SOUNDING OUT: God’s Word Gets into Our Hearts, Because We
Put It There
If
we want to get God’s Word into our heart, we must
put it there. Remember Psalm119:11 said, “Thy
Word have I hid in my heart.” The Word got into
David’s heart because he put it there. He hid
God’s Word in his heart. We want to hear it over
and over again. We want to saturate our minds with it.
The Hebrew word for “hid” here means
“to conceal something with a definite purpose.”
What’s the purpose in Psalms 119:11? It is recorded
in the end of the verse: “That I might not sin
against thee.” When we apply it, it makes a difference
in our lives. It keeps us from blowing it and missing
the mark.
“Hid” also connotes storing or treasuring
things on account of their value. What’s the value
of God’s Word? When we know the Word of God we
can do the will of God. How valuable is it? In the first
few occurrences of this word, God paints a beautiful
word picture of what it means to hide.
The first is in the record of the birth of Moses. In
chapter one, verses 16 and 22, Pharaoh commanded every
Hebrew son to be killed.
Exodus 2:1-3:
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took
to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived,
and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly
child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not
longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,
and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the
child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s
brink.
What kind of care
do you think went into this hiding? What was at stake?
Moses’ life was at stake. For three months Moses’
mother kept him hid and alive. How often do you think
she thought about it? Do you think it was a casual thing
or do you think there was much commitment and attention
to detail involved? Look at the value she placed on
her son. She was willing to defy Pharaoh and put her
life on the line to protect her cherished, goodly child.
The next occurrence is in Joshua, in the account
of Rahab’s hiding of the spies.
Joshua 2:1-4:
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men
to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho.
And they went, and came into an harlot’s [innkeeper’s]
house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king
of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither
to night of the children of Israel to search out the
country. 3 And the king of Jericho
sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are
come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for
they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the
two men, and hid [That’s our word, to conceal
with a purpose] them, and said thus, There came men
unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
Why did she hide them?
Why was it so important to her that they live? Let’s
continue reading.
Joshua 2:9-14:
And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath
given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon
us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because
of you. 10 For we have heard how
the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you,
when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the
two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side
Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had
heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did
there remain any more courage in any man, because of
you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above,
and in earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I pray
you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed
you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my
father’s house, and give me a true token: 13 And that ye will save
alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and
my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our
lives from death. 14 And the men answered
her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business.
And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land,
that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
Rahab hid them
to not only spare their lives but also her life and
the lives of her family when they overtook the city.
This hiding preserves life. Look at the value placed
on the items hidden. Moses’ mother decided to
hide Moses, and Rahab decided to hide the spies for
the purpose of preserving their lives. They valued and
loved enough to do whatever it took.
We read last week from Proverbs 4:22 that the
Word is “life unto all those that find them and
health to all their flesh.” The only way we will
ever live a life that is more than abundant is to do
it God’s way. To a vast degree our abundant life
depends on hiding the Word in our hearts. Hiding the
Word in our hearts will preserve us and keep us like
it did Moses and the spies.
