I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you – Psalm 119:11
In May 2011, the United Kingdom celebrated a royal wedding. Prince William and his bride Catherine Middleton wed amidst pomp and circumstance that reminded many of William’s parents. In 1981, the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana drew unprecedented publicity. Viewers watched a “fairy tale” marriage that began with a horse-drawn carriage. Unfortunately, the union ended with allegations of cheating, depression, divorce, and a tragic death. The “fairy tale” crumbled before our eyes.
Sin has a way of doing this. Couples often have a fairy tale wedding and reception only to end in a bitter divorce. Churches will split over sin. Families will break apart and many will not even gather on the holidays even when years have passed. Just the other day, I heard of another shooting at a major university on the Mainland. Two people had their lives cut short and many others now have to live with emotional scars.
For the believer, there is an answer: Internalizing the Word is a believer's best weapon to defend against encroaching sin. He does not make us holy against our will or without our cooperation. Someone has wisely said, "The best book in the world is the Bible. The best place to put it is in the heart. The best reason for putting it there is that it saves us from sinning against God."
Many people believe that this verse only means that Scripture should be memorized. I think memorizing God's Word is a wonderful thing, but some of the meanest little brats I have seen in Sunday school were the ones who could stand up and quote one hundred verses of Scripture. When the psalmist wrote, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart," I think he meant, "I obey it." That is the important thing. It is a wonderful thing to be able to stand up and by rote recite verse after verse- I'm not criticizing that; I'm in favor of Scripture memorization programs- but we also need to obey the Word. That is what the psalmist means by hiding it in your heart.
I challenge you to consider memorizing at least a couple of verses a week and begin to apply them. It’s sad to me that we are living in a time when believers no longer make this a part of their spiritual practice because it’s a wonderful thing to do. Write verses that particularly speak to you on 3x5-inch cards, pack them around with you—and before you know it, you’ll have a heart full of the Word and a life that reflects it.
