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PSALMS 119:11 “THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MINE HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE.” (KJV)
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!” (NJKJV)
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (NIV)
“I have thought much about your words and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin.” (TLB)
“I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (RSV)
“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (NASB)
“Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (ASV)
The most obvious motivation for memorizing Scripture to a Christian must be so we might not sin. As obvious as this reasoning is, I am always amazed at actions of those who call themselves Christians and how easily we fall into sin.
I know I may be taking something for granted here, but I assume that having received the wonderful grace of Jesus, we would naturally desire to live a life that would be pleasing to Him. Certainly, those whose lives were deeply lost in sin, depravity, hopelessness and loss, having been freed from those chains, know the urge within them to not return to their slavery.
Jesus said that those to whom much was forgiven know a deep feeling of gratitude and desire to live as far away from that sin as possible. I can only assume that after Jesus freed the woman caught in years of sexual promiscuity and told her to go and sin no more, that at least she never returned to that lifestyle.
I have to say that my experience has been that I love the Lord and thank Him so much for forgiving my sin and paying the price for it on the cross, that I want to not sin against Him again. That doesn’t, however, mean that I am always successful.
We are creatures born of Adam’s race and our desire to please ourselves never completely goes away. Returning to our sinful ways is rightfully described as being like “a dog returning to his own vomit.” How we need to feel that disgust with any action, word or thought that might be displeasing to the Lord that we want nothing more than to NOT SIN AGAIN! Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case among us as Christians. But it needs to be.
King David was the one described in the Bible as being a “man after God’s own heart.” I would love for that testimony to be said about me. He is reported to have written these words that we now memorize. I’m sure that the “words” that he says he was hiding in his heart were taught to him at a young age.
Perhaps he read the words transcribed for centuries before him while tending the sheep on the hillsides of Israel. Other Scriptures tell us that he meditated on the words of God day and night, or constantly. He found them beautiful. He found those words to be a source of life and great joy. He probably put some of those words to song as he played the harp and sang for King Saul.
I wonder when he first discovered that hiding the words of God in his heart resulted in giving him power to not sin against the God he loved so much. Now, recorded for all time in this Scripture, David tells us that if we hide God’s word in our hearts, we will find the secret to not sinning against Him. Do you want that?
I wonder if these words of David came back to him after he found himself lusting after another man’s wife, having her husband killed and then taking her for himself, only to be caught and corrected by the prophet? We do find that after these acts resulted in God’s judgment of him and the loss of the resulting child, David returned to Scripture he knew so well to trust in forgiveness from God for him, atonement for his sins and restoration as king. Will we do the same?
Hide God’s word in your heart so you will not sin against Him. Memorize Psalm 119:11 so it will be a reminder that we have a solution to our tendency to sin. When tempted in your weakness, the Lord would hope that you would remember this Scripture and quote it to your spirit so you would then have the strength to say no to the temptation.
Through this verse and many, many others that we can memorize...and hide in our hearts...we can have victory over sin and temptation that seems to overcome us so easily. Imagine the pain and suffering that completed sin brings into our lives that might be so easily avoided by quoting the Word at just the right time and using it to bring victory over temptation and actually not sinning.
This Scripture speaks more to us than just having a discipline that is so necessary to living a victorious Christian life. It speaks even more to us about getting God’s word so far into us, into our very heart, the center of who we are, that it reveals a power and peace that is indescribable. I hide Your Word in my heart, so I might be able to not sin against You. Help me to make it so.
Questions to ponder:
Other Scriptures to Consider:
Questions to ponder: Do you think David memorized the ten commandments, handed down from God through Moses centuries before he lived? Do you think that had David quoted, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” right before he took that longing look at Bathsheba, he might have been able to avoid all that followed? Does the Holy Spirit bring up Scriptures we previously memorized at just the right moment to help us say “NO” to the temptation at the moment? Thinking of a particular temptation or sin that “so easily besets you,” what Scripture do you know that would speak to that temptation and help you overcome it?
Other Scriptures to Consider:Psalm 119:105 says that the Word gives us guidance, it is a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Romans 10:14-17. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The Word is probably the most mighty weapon we have to defend ourselves, especially against the devil. Hebrews 4:12 describes the word as quick, powerful and sharp! Psalm 119:114 declares “thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.”
 
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