How can I have God's Word hidden in my heart (Psalm 119:11)?

" Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee " (v.11)

God's word is a protector from sin- if hid in the heart. Read, taken seriously, meditated upon, remembered - all are involved in hiding in the heart. Again this takes time, but it helps to protect us from sin. The Lord Jesus provides the perfect example of the use of God's word when under temptation- for each of Satan's temptations He was able to respond with the appropriate scripture - He not only knew the scriptures, of course, but understood how they should be applied, which verses were appropriate in which situation. How vitally important it is that we hide the word in our hearts, there is no better protector from sinning.

Now, how shall the believer have his mouth filled with the words of his God? How shall he know what God says to him? By deep, painstaking, prayerful labour over it. The knowledge of even the letter of the word is not gained at once. Continual feeding upon the word is requisite, the whole soul needs to be taken up with it — "Thou shalt meditate thereon day and night." By filling the affections with the words of the sacred volume, by loving labour over the book of our God, by seeking the Holy Spirit's teaching, praying for the eyes of our heart's enlightenment, and for the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of God, the heart becomes so stored with its words, that we are able to observe to do, according to all that is written therein. And thence flow spiritual prosperity and good success. The great aim of the child and servant of God should be acquaintance with, and obedience to, his God's mind.

"This is," you may say, "the very thing we desire." Many express the same thought. It should then be understood, that to have the word of God abiding in us involves labour. For example, if I but seldom read the Scriptures, and even then cursorily or hurriedly, it is impossible that I can have the word of God abiding in me. No, this blessing can only be reached by reading, prayer, meditation, and the ministry of the Spirit. In this way the word that is written in the Bible is transferred to our hearts, is stored up there as a priceless treasure, and becomes the spring of all our thoughts, activities, and conflicts. We read that Israel in a later day will have God's law put into their minds, and written in their hearts, and that then all will know the Lord from the least to the greatest. (Heb. 8:10-11) They had always possessed the law in the tables of stone, but this gave them no power for obedience or conflict; but when it is engraven on their hearts everything is changed; they become faithful and strong in the ways of the Lord. In like manner, when we only possess the word of God in the Bible, it does not help us in our daily warfare; but the moment we have any part of it treasured up in the heart it becomes, as we have seen, the spring of life and power through the Spirit of God.

The new born soul can rightly claim that with his whole heart he has sought the Lord; and consistently with this, he earnestly prays, "Oh let me not wander from Your commandments" (v. 10). How is this to be accomplished? By the individual's hiding God's Word in his heart. How good indeed to learn the verses of scripture, not merely by memory, but by heart! This will, certainly preserve us from sinning against God (v. 11).

The Word of God should not only be a check on our thoughts but be their source, which is far deeper. We see it in Christ, the only perfect One. He only could say, "By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the path of the destroyer." "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." There is a preserving power in the Word, to keep the feet from sliding, which those only know who receive the truth in the love of it. Merely having the word hid in the memory will not do! There is no preserving power in that. There must be the action of the truth on the heart and conscience, separating from all defilement otherwise its preserving power cannot be experienced. (Fragment from "The Voice," 1879).

Now you will notice, beloved friends, that in each case it is not only that Christ quotes Scripture, but He quotes it as Scripture. He says each time, "It is written." And it is a very remarkable thing that all the Lord's answers to Satan are quoted from the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 8:3, Deut. 6:16, and 13, 14). The Lord gained the victory in every instance by the Word of God. It was the outcome of His blessed simple dependence on God, and of having the Word of God in His heart. He proved the truth of the Word, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Ps. 119:11). Satan retires vanquished. And observe, "Angels came and ministered to him." They delighted to see a man overcome Satan by dependence and obedience. They saw that in Christ. Do they see it in us? The secret of strength lies very much in this: having the Word of God hidden in the heart, and implicitly obeying it.

When I am in a difficulty, do you think the Spirit of God will help me to a scripture I have not laid up in my heart? No! I believe if I have been careless, and lazy, in reading the Word of God, I shall not have the Scriptures really hid in my heart. The Spirit of God cannot bring to my memory a scripture I have never read. And I press this, beloved friends, we cannot over-estimate the importance of having our minds stored with Scripture. "The word of God abides in you," is what the young men are commended for. Their thoughts were formed by God's Word. You get the knowledge of God by His Word, and of Christ Himself, first of all, for He was the Word. But then, you and I have to hide that Word in our hearts. And that is why in the 119th Psalm, there are only two verses that do not refer to the Word of God. Study that psalm carefully. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Ps. 119:9). Notice the 174th verse, "I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight." It is either the Word of the Lord, or the commandment of the Lord, but in every verse it is the Word. Let us all, therefore, remember the value of Scripture in the history of the soul of a saint.

There was a readiness on the part of the Thessalonians to receive God's word as such. This is the cause of much thanksgiving on the part of the apostle. They took it into their knowledge and intelligence, took it into their heart as an invaluable treasure. "Thy word have I hid in my heart." That is the right place for it; it is safe there. We have need to be on our guard; the fowls of the air spoken of in The Parable of the Sower are figures of actual evil spirits hovering around us, seeking to rob us of the treasure which we have received.

They kept Christ's word. They not only read His word, but treasured it up in their hearts; often meditated on it, mixed faith with it, and esteemed it a precious treasure. This, I apprehend, is keeping His word, The Psalmist said: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Ps. 119:11.)

David said, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11). And again, "Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6). This, I take it, is what John's experience illustrates. He was commanded to eat the little book that was in the angel's hand, that is, to meditate upon it, to make it thoroughly his own. Someone has said that meditation, in these busy days of ours, is a lost art. Would to God it were restored, and that His people, generally, were more given literally to feed upon His truth. For it is not only that God would have John and Ezekiel eat the book, he wants you to eat it likewise. He has given it to you who believe on His Son, to be the food of your own souls, to make you fit to serve Him in this scene.

To accomplish this the word of God is not too large; though that of course, does not imply but that it will always be beyond us. It is plain that He means us to be busy with it, — would not let us off thinking, — would not leave any vacuity with us for the thorn and thistle-seed always floating in the air, to plant themselves in and spring up. To His people of old He spoke earnestly about this: "And these commandments that I command thee today shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thy hands, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes; and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and upon thy gates" (Deut. 6:6-9). All this implies a constant keeping the words of God before themselves and others, constant confession of them and meditation upon them. And how thoroughly a saint of old could respond to this, the delight he could have in it, and the fruit he could find, the 119th Psalm alone is sufficient to assure. Is it to be supposed that God would have us less fully occupied or give us less joy or profit from the occupation?