Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart

Monday, September 25, 2023

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

The entire 119^th Psalm refers to God’s Word ^{(43 times in its 176 verses)}.  Reading this Psalm out loud, every time you take a breath, you’re going to utter the phrase thy word!  It is the design of the Author to point to His own word as the benchmark for the way we humans should live what is called covenant life, living a life faithful and fruitful in the promises and precepts of the Kingdom of God. 

This touches virtually every aspect of a human’s existence; it touches the good times and tough times, the times bathed in faith, and the times of straying off the path, as well as the times of fear.  But the weight of the Psalm (for me) is summed-up in this: 

How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.  Psalm 119:103

This is a teaching Psalm, introducing God’s people how to live in light of God’s requirements, as people of light…the goodness of God, as opposed to the darkness of God’s evil enemy.  One writer expressed it this way:

The Didactic [teaching] Songs expound the totally separate paths known from wisdom literature as the ways of “the wise” and “the foolish,” from covenant literature as those of “the obedient” and “the disobedient.”[i]

To use a common means of expressing it, there are two kinds of people in the universe – those who trust in God (and live like it), and those who don’t!  A third possibility is those who slip in-and-out of both, just can’t make up their minds.

That third possibility is actually quite-flawed, because “slipping-in-and-out” is only a superficial residence in one or the other.  It is failing to choose (for an eternity) to live as God’s child, or as the child of God’s enemy.  Scripture tells us it is impossible to please God except by faith.[ii] 

There is a difference between simply being afraid God will punish us for our sins, so we behave for a while, and fearing God in the sense of reverence, respect, and therefore choosing to obey His commands for life and eternity, by turning away from sin, so you are able to live-into that respect and reverence with obedience. 

Hiding God’s Word in your heart is exactly how you do that.  You read it every day; you study and meditate on God’s Word.  You pray like the writer of the 119^th Psalm wrote, talking to God about your fears and faith, your successes and the times you messed-up.  You ask Him for faith to live as He wants you, and strength to oppose your own stubborn will. 

That’s what spiritual warfare is all about…not movements to challenge others’ faith or practices, or shouting matches over evil stuff…it’s dealing with your own rebellious heart.  We’re all born with that, and it separates us from God and each other if we don’t root out that sin…or more accurately invite God to come root it out for you…His Holy Spirit is an expert at dealing with your heart.

For You Today 

 So…how’s it going with that?  Are you hiding His Word in your heart?  Have you sensed God is moving-in where there used to be rebellion and darkness?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com  and Pixabay.com                     

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[i] Asbury Bible Commentary Copyright © 1992 by The Zondervan Corporation

[ii] Hebrews 11:6  

Life & Death Tightrope

[1]

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.  And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.  We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.  Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  And who can win this battle against the world?  Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  1 John 5:1-5

We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.  We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.  And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.  And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.  Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.  1 John 5:18-21

Habit determines everything.  

Habitually practicing the art of couch potato-ing can result in heart disease, or a guest appearance on a segment of My 600-Pound Life.  Habits set the pathway of our life’s decisions.  The apostle, John is giving sound spiritual advice to the church of how forming our life around obedience to God’s commandments is the pathway that leads to life. 

On first reading many people are tempted to imagine this obedience thing as walking a tightrope suspended over hell’s fires; one slip and you’re toast!  However, that would be inconsistent with God’s grace and patience.  God knows us and understands better than we do that when it comes to being perfect in our obedience we slip off a rope like that.  We see that in the apostle’s description of both sin and obedience; he points us in the direction of habituation, making a practice of either.  A well-practiced habit becomes our default, part of our character, who we really are.  A slip-up is an aberration, a setback from the path we really want to travel.  John is making the case that true belief in Christ, trusting Christ and relying on His power for every need and every shortcoming, is not only possible, it is part of God’s promise.  And what it looks like in everyday living is forming habits.  The person that wants more strength for living a life of obedience forms the habit of meditating on God’s Word.  A person who wants greater strength resisting temptation of any kind forms the habit of prayer, fasting, and removing themselves from the source of temptations. 

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was you lie down with dogs; you get up with fleas.  John’s whole case about being obedient to God’s commands is that we must make the choice where we will stand, and it must be peremptory; the first time we decide to cuddle up to the fleas of sin will be merely the first step in setting the habitual practice.  We warn our children about taking the first pill, or drink, or tobacco product so they will not get caught in the addictive downward spiral that affects their health.  We use parental controls on media to monitor their internet time and what content they view to protect them from the downward pull of pornography and violence.  Should we do less for our children and ourselves when it comes to spiritual health?

For You Today

A healthy spiritual practice is to habitually examine our habits; look at the things we do regularly with an eye towards answering the question:  is this what God wants my life to look like?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Adi Holzer via WikimediaCommons    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©