Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

Your words have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against you (Psalm 119:11 NKJV Paraphrase).

When the Psalmist uses a phrase like this we should recognise that he does not literally mean putting the word in the physical heart. What he is conveying is this: the word of the Lord is placed in the innermost part of the human being,

broken heart

the control centre, from which our character is determined. This is the mind.  It is here that all major decisions are made and actions taken. Our most precious asset is our minds. When we lose our minds we lose the ability to reason and hence we become unreasonable or even vegetables. Not that reason is our guide, but that we are able to make conscious decisions and take a stand.

The writers of the sacred text we live by had the notion that the heart, the organ on the left-hand side of the body, was the centre of the human being. Therefore all their speech was centred on that organ. So Jesus is quoted as saying “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:24) ; and the apostle Paul says “with the heart man believes and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

For the psalmist then, when the word is placed in our control centre, our lives are regulated by it. On the contrary if we are ignorant of the word, we are judged by that ignorance and in ignorance we are condemned. This is why time and time again in scripture we are encouraged to keep our hearts clean, Psalm 51:10, and reminded that we will be blessed and we will see God if we have a pure heart, Matt 5:8.

Today hide the words of the Lord in your heart, that is, read the word and meditate on them, for they shall keep you in times of trouble.

Read Psalm 119:1-13.