“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11

Where Is It Hidden?

Walk His Way Revisited

I’ve known the truth about hiding God’s Word in my heart for a very long time. I believe I am doing that to the best of my ability. Yet still, like Paul, I find myself doing what I do not want to do—in other words, doing what I shouldn’t be doing (see Romans 7:14-25).

I was talking to a remorseful alcoholic the other day. I asked, “What were you THINKING when you started drinking again?” (There might have been a better way to handle it, but that is what I said.) The answer? “I wasn’t.”

Meaning: I wasn’t thinking. I don’t know why I did it. I have no excuse, no reason. I was stupid, and I can’t fix it.

We all say and do things we regret. Mostly, we aren’t thinking. We aren’t trying to be insensitive jerks. We’re just kind of going along with the moment.

Yet here is the Scripture telling me that hiding God’s Word in my heart is the preventive measure I need to take so that I don’t sin against Him. So I ask myself some honest questions. Which of His words have I not hidden in my heart? Am I a selective hearer? What has He said that is not imbedded in me? What word has not been my daily bread? What word has not changed me, has not done its work in my heart?

I don’t know which of His Words aren’t hidden in my heart, but I will continue to learn from Him in each new situation He brings me to. I will continue applying Scripture to the best of my ability. I will trust Him to bring His Word to mind when it is needed. I will listen with wide-open ears and trust Him to make me hear His voice. I will not close myself off when He says hard things to me, things I would really rather not hear. I will “eat” His Word before my own morning meal, not that He necessarily cares when I eat it, but to make a stand to my own self that He comes first. I will let His Word change me by my obedience to it.

The next verse, Psalm 119:12, shows that the psalmist asks God to be his teacher. If I read and even study His Word without the help of the Holy Spirit to interpret and apply, then I will not get very far in imbedding it in my heart. It’ll be all head knowledge and will not get all the way down into my heart.

Oh Lord, tutor me. Make me a student, yes, but not a forgetful hearer. Help me be a doer of Your Word. This is what makes Your Word real and useful—my obedience to it. This is what changes me. Thank You, Father.