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  

Pretender

Thursday, January 12, 2023

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.  You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all.  You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.  Galatians 1:6-7

That ancient descriptive about a wolf in sheep’s clothing is all about pretense, pretending to be something, in order to gain another’s favorable view.  The sharpened teeth of that gain is when the wolf eats the sheep that has given trust.  When Jesus sent his disciples out to spread the good news of salvation, he commissioned them with a cautionary bit of advice:

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.  Matthew 10:16

Wolves that pretend to be sheep is a caricature of those who would eat you alive if they can gain your trust.  And the chief tool used by spiritual wolves is the same as any other – the lie.

Apostle Paul was shocked at how the Galatian church had been turned by lies so quickly.  Human nature is fickle, and this is why studying and meditating on God’s Word (which is entirely unadulterated truth) is so important.  Internalizing the Word of Truth is a guard against the twisted claims of pretenders.  Consider these two bedrock necessities for the believer:

Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed.  Proverbs 12:19
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11

The crux of the issue in the case of the Galatian churches was truth, twisted to suit bending these new believers away from the freedom and strength of the Gospel, in order to enslave them to follow these spurious teachers who would take them even further from Jesus’ way.  Our day has plenty of parallels:

·       Prosperity Lies – which attempt to make the Gospel a pyramid scheme, an easy entry into gaining wealth or power if you subscribe to the cult’s twisted version of God’s Word.

·       Healing Lies – focusing on physical well-being of the body as something that can be extorted from God’s power by twisting Scripture out of its context…making the focus all about our human bodies, which by definition are flesh that is passing-away (wouldn’t it be terrible to live in these aging,  sagging, weakening human skeletons forever?).

·       Sexual Lies – these days have no end.  In my youth (1950’s/60’s) the so-called sexual revolution “liberated” fornication (sexual activity between unmarried couples)…it became accepted, even lauded.  In the 1980’s same-sexuality relationships started to become normal.  A neverending barage of media and social campaigns culminated during the Obama era of legalizing same-sex marriage, flaunting man’s disdain for God’s commands.

·       Spiritual Lies – have the result of destroying long-standing faithfulness to godlinesss, and have even turned sanctuaries consecrated to worship of God into houses of human idolatry, “sanctifying” same-sex marriages.  The United Methodist Church, descendant of Wesley’s strong foundation in the Scriptural Word of Truth, is undergoing a complete devolution in this lie.

In our day the lie has gained a reputation for truth.  Sad.

For You Today  

Be a dove kind of sheep…but be different than the Galatian brand; be as shrewd as snakes.  Beware the pretending wolves in sheep’s clothing.

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

The Third Day  and  Living in Sodom

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

The Beauty of Holiness

 

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Psalm 29:2

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. ^(KJV)

I was introduced to the Scriptures as a very young child.  The version of Scripture heard in our church was King James.  Memorization of God’s Word was taught as an important duty, key to having it (the Word of God) hidden in our hearts.[1]  I always assumed that the phrase in the beauty of holiness was a command that I come to God as holy, forgiven, and not steeped in my sinful ways.  That was difficult for someone like me, full of youthful questions and doubts.  I despaired of ever being “good enough” to come before God as holy.

Enter the world of other translations.  The version I have taken the time to fall in love with is the New Living Translation^©  This morning’s verse hit me with a different look at an old friend, the beauty of holiness.

Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.  Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. ^(NLT)

Instead of a command to come before God for worship in my brand of holiness, the command shifts to worship God because of His holiness!  It’s a command towards reverence, not a command to get clean and live right, so you are then permitted to worship. 

This is the dress code thing I’ve bumped up against since the 60’s.  It follows this line of reasoning:  You come to God’s house dressed in your finest to honor God.  Now, that’s not bad reasoning.  If I were invited to the White House, I believe I’d wear a suit and tie.  It’s a sign of respect towards the one who sits at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.  But I don’t wear a suit and tie every day; especially to sleep in my own bed.  Yet, I am commanded to worship when I get up in the morning, when I leave my house, when I return, and all day, in everything I do.[2]  So, worship isn’t confined to the church house, nor is there any amount of scrubbing-up my life to get to a point of “holy” sufficient to satisfy any worthiness level before God. 

Now, that does two things:

a.     It makes me aware that I can only truly worship God when I come before Him humbled and honest, as Charlotte Elliott wrote,

Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

b.     It compels me to remember that I am always in that condition, and keeps me connected with God’s grace, which is only sufficient for sinners.  I cannot be holy without His imputed holiness to my life.

Warren Wiersbe, in his Bible Study series comments that:

True holiness is a beautiful thing to behold, and certainly the greatest demonstration was in the life of Jesus Christ when He ministered on earth. Sin is ugly, no matter what we may call it, but true holiness is beautiful and brings glory to God.[3]

So, it isn’t “holiness” that I can muster up, or fake; holiness is trusting in the God of Calvary, Who brought glory to the Father with His life, and stands with opened arms to welcome us into that beautiful holiness.  Our lives surrendered to that purpose of bringing glory to Yahweh is a beautiful thing.

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, we understand that when we worship You, who are altogether worthy AND beautiful, it is an act that brings us beauty to share with others.  Allow us grace to receive Your beauty of holiness.

For You Today

Both ugly and beautiful are forever, except when the grace found in worship makes an eternal exchange of one for the other.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!       

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Psalm 29:2 see Honor the Lord  

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

[2] Colossians 3:23 and Deuteronomy 11:18-22

[3] Warren Wiersbe BE Bible Study Series © Warren W. Wiersbe

The Word of God - First & Foremost

[i][ii]

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people.  But let them not return to their foolish ways.  Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.  Unfailing love and truth have met together.  Righteousness and peace have kissed!  Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.  Psalm 85:8-11

Note that the Psalmist says that he listens carefully to what God the Lord is saying.  When we listen carefully, it isn’t just so we can hear what God is saying, and then do what we please.  That is always a possibility for humans because of free will.  But that would not be serving God with integrity; it amounts to lip service!  A few examples:

·      God rejects murder of the unborn; our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

·      God requires humans to be heterosexual…our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

To listen carefully implies receiving information AND acting in obedience to God’s will; believing means behaving!  The idea is to gain truth and put that truth in relationship with righteousness.  We are to practice the kiss of truth (understanding what is right) and righteousness (doing what is right).  This is the kind of integrity our leaders and citizens must have to be right with God.

The point is simple:  it doesn’t matter what a majority of humans think; God requires obedience.  Man’s Supreme Court has nowhere near the authority of eternity.  When we forget that, or forsake that, we court war with heaven.

Throughout history Scripture has always been foremost in authority. 

Here are six important historical Christian leaders who thought that way:

1.     Peter was fond of saying it is written.

2.     Paul told Timothy[1] that he should study Scripture hard and teach it diligently if if he wanted God’s approval.

3.     Martin Luther (father to our Lutheran brethren) stood on sola Scriptura.

4.     John Calvin (Presbyterian founder) wrote 944 pages of theology that all point to Scripture as authoritative.

5.     Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached for 57 years an average of 7-8 times weekly.  In his spare time he wrote 150 books.  Every bit of that bends the knee to Scripture.

6.     And for the purist Methodists among us, John Wesley’s “quadrilateral” (Scripture, Tradition, Reason, Experience) takes us to the Bible first and foremost.  If you check out his sermons you cannot find a seminal or stray thought that doesn’t have Scripture as its base.  He quoted Scripture so often in his sermons if you read them (all 40,000 times preached) you get credit in Heaven for reading the Bible twice.  Today Wesley would cringe that his preachers know more of the Book of Discipline than Scripture.

There are all kinds of decisions made about right and wrong, about what’s best for our country, police forces, the law, family, and culture.  It may not be possible to figure out what is best from the arguments that are constantly presented in the news or media, but Scripture, God’s Holy Word doesn’t leave us in doubt.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.      Psalm 119:11

Letting truth (understanding what’s right) and righteousness (doing what’s right) have that kiss, because you will listen to God, and then DO things God’s way, will always land you on the right side of history; it’s a perfect kiss!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

Go to Worship VIDEO

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[1] 2 Timothy 2:15

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[i] All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated)  Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[ii] Title Image:  By Jan Adam Kruseman via Wikimedia Commons

Scriptural Sticky Notes

[1]

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine.  Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.  Teach them to your children.  Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.  Deuteronomy 11:18-21^(NLT)

Even today you will see, particularly in urban centers, Jews who take this admonition literally.  Portions of Holy Scripture are worn on the wrist, and/or suspended from a headband just above the eyes.  Most Jewish households will have Mezzuzahs on their doorposts.  The message, literally or figuratively is unmistakeable – God’s Word is so important it ought to be central in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.

The sermon illustration is old enough to have gray hair, about the preacher who visits a church family.  On the coffee table is a Bible with an inch-thick coating of dust.  But there is a cross dangling from the Mom’s neck.  There are evidences everywhere that say:  we are a Christian family.  During the course of the visit the preacher mentions a particular verse, and the Dad says he doesn’t recall that one and wants to remember it, so he tells their 9 year old son to go get his Bible; in a moment the kid returns with a well-used copy of Reader’s Digest.

I have often been figuratively patted on the back by church members for preaching the word.  I’m always pleased to get this feedback, that I’m not holding-back God’s Truth from God’s people.  However, most people I know do not carry a Bible to church; I often wonder how good their minds must be to have committed all 66 books of Holy Scripture to memory. 

There are many places in Scripture where believers are cautioned to commit the truth of God’s Word to heart and mind.  One verse that stands out in that list also tells you WHY you do this:

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11^(NLT)

For You Today

God’s Word has been the world’s best-selling book ever since the first one hit Gutenberg’s printing press centuries ago.  Today we can find Scripture in a paper book, Kindle electronic version, and websites galore.

But if the Scritpures in wristbands, frontlets worn on the forehead, Mezzuzahs tacked to the doorposts, or entire Bible carried to church are doing their job, it is not to annouce to the world that we have faith, they are more to remind us, like Scriptural Sticky Notes, that our faith is to lead us into every arena of life. 

We are to remember, and live-into the kind of life we read about in God’s book.

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy Pixabay.com and Pixabay.com

Getting Dressed - Part 5

[1]   

Friday, May 8, 2015

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.  Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  Colossians 3:16-18 (NLT)

This week we have thought about Paul’s list of those characteristics with which a well-dressed follower of Jesus Christ gets dressed every day – peace, thankfulness and gratitude, love – all part of a Christ-like character.

This morning we connect the dots of that string of character traits.

Paul said we should let the Word of Christ fill us.  The KJV says Christ’s word should dwell in us richly; the picture is that of setting up residence.  This means we should allow the Word of God free reign in addressing every aspect of the way we live our lives. 

Bible study is so important – the Bible is the Owner’s Manual of human existence. 

Having that Word “dwell richly” is to take it in, study, meditate on it and then put it into practice in our lives.  The Psalmist put it this way

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

Now, those are the foundational garments, love, peace, gratitude and wisdom.  Those are the transformational basic characteristics of the Christian life.  When you have those they will create the…

The Outer Garments

The outer garments of life are what others see and experience.  When the inner garments are love, peace, gratitude and wisdom they will make the outer garments particularly attractive.  What are they?

There is EMPATHY – so you can feel what your brother feels.

There is HARMONY – so you can strengthen your brother or sister, while she strengthens you.

There is MINISTRY so you can glorify God with all of your life.

This is the Christian version of “Dress for Success”.  Success in the world is measured by how you look; it is “the look” or styles that people see which really counts – look good at any cost!

The Lord measures success by what He sees on the inside…the inner garments of character

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT)

For You Today

What does the Lord see when he looks at YOUR heart? 

Does he see compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, mercy?  Does he see all these foundational garments held together neatly by the character girdle of love? 

If so, you’ve chosen to lay aside the world’s rags and you’re ready for a robe!

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[1] Title image:  By Paramount Pictures. Photographer not credited (ebay), via Wikimedia Commons