Safely Hidden

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

David had determined to live righteously before the Lord and took care to guard his heart against sin.

The Word of God instructs us that it is our responsibility to carefully protect of our hearts and minds against the things God forbids or that antagonize the Lord and go against His Word. We are to ensure the purity of our thoughts and motivations, deny ourselves illegitimate or sinful desires and maintain a correct relationship of righteousness and obedience with the Lord.

God provides us with ample assistance and with all the necessary ‘tools’ to achieve these ends, but ultimately it is up to us to direct our desires towards Him, to dedicate our hearts and minds in service to Him and consecrate our lives to the walk of holiness more each day. This choice will determine whether we live God’s way or fall in line with the ways of the flesh.

David was not going to leave this outcome to chance or a second rate effort. He was resolute in overcoming the sin that plagues the human family and so easily besets us. He was definite about taking the necessary measures that would ensure his success in the endeavours of maintaining purity!

In this verse he divulges one of the simplest and yet most powerful ways to find an assurance and security that we will preserve a stand of righteousness and holiness before the Lord. God states that His people are destroyed (in sin and degradation) for a lack of knowledge and points out that the lack was due to a rejection or disregard for the knowledge He had given (Hosea 4:6). This is at the core of the sin problem with God’s people. It isn't a lack of information that ends up destroying us, but a lack of desire to partake of God’s Word and a lack of discipline in retaining it present and important in our hearts.

David knew this and did something about it. In an age where information was not easily accessible and not wanting to loose grip on what he had received from God, he stored it in the most important, closest and most personal place he could - he ‘hid’ the Word of God in His heart! He intended to get this right, and his assurance for this, was to read, study, meditate on, memorize, remember and repeat the word of God in His heart! His discipline and desire for God merited a sterling report from God as a man who kept the Lord’s commandments and followed God with all his heart. This would not have been possible without God’s Word being stored in his heart!

Today we have no shortage of access to the printed Word of God, or for that matter the electronic versions, stored in text, audio and video formats, on all kinds of amazing and ‘smart’ devices, but the question is – is it stored in our hearts? We might feel quite secure in the fact that we have ‘the knowledge’ WITH US, but is it really benefiting us if the knowledge in not IN US? One of the obvious problems with many Christians today is the lack of knowledge of what God says in His word. If we are not equipped and ready with this knowledge we cannot respond adequately to the situations of life and temptations of the devil. Satan is quite happy for us to own shelves full of Bibles, and a bible on every electronic device we may choose, as long as we don’t read it, study it, remember it, assimilate it, believe it or practice it!

David indicated that his practice was to ‘hide’ or memorize the word of God in his heart and that this helped him to stay clear of sin. This practice can work for us also, if we will but submit to its disciplines. The regular reading of God’s Word, meditating on its meaning and applications, the memorizing of key verses and passages to recite to ourselves often, all work together in helping to hide ‘the knowledge’ in our hearts. This frequent and regular washing of God's principles and values through the mind and heart, keeps us alerted and awake against spiritual pollution, helps us react quickly against temptation and positively against thoughts and practices which violate God's values, and strengthen us as we strive to maintain holiness before the Lord.

Jesus showed us how to defeat the devil, when in His own temptation He quoted the Word of God as His defence and used it as His weapon. He could do that because He had memorised it, understood it and applied it to His life. Jesus overcame and defeated the temptations of the devil and we can too, by taking a stand on the Word of God, when we have made it ours through study, meditation, memorization and application.

How valuable and important it is to keep God's word always ready in our mind and heart if we want to live above sin! We should read it every day, meditate upon it and memorize portions of it which can then be recited and reviewed. Most if all we should seek to prayerfully practice the principles of it in every aspect of daily living. God's word in our hearts is life and it will keep us from sin! 



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion