God in Your Thoughts?

If we read the Bible honestly, it will confront and shock us.  God uses the truth of scripture to correct our incorrect understanding or assumptions.  Today I experienced such a moment as I opened the Word for my morning reading of a few Psalms.  David begins Psalm 10 by a vivid description of the attitudes, acts, and even the thoughts of the wicked.  There was one verse in particular which God used to correct my understanding of what wickedness looks like.  The Holy Spirit brought conviction of sin, shedding light where there was once darkness in my conscience.

In the KJV Psalm 10:4 reads, "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."  When I think of wickedness, I tend to think of deeds.  The works of the flesh are evident and obvious sin.  The Bible teaches that sin perverts and pollutes a man from within, and evil deeds are the result.  God is righteous, and those who are in Christ through faith receive His righteousness.  This verse illustrates the importance of our thoughts.  A wicked man does not seek after God.  In fact, the fact that God is not in all his thoughts is wickedness.  This is a strong statement.  We would all agree it would be good if God was in all our thoughts.  It would be right for all our thoughts to dwell upon God.

A sampling of other translations show us other facets of the importance of our thoughts in relation to God.  Psalm 10:4 in the NKJV states, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts."  The NIV rendering of Psalm 10:4 is as follows:  "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."  The wicked is marked by three variants of the same theme concerning thoughts:  God is not in all his thoughts, God is in none of his thoughts, and in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  How important then is our necessity to meditate upon God, His flawless attributes and character, His commands, goodness, love, mercy, and grace!  There is a reason why God commanded fathers to instruct their children concerning God from when they rose in the morning until the time they lay down again at night.  The thoughts of a righteous man could be described in this way:  God is in all his thoughts.

Though the translations of the same verse are different, they are all true.  Common denominators of the wicked include pride, the fact he does not seek after God, and that God is not in all his thoughts.  What a different picture of wickedness this reveals from what we might have thought!  I resolve to make room for God in my thoughts, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.  By God's grace, may we humble ourselves and seek Him.  God desires to be found by us.  Praise Him for that!