Psalm 119:11

Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Hiding His Word in our hearts builds our conscience and holds our will accountable. The more of His truth that is readily accessible in our hearts, the easier it is to resist the temptation, pitfalls and distractions of life. Temptation to sin cannot overcome the truth. That is why when Jesus was tempted He combated the onslaught with the Word. Even when the Devil misused and misquoted the Scripture He stuck to the Truth and it set Him free. The only way I have ever been successful in resisting the enemy and his tactics is to use the Word. For me it has been even more powerful than His blood or His name.

In verses 14, 15 and 16 three simple suggestions come through that can help you with the battle in the preparation stage. We are encouraged to rejoice in His statutes like we would with great riches. We love to fantasize gleefully about attaining wealth and what we would do with it. We should do the same with His truth. Since we really can access the wealth of His truth, we don't have to just fantasize, we can actually act out on it. Do something with the Truth. Sharing it is a good thing.

Next we are encouraged to meditate on His precepts and consider His ways. With all the other nonsense that we obsess on, meditating on His precepts would be so much more productive. The consideration of His ways such as in thinking about, WWJD, "What would Jesus Do?" is a good thing to consider before we act or speak.

Lastly we are asked to delight in His decrees. I love the last promise of this section that says to the Lord.... "I will not neglect your Word." God sooooo knows us. He knows we do neglect His Word. We must for spiritual vitality find ourselves in His Word daily. Neglect can happen within a couple of days. The same is true for fellowship. If we are out of fellowship (missing Church) weeks in a row, it affects our spiritual well-being. Same is true with the Word, it just happens faster because it is based on a daily need. Do both and you are definitely headed for trouble.

Again the three words are rejoicing, meditating and delighting. I recently shared about my newly re found need to get in touch with my more celebrative, positive and life-loving personality that has faded some. So the rejoicing and delighting part are definitely my area of attention. The truth is something to rejoice about and so we must delight in Him. How often do we even think of the word delighting about anything. Ahhhhh , how refreshing that is... just delightful.

Makes me smile, Pastor Fred

Tweet