I have hidden your word in my heart that I might
not sin against you.
—Psalm 119:11
It’s a principle that seems pretty
self-evident when it comes to the natural world: what’s inside is what comes
out under duress. When a volcano erupts, it doesn’t release hot coffee or
marshmallow fluff; it spews out lava. When a gale-force wind whips through the
ocean, it doesn’t dump bucketsful of mouthwash onto unsuspecting towns; it
delivers ocean water. Under pressure, what’s on the inside is what comes out.
But for some reason we are often surprised by
the same principle when it comes to the condition of our hearts. When tragedy
strikes, we expect to respond with spiritual maturity, peace, and courage—even
if that’s not what we’ve been cultivating on the inside. At the same time, we
are surprised to see what does come
out when unexpected trials hit—impatience, anger, envy, doubt.
Mother
Teresa, who devoted herself to a life of purity while serving the poor in
India, understood that the quest for purity requires something from us. We
don’t automatically get purity injections the moment we become believers; it’s
something we have to intentionally seek after. She said, “To be pure, to remain
pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough
to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something
beautiful for him.”
So how can we make sure our lives are marked
by purity, whatever comes our way? The Bible offers this guidance: we can hide
God’s Word in our hearts. As the psalmist put it, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I
might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
The psalmist
talks about internalizing Scripture as a delight, not a burden or an obligation.
And while the practice of memorizing Scripture requires discipline and
commitment, there is also great reward in doing so. As we hide God’s Word in
our hearts, it becomes a part of us. Then when we face challenging
circumstances or an attack by the enemy, we can trust that the truth we’ve
cultivated inside will flow out of us.
Throughout
Christian history, a number of people have undertaken the challenge of
memorizing Psalm 119, long as it is. William Wilberforce, the politician who
led the charge to abolish slavery in Britain, was one well-known person who
committed this psalm to memory. So did David Livingstone, the Scottish doctor
who was one of the first missionaries to go to Africa in the 1800s. And it’s
been said that one man’s life was even saved as a result of hiding God’s Word
in his heart. George Wishart, a seventeenth-century bishop of Edinburgh, was
condemned to death and was sent to the scaffold to be executed. According to the
tradition of his time, the death-row prisoners were allowed to sing one psalm
before they were killed. Wishart started quoting Psalm 119, and when he was
about two-thirds of the way through the long chapter, a pardon arrived. His
life was spared!
Hopefully we will never find ourselves on the
executioner’s scaffold, but we will certainly face situations that are a matter
of spiritual life and death. In these difficult moments, when our lives get
shaken, may what comes out of us be the Word of God.
Choose
one verse to memorize this week. (You might want to choose a verse from Psalm
119.) Write the verse on a sticky note and put it somewhere you will see it
every day—on your bathroom mirror, in your car, or next to your phone. Ask a
friend or family member to hold you accountable, and say your verse for that
person at the end of the week.
—Stephanie Rische
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