Psalm 119:11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
I have hidden
The Hebrew word for "hidden" is "צָפַן" (tsaphan), which conveys the idea of storing up or treasuring something valuable. In ancient times, treasures were often hidden to protect them from theft or loss. This implies a deliberate and careful action, suggesting that the psalmist has made a conscious effort to internalize God's word. The act of hiding God's word is not passive but an active engagement, reflecting a deep commitment to preserving and valuing divine truth.

Your word
The term "word" in Hebrew is "דָּבָר" (dabar), which can refer to a spoken word, command, or promise. In the context of the Psalms, it often signifies God's law, decrees, or teachings. The psalmist acknowledges the divine origin and authority of the Scriptures, recognizing them as God's communication to humanity. This highlights the importance of Scripture as a guiding and authoritative force in the believer's life, providing wisdom and direction.

in my heart
The "heart" in Hebrew thought, "לֵב" (lev), is not merely the seat of emotions but the center of one's being, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. By hiding God's word in the heart, the psalmist emphasizes the internalization of Scripture, allowing it to influence thoughts, decisions, and actions. This internalization is crucial for spiritual transformation, as it ensures that God's word becomes an integral part of one's identity and daily life.

that I might not sin
The phrase "might not sin" reflects a desire for holiness and obedience. The Hebrew word for "sin" is "חָטָא" (chata), meaning to miss the mark or fall short of God's standards. The psalmist's intention is to align his life with God's will, using Scripture as a safeguard against moral failure. This underscores the protective and corrective role of God's word, serving as a moral compass that helps believers avoid sin and live righteously.

against You
The phrase "against You" personalizes the struggle against sin, recognizing that sin is ultimately an offense against God. This reflects a relational understanding of sin, where the psalmist is concerned not just with breaking rules but with maintaining a right relationship with the Creator. It highlights the personal nature of faith, where obedience is motivated by love and reverence for God, rather than mere duty or obligation.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Psalmist
The author of Psalm 119, traditionally believed to be King David, who expresses a deep love and reverence for God's law.

2. God
The divine being whose word is treasured and hidden in the heart of the psalmist.

3. Heart
In Hebrew thought, the heart ("lev") is the center of one's inner life, encompassing mind, will, and emotions.

4. Sin
The act of transgressing God's law, which the psalmist seeks to avoid by internalizing God's word.

5. Word of God
The divine instructions, commandments, and teachings that are to be cherished and followed.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Internalization
Hiding God's word in our hearts means more than memorization; it involves allowing Scripture to shape our thoughts, desires, and actions.

Guarding Against Sin
By internalizing Scripture, we equip ourselves with the spiritual resources needed to resist temptation and live in obedience to God.

The Role of Meditation
Regular meditation on God's word helps to deepen our understanding and commitment, making it a vital practice for spiritual growth.

Heart as the Center
Recognizing the heart as the center of our being, we should prioritize filling it with God's truth to influence every aspect of our lives.

Scripture as a Guide
God's word serves as a moral and spiritual compass, guiding us in making decisions that honor Him.
Bible Study Questions
1. What practical steps can you take to "hide" God's word in your heart, and how might this impact your daily life?

2. How does the concept of the heart in Hebrew thought enhance your understanding of this verse?

3. In what ways can meditating on Scripture help you resist specific temptations you face?

4. How do the additional scriptures connected to Psalm 119:11 reinforce the importance of internalizing God's word?

5. Reflect on a time when recalling a specific Bible verse helped you in a challenging situation. How can this experience encourage you to deepen your engagement with Scripture?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
This passage emphasizes the importance of keeping God's commandments in one's heart and teaching them diligently to one's children, similar to the psalmist's commitment to internalizing God's word.

Joshua 1:8
Joshua is instructed to meditate on the Book of the Law day and night, highlighting the importance of constant engagement with God's word to ensure obedience and success.

Proverbs 4:23
This verse advises guarding the heart, as it is the wellspring of life, aligning with the idea of hiding God's word in the heart to guide one's actions.

Matthew 4:4
Jesus quotes Scripture to resist temptation, demonstrating the power of God's word in combating sin, akin to the psalmist's intention.

Colossians 3:16
Paul encourages believers to let the word of Christ dwell richly within them, echoing the psalmist's practice of internalizing God's word.
A Sure Preventive of SinHomiletic MonthlyPsalm 119:11
God's Word Hidden in the HeartJames Stuart.Psalm 119:11
God's Word in the HeartC. J. Phipps Eyre, M. A.Psalm 119:11
Hiding and not HidingA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 119:11
Life Hid and not HidAlexander MaclarenPsalm 119:11
Scripture-StoresR. Tuck Psalm 119:11
The Bane and Antidote of SoulsHomilistPsalm 119:11
The Best Thing in the Best PlaceT. Spurgeon.Psalm 119:11
The Praise of God's LawC. Short Psalm 119:11
The Word of God in the HeartAnon.Psalm 119:11
Three Great Things in Human LifeHomilistPsalm 119:11
Treasure Safely KeptR. Berry.Psalm 119:11
Word in the Heart a DefencePsalm 119:11
Characteristics of the Word of God as Declared by the Various Names Given to it in This PsalmS. Conway Psalm 119:1-176
Introductory to Whole PsalmS. Conway Psalm 119:1-176
Sanctified Through the TruthS. Conway Psalm 119:9-16
People
Heth, Nun, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Heart, Hid, Hidden, Kept, Laid, Saying, Sayings, Secretly, Sin, Treasured
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 119:11

     1690   word of God
     6030   sin, avoidance
     7410   phylactery
     8330   receptiveness
     8409   decision-making, and providence
     8486   spiritual warfare, armour
     8662   meditation

Psalm 119:9-11

     5627   word
     8166   theology
     8349   spiritual growth, means of
     8454   obedience, to God

Psalm 119:10-11

     5017   heart, renewal

Library
Notes on the First Century:
Page 1. Line 1. An empty book is like an infant's soul.' Here Traherne may possibly have had in his mind a passage in Bishop Earle's "Microcosmography." In delineating the character of a child, Earle says: "His soul is yet a white paper unscribbled with observations of the world, wherewith at length it becomes a blurred note-book," Page 14. Line 25. The entrance of his words. This sentence is from Psalm cxix. 130. Page 15. Last line of Med. 21. "Insatiableness." This word in Traherne's time was often
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

Life Hid and not Hid
'Thy word have I hid in my heart.'--PSALM cxix. 11. 'I have not hid Thy righteousness in my heart.'--PSALM xl. 10. Then there are two kinds of hiding--one right and one wrong: one essential to the life of the Christian, one inconsistent with it. He is a shallow Christian who has no secret depths in his religion. He is a cowardly or a lazy one, at all events an unworthy one, who does not exhibit, to the utmost of his power, his religion. It is bad to have all the goods in the shop window; it is just
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Cleansed Way
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.'--PSALM cxix. 9. There are many questions about the future with which it is natural for you young people to occupy yourselves; but I am afraid that the most of you ask more anxiously 'How shall I make my way?' than 'How shall I cleanse it?' It is needful carefully to ponder the questions: 'How shall I get on in the world--be happy, fortunate?' and the like, and I suppose that that is the consideration
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Time for Thee to Work'
'It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy Law. 127. Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. 128. Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.' --PSALM cxix. 126-128. If much that we hear be true, a society to circulate Bibles is a most irrational and wasteful expenditure of energy and money. We cannot ignore the extent and severity of the opposition to the very idea of revelation, even if we would;
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Stranger in the Earth
'I am a stranger in the earth: hide not Thy commandments from me.... 64. The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy: teach me Thy statutes.' --PSALM cxix. 19, 64. There is something very remarkable in the variety-in-monotony of this, the longest of the psalms. Though it be the longest it is in one sense the simplest, inasmuch as there is but one thought in it, beaten out into all manner of forms and based upon all various considerations. It reminds one of the great violinist who out of one string managed
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

May the Fourth a Healthy Palate
"How sweet are Thy words unto my taste." --PSALM cxix. 97-104. Some people like one thing, and some another. Some people appreciate the bitter olive; others feel it to be nauseous. Some delight in the sweetest grapes; others feel the sweetness to be sickly. It is all a matter of palate. Some people love the Word of the Lord; to others the reading of it is a dreary task. To some the Bible is like a vineyard; to others it is like a dry and tasteless meal. One takes the word of the Master, and it
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Inward Witness to the Truth of the Gospel.
"I have more understanding than my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my study; I am wiser than the aged, because I keep Thy commandments."--Psalm cxix. 99, 100. In these words the Psalmist declares, that in consequence of having obeyed God's commandments he had obtained more wisdom and understanding than those who had first enlightened his ignorance, and were once more enlightened than he. As if he said, "When I was a child, I was instructed in religious knowledge by kind and pious friends, who
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Bottle in the Smoke
First, God's people have their trials--they get put in the smoke; secondly, God's people feel their trials--they "become like a bottle in the smoke;" thirdly, God's people do not forget God's statutes in their trials--"I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes." I. GOD'S PEOPLE HAVE THEIR TRIALS. This is an old truth, as old as the everlasting hills, because trials were in the covenant, and certainly the covenant is as old as the eternal mountains. It was never designed
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Dryness of Preachers, and the Various Evils which Arise from their Failing to Teach Heart-Prayer --Exhortation to Pastors to Lead People Towards this Form Of
If all those who are working for the conquest of souls sought to win them by the heart, leading them first of all to prayer and to the inner life, they would see many and lasting conversions. But so long as they only address themselves to the outside, and instead of drawing people to Christ by occupying their hearts with Him, they only give them a thousand precepts for outward observances, they will see but little fruit, and that will not be lasting. When once the heart is won, other defects are
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Of Deeper Matters, and God's Hidden Judgments which are not to be Inquired Into
"My Son, beware thou dispute not of high matters and of the hidden judgments of God; why this man is thus left, and that man is taken into so great favour; why also this man is so greatly afflicted, and that so highly exalted. These things pass all man's power of judging, neither may any reasoning or disputation have power to search out the divine judgments. When therefore the enemy suggesteth these things to thee, or when any curious people ask such questions, answer with that word of the Prophet,
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Seven-Fold Joy
"Seven times a day do I praise Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."--Ps. cxix. 164. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 I bring unto Thy grace a seven-fold praise, Thy wondrous love I bless-- I praise, remembering my sinful days, My worthlessness. I praise that I am waiting, Lord, for Thee, When, all my wanderings past, Thyself wilt bear me, and wilt welcome me To home at last. I praise Thee that for Thee I long and pine, For Thee I ever yearn; I praise Thee that such
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

And in Jeremiah He Thus Declares his Death and Descent into Hell...
And in Jeremiah He thus declares His death and descent into hell, saying: And the Lord the Holy One of Israel, remembered his dead, which aforetime fell asleep in the dust of the earth; and he went down unto them, to bring the tidings of his salvation, to deliver them. [255] In this place He also renders the cause of His death: for His descent into hell was the salvation of them that had passed away. And, again, concerning His cross Isaiah says thus: I have stretched out my hands all the day long
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

The Christian Described
HAPPINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN O HOW happy is he who is not only a visible, but also an invisible saint! He shall not be blotted out the book of God's eternal grace and mercy. DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN There are a generation of men in the world, that count themselves men of the largest capacities, when yet the greatest of their desires lift themselves no higher than to things below. If they can with their net of craft and policy encompass a bulky lump of earth, Oh, what a treasure have they engrossed
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

Excursus on the Choir Offices of the Early Church.
Nothing is more marked in the lives of the early followers of Christ than the abiding sense which they had of the Divine Presence. Prayer was not to them an occasional exercise but an unceasing practice. If then the Psalmist sang in the old dispensation "Seven times a day do I praise thee" (Ps. cxix. 164), we may be quite certain that the Christians would never fall behind the Jewish example. We know that among the Jews there were the "Hours of Prayer," and nothing would be, à priori, more
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

The Daily Walk with Others (I. ).
When the watcher in the dark Turns his lenses to the skies, Suddenly the starry spark Grows a world upon his eyes: Be my life a lens, that I So my Lord may magnify We come from the secrecies of the young Clergyman's life, from his walk alone with God in prayer and over His Word, to the subject of his common daily intercourse. Let us think together of some of the duties, opportunities, risks, and safeguards of the ordinary day's experience. A WALK WITH GOD ALL DAY. A word presents itself to be
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

The Talking Book
In order that we may be persuaded so to do, Solomon gives us three telling reasons. He says that God's law, by which I understand the whole run of Scripture, and, especially the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be a guide to us:--"When thou goest, it shall lead thee." It will be a guardian to us: "When thou sleepest"--when thou art defenceless and off thy guard--"it shall keep thee." And it shall also be a dear companion to us: "When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee." Any one of these three arguments
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

How to Read the Bible
I. That is the subject of our present discourse, or, at least the first point of it, that IN ORDER TO THE TRUE READING OF THE SCRIPTURES THERE MUST BE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEM. I scarcely need to preface these remarks by saying that we must read the Scriptures. You know how necessary it is that we should be fed upon the truth of Holy Scripture. Need I suggest the question as to whether you do read your Bibles or not? I am afraid that this is a magazine reading age a newspaper reading age a periodical
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 25: 1879

The Obedience of Faith
"Is there a heart that will not bend To thy divine control? Descend, O sovereign love, descend, And melt that stubborn soul! " Surely, though we have had to mourn our disobedience with many tears and sighs, we now find joy in yielding ourselves as servants of the Lord: our deepest desire is to do the Lord's will in all things. Oh, for obedience! It has been supposed by many ill-instructed people that the doctrine of justification by faith is opposed to the teaching of good works, or obedience. There
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Faith
HABAKKUK, ii. 4. "The just shall live by faith." This is those texts of which there are so many in the Bible, which, though they were spoken originally to one particular man, yet are meant for every man. These words were spoken to Habakkuk, a Jewish prophet, to check him for his impatience under God's hand; but they are just as true for every man that ever was and ever will be as they were for him. They are world-wide and world-old; they are the law by which all goodness, and strength, and safety,
Charles Kingsley—Twenty-Five Village Sermons

What the Truth Saith Inwardly Without Noise of Words
Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.(1) I am Thy servant; O give me understanding that I may know Thy testimonies. Incline my heart unto the words of Thy mouth.(2) Let thy speech distil as the dew. The children of Israel spake in old time to Moses, Speak thou unto us and we will hear, but let not the Lord speak unto us lest we die.(3) Not thus, O Lord, not thus do I pray, but rather with Samuel the prophet, I beseech Thee humbly and earnestly, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Let not Moses
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

That the Body and Blood of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are Most Necessary to a Faithful Soul
The Voice of the Disciple O most sweet Lord Jesus, how great is the blessedness of the devout soul that feedeth with Thee in Thy banquet, where there is set before it no other food than Thyself its only Beloved, more to be desired than all the desires of the heart? And to me it would verily be sweet to pour forth my tears in Thy presence from the very bottom of my heart, and with the pious Magdalene to water Thy feet with my tears. But where is this devotion? Where the abundant flowing of holy
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

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