 23:7 is, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. Thinking deeply and often about God and what He has done causes us to take on His likeness, as Paul says in Romans 8:29. Another factor here is that we tend to talk about what is on our minds, as David says at the end of verse 7. If we are fully grateful for all that God has done for us, that is going to come out in our conver­sation without our having to evangelize intentionally. Such natural sharing is actually some of the most effective evangelism! “Soaking our thoughts in God” is a highly recommended activity.

As I read this Psalm I detect a degree of irony, because David really wasn’t very good at conveying his faith to his children. In fact, he was pretty much a failure at parenting. However, he certainly had a prophetic anointing, and what He wrote is true. My physical children and grandchildren don’t live close to me, but I do tell them of the ways that God blesses us. My spiritual children and grandchildren are all around me, and if I am to proclaim God’s great deeds to them, I need to watch my thoughts. This is certainly the Information Age, and we are bombarded with things to think about. I need to choose to think about God and His works, so that that will be what I commun-icate.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed “take every thought captive,” as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5, so that in thinking Your thoughts after You, I may indeed be transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus my Lord, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!