THE WORD OF GOD IN THE HEART
Psa. 119:11
Morning Meditation 12/6/2013
Verse 11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
We do not know who wrote this Psalm. I think it is good but not necessary to know the human author of a writing. The main thing is that we believe that it is the inspired Word of God. Many have offered the following speculations: David, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi, and Daniel. John Phillips says, “The internal evidence makes it evident that the author was a suffering saint who had to endure contempt if not downright ill treatment.”
In good times and bad this verse is a good one to have in the memory for one’s meditation. Let’s look at the following simple outline as we consider what the Psalmist is saying.
FIRST, WE SEE A GOOD PROVISION: “Thy Word.”
If the Word of God is going to help us, there can be no question in our minds about the authenticity of the Bible. It must be to us the Word of God. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” There is no assurance that we are doing the right thing if we do not know what God says about what we are doing. Therefore, we could have no peace about it. We do not have authority for what we say against error, if we do not have the Truth. Psalms 33:4 says, “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.” Psalms 138:2 says, “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” This verse gives some insight into what God Himself thinks of His Word. He has “magnified” His word “above all” His name. This is the reason that there is an out-break of rage against the many translations of Scripture today. Some of it is unreasonable. But this verse gives a good reason for it. The Bible is our authority. I (we) believe that every WORD OF IT (verbal inspiration) is INSPIRED OF GOD just as Paul taught Timothy in the above text. When someone starts changing a word to get it into a modern language under the guise of making it easier to understand, and CHANGES THE MEANING, there will be a challenge and rejection of the one doing it. You can count on it. That is the way it should be. I’m going to say this and I’m not going to ride this horse to your annoyance, but THERE IS NO MODERN TRANSLATION THAT HAS IMPROVED ON THE ACCURACY OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE.
You say, “Preacher, there are versions that are easier to understand. I just don’t understand the archaic language of the King James Bible.”
First, if someone makes it easier for you to understand the Bible by changing the MEANING OF THE VERBALLY INSPIRED WORDS, what are you understanding? Error? If so, your authority is gone. No matter how good that perversion makes you feel. You are not giving God glory when you put you faith in the mistakes of a translator. God does not honor the interpretations of His Word. I have a fair question to ask you. Do you know the Greek of the New Testament or Hebrew of the Old Testament well enough to determine with accuracy if the changes the modern translations make are right? Remember God “MAGNIFIED HIS WORD,” the modern translations that take the liberty to change to words that do not accurately represent the meaning of the original words, is not what He “MAGNIFIED.” Now I’m not trying to be unreasonable, I’m just trying to help you see that Satan is trying to take our authority away from us. We are to walk by faith. Faith in WHAT? You say, “What God says.” You are right! But if you are reading a Bible where someone has changed the WORDS to make it easier to understand, are you reading what God says? Or, are you reading an interpretation of what the translator said?
Second, if you can’t understand the archaic language of the King James Bible, why, since it is the Word of God, and is more important than your home, or car, or job, or about anything else you can think of, don’t you take time to get better acquainted with the archaic words of the King James Bible, since it has been tested and tried for centuries and there is NO DOUBT ABOUT IT BEING THE WORD OF GOD (at least common ordinary folk don’t question it. Satan and the scholars are the only ones who have the problem). Let me tell you something. You are not TAKING CHANCES with the King James Bible. It has been tried and tested and made 100% on the test.
God has provided us with His word. It is a good provision the Psalmist says. We need to love it and be protective of it because here is where we meet with God (2 Pet. 1:4).
SECOND, WE SEE A GOOD PRACTICE
The Psalmist says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart.” That is a good thing to do with the Word of God. I have heard of preachers and Christians who went out on visitation with a family Bible under their arms. I can just see them getting out of their car, slamming the door loud enough for everyone on the block to hear it, getting the attention of those inside the house, causing them to go to the window and pull back the curtain just a little, peering out to see these two guys walking up the sidewalk to their house with a fifteen pound family Bible under an arm!
There are a couple of scenario’s I would like to offer. First, the one looking out the window shouts, “the Mormons are coming! Everyone, out the back door, and up in the tree house for the next few minutes!” Second, there is this other one, “Hey, did anybody order a set of encyclopedias? If so, they are being delivered by a couple of guys and they have already taken them out of the box!”
I think the Psalmist is saying that it is good to “hide” the Word of God in a place were it is easily accessible. It is not as intimidating to others. You say, “I’m not ashamed of the Word of God!” Neither was the Psalmist.
THIRD, WE SEE A GOOD PLACE
The Psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart.” First, God observes the heart: Genesis 6:5, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The heart is a major problem: Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” This means that our own hearts can deceive us. Third, the heart is the processing area for all the information that comes to us and the motivational center of our actions: Psalms 4:4 says, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.” Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
If we hide the Word of God in our hearts, it will be IN PLACE to “critique” all the thoughts that come to our minds to be processed. Heb. 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Paul says, “the word of God is quick” which means it is alive. The word “quick” is a present tense verb and it means that, if the Word of God is in your heart, that there is something in your heart that “continues to be alive, that keeps on being alive, that never sleeps.” It means the light stays on all the time. The word “discerner” translates “kritikos” and means, “skilled in judging.” This means that if you hid the Word of God in your heart that you have One who is skilled in judging, that is alive and alert, and never sleeps there to aid you in “skilled judgment” of every thought that comes to your word processor (your mind). Praise God for His infinite wisdom. He does all things well. Amen. The heart is a good place for the storage of the Word of God.
FOURTH, WE SEE A GOOD PURPOSE
The Psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The purpose of the memorization of verses of the Word of God began a long time ago. The Psalmist knew his own weakness. He admitted his own ignorance. He did not trust his accumulated wisdom over the years to be enough to keep him from evil when confronted with it.
It is like this. When I was a boy (especially 2-12), my grand parents reared me. They taught me what was right and wrong. They enforced it with what the book of Proverbs calls a “rod” and what my grandmother called a “hickory switch” which didn’t mean it had to come off a hickory tree. A willow limb would do. That particular rod would wrap around my leg when she swung it and left marks that would cause the Social Service to remove me from the home if they had been in existence at that time.
Right and wrong is what we are talking about and I am using my childhood to illustrate. I’ll never forget going to a carnival (in our little town) which was one of the highlights of my year at that time. I got out of the car and took a couple of steps toward the gym (this is where the carnival was staged), and if I felt my grandmothers hand wrap around my arm and bring me to a sudden halt. While she held me in her firm grip, she bent over and picked up a good sized limb (at least it looked large to me) and brought it across the seat of knowledge as I screamed, “Grandmother, what did I do?” This was a sincere and earnest plea. She said, “It is not for what you have done. It is what you are going to do as soon as you get through those doors, pointing toward the gym.” I walked through the doors a lot meeker and it caused me to watch very closely to see if she were looking when I did what she thought I would do! She knew her grandson. And I knew better to do wrong when she was looking.
This is what our verse means. The Psalmist said, “this is the reason that I am hiding the Word of God in my heart. I want it to be there to keep me from doing wrong.” In other words, it is kind of like me inviting my grandmother to go out with me to play with others so she will be there to make me play fairly with the others. It is kind of like me saying, “Grandmother, this is my first date. Will you go with us? I want you around so that you can help me make decisions about right and wrong. I want to treat this girl with respect and it seems easier when you are around.” I think grandmother would have said, “Earl, I am thankful that you have asked me. I am honored.. I’ll go.” Do you think I’d be kissing around on that girl, until after we were married, when grandmother was sitting beside us? You’re brain dead if you do! If you have a problem with that, you definitely need my grandmother! Ha. The Psalmist tells us that the reason for storing the Word of God in the heart is “that I might not sin against thee.” The Word of God can go where grandmother can’t.
One other thing. We must make a choice. The Word of God has to be memorized.. It has to be studied. Its principles have to be committed to memory. It is a voluntary act. You must decide. The Psalmist made the right decision and invites us to do the same.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts..
In Christ
Bro. White
