If you are here from the memorization group, I hope it’s going well for you! If not, allow me to explain. We are just running through Psalm 119 and attempting to hide it in our hearts.
We have already discussed (at length — I know, I know…) the idea of our walk with God; today I want to focus on the heart. In this stanza, the psalmist pours out his love for God through his love for God’s words.
Much of this stanza expands on the theme of passion for God’s Word and ways. The psalmist writes of a desire not to wander from God’s commands, of delighting in God’s word, of storing it in his heart and meditating on it. Underlying all these poignant yearnings is a deep reverence of and love for God. It is not merely a desire to increase knowledge that these verses speak of; it is a longing to stay near to the Master he loves.
It is my prayer that we, like the psalmist, will seek God with our whole hearts. I hope that the reason we memorize this psalm and other passages of Scripture will not simply be to win Bible contests or to gain some funky brand of church-y acclaim, but for the sole purpose that this author dictates in the eleventh verse: I pray that we will store up this Word in our hearts that we, too, might not sin against God.
A fervent prayer of mine lately has been for a true revival of the Holy Spirit; a true hunger for the Bread of Life and a heartfelt desire among His people not to sin against Him. This will require genuine repentance, a repentance such as Charles Spurgeon describes in his Morning and Evening devotions:
Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally — as a burnt child dreads fire.
This storing up of the Word as a guide to avoid sin is a beautiful motive for memorization. Let’s tuck this one in our metaphorical back pockets to pull out later if the whole thing, whether memory work or our Christian walk itself, starts to seem cumbersome.
Let’s pray diligently that God will put in our own hearts a delight for His word and a desire to meditate on it. Let’s ask Him not to let us wander from His commands and off the narrow path, and let’s seek Him with our whole hearts.
May it be that the Holy Spirit so works in our lives through the Scripture we hide in our hearts that we no longer take pleasure in sin but only in pleasing the One who gave His all for us. Mighty One who is Love, increase our love for You!
Running the Race 