Are You Hiding His Word in Your Heart?
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee . Psalm 119:11 (KJV).
Do you still make it as habit to hide God’s word in your heart through scripture memorization?
I remember when I was a child scripture memorization was a huge part of our Sunday school program. We had a verse assigned to us every week . We memorized whole chapters also, especially from Psalm. I think the 23rd Psalm was the very first one I memorized. I still repeat it everyday to remind myself of the beautiful sentiments David wrote in this powerful psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm 23:1-6 (KJV)
The words of this Psalm never gets old to me. It always makes me feel loved and cared for by my shepherd.
I continued the habit of scripture memorization into my adulthood. I wrote verses that stood out to me during my studies on index cards and pulled them out whenever I had a spare moment. It gives me joy to have His word in my heart. I love that when I’m faced with different situations or if I’m tempted in anyway He is able to speak to me through His word that is already in me.
I admit, however, that I’ve gotten a bit lazy when it comes to actively memorizing God’s word. It’s so easy to open my Bible app and find exactly what I’m looking for that I’ve practically forsaken my old school method of scripture memorization. I’m challenging myself to begin hiding His word in my heart again. Also to actively speak them over my life that it will build my faith and help me to trust Him even more.
Bernadine, I agree that scripture memorization is an important discipline. Thanks for the reminder that it’s a beneficial in adulthood, too!
Thank you for the reminder to get back to Scripture memorization. I too have index cards that I have in my desk. I need to pull them back out again to start memorizing.