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"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

~ Psalm 119:11

 

How foolish I am to continue to disconnect my sin from the Word of God.  I become so myopic (near-sighted) in regard to my sin, that I cannot see any way in which God’s Word has anything to do with my sin.  My fallenness leads me to think that I must do something myself about my sin, SO THAT I can somehow then consider or come to God’s Word.  My self-deception traps me into thinking that God’s Word will not help me, it will only make me feel worse…it will judge me…condemn me…shame me.

THIS IS NOT TRUE!  “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word.” (v.9)  “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (v.11) 

For my sinful heart to not be sinning, it must be guarded by the Word of God (v.9).  Nothing should pass in or out without having to go through the sentry of God’s Word.  I must also have storehouses of provisions in my heart (v.11).  When food or supplies are needed, I must have truths from God’s Word readily available. 

On my journey in seeking God and avoiding sin, my heart must not wander from the route laid out, which is the commandments of the LORD (v.10).  My eyes need to remain fixed on his ways as found in his Word (v.15).

The LORD God is blessed; I must place myself before him to be taught his statutes (v.12).  I must continually keep what I have been taught active in my mind, meditating on his precepts (v.15).  I must be intentional to never forget the Word of God (v.16).

From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).  Both the content and the delight of my heart must be the rules (v.13), the testimonies (v.14) and the statutes (v.16) of the LORD.  For then I will declare with my mouth what has come from the mouth of my God (v.13).

Rather than (wrongly) thinking that the Bible is only a manual for the righteous to live righteously, we must (rightly) think that the Bible is the very source for the dead to live, the sinner to be forgiven, the lost to be found, the profane to be holy, the simple to be wise, the orphan to be adopted, the sick to be healthy, the unrighteous to be righteous.

If you are struggling with sin, do not try to clean yourself up first and then come to the Word of God.  Go first to the Word of God and let it wash you (Eph. 5:26; 1 Cor. 6:11) and renew you (Titus 3:5; Romans 12:2; Col. 3:10).  Because of Jesus Christ, a life lived according to the Word of God is a life lived not sinning against the God of the Word.