Psalm 119:11

(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled God and His Word.  The introduction can be found here, successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)


 

"Your word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against You."

 

Seeking a pure way in Your word (v.9) and desiring to be wholehearted and focused (v.10), the Psalmist treasures Your word in His heart to this end, even moreso because it is personal, that He may not sin against You.  Reflecting on Psalm 51:4, we recognize that all sin, as destructive as it is horizontally, it is because we are not aligned vertically, having broken relationship with the Source of all things.  Because of this, the Psalmist stores up Your word in his heart as more valuable than all riches (v.14), and later expresses his desire to have his heart inclined to this invaluable inheritance (Psalm 119:111-112).

 

‘One is said to hide (צָפַן) the word in one's heart when one has it continually present with him, not merely as an outward precept, but as an inward motive power in opposition to selfish action (Job 23:12).’[1]

 

‘All that he had of the word written, and all that had been revealed to him by the voice of God, - all, without exception, he had stored away in his affections, as a treasure to be preserved in a casket, or as a choice seed to be buried in a fruitful soil: what soil more fruitful than a renewed heart, wholly seeking the Lord? The word was God's own, and therefore precious to God's servant. He did not wear a text on his heart as a charm, but he hid it in his heart as a rule. He laid it up in the place of love and life, and it filled the chamber with sweetness and light…Here is the best thing, - “thy word;” hidden in the best place, - “in my heart;” for the best of purposes, - “that I might not sin against thee.” This was done by the Psalmist with personal care, as a man carefully hides away his money When he fears thieves, - in this case the thief dreaded was sin…No cure for sin in the life is equal to the word in the seat of life, which is the heart. There is no hiding from sin unless we hide the truth in our souls…When the word is hidden in the heart the life shall be hidden from sin.

The parallelism between the second octave and the first is still continued. Psa 119:3 speaks of doing no iniquity, while this verse treats of the method of not sinning.’[2]


[1] Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on Psalm 119:11, e-Sword edition

[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119:11, e-Sword edition

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