Psalms 119
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalms 119:11 NKJV
What does it mean to hide God’s Word in our hearts? It means that we know, trust, understand, and believe in the power of Scripture, so that we are able to use it in our everyday lives. The Bible was written to teach and guide us. But it can only do this if we take the time and put the effort into reading and studying the lessons God prepared for us in His written Word. How do we get God’s Word into our hearts? The first step is to memorize some scriptures. Memorization of Scripture and meditating on it is so important. In fact, this recommendation is repeated throughout the Bible:
“Oh, how I love Your instructions! I think about them all day long” (Psalm 119:97).
“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to My words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body” (Proverbs 4:20-22).
“But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night” (Psalm 1:2, NLT).
Here are some practical tips for Scripture memorization: Pick just one verse per week, and think about it throughout the day, every day. Say it out loud. Write it down on a notecard or type it into your phone. Use it in your prayer life. Seek opportunities to share the verse with others. Once you have memorized a verse, you can move on to step two, which is actually the most important. This step involves putting God’s Word into action! Jesus told us: “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (Luke 11:28, NLT). Make Scripture a guide for all that you do in life, the choices you make, and the things that you say. This will help to ensure that God’s Word becomes more than simply head knowledge. Head knowledge is ineffective because it stays in your brain and does not get into your heart. Even non-believers can have head knowledge about God’s Word. The difference is that followers of Christ take their head knowledge and study it, understand it, believe it, and then trust it enough to use it. That is when God’s Word gets into your heart and becomes the powerful, life-changing tool it was meant to be. Then, when a situation arises in life, God will bring a familiar Scripture to your attention, which will lovingly shake you and get you back on the right path. Here are some examples of how Scripture can be used in your daily life:
- When you are offended by someone and start plotting how to trap him/her in an argument, let this Scripture redirect you: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
- When you are consumed with the desire to force others to admit their sins, let this remind you of Jesus’ words: “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).
- When you refuse to forgive someone because he/she is undeserving and clearly in the wrong, remember this verse: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
- When someone irritates you to the point where you feel justified in flying into a rage, recall James 1:19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
What verses should you memorize? That is between you and God. Remember that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). There are 31,102 verses in the Bible. This means that if you memorize one verse per week, it will take you 598 years to memorize the whole Bible! Thankfully this is not a requirement for salvation or for being a member of God’s family. Here are some ideas to get you started: A Bible concordance can be very helpful in choosing a scripture to memorize, since it is organized by topic. Other times, a Scripture may just jump out at you during your reading and seem extremely interesting or important. Alternatively, it is always good to memorize Scriptures about God’s promises, or verses about thankfulness.
Ask God to guide you to the verses that are most important for you right now, and watch how He uses His Word to teach, guide and change you.