Ramblings from Retirement – Meditating on God’s Word

Ramblings from Retirement – Meditating On God’s Word
By Pastor (Retired) Lee Hemen
April 1, 2022

I was thinking about a notion that I have heard my entire Christian life, namely that we are better believers if we hide God’s Work in our hearts by memorizing it perfectly. Mainly this teaching comes from the words of the Psalmist who wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalms 119:11 NIV84).” Except this is total balderdash. Now do not get me wrong because if you want to memorize the Bible verse by verse, go ahead and do so. It might be good for you to do so but this isn’t what the Psalmist meant. In fact, nowhere in the pages of our Bibles did the original authors want you to be able to quote a specific passage at any given time in order to be a better Believer in God. Certainly they encourage us to know the words of the Lord but what did they really mean?

First and foremost we often forget in our haste to impose certain spiritual concepts that we often fail to truly understand why we say what we do or think what we do about those “truths”. People in the Old Testament did not have books they carried around, let alone memorized them word for word in order to be a better Hebrew. Often times, in fact, when they would quote what we consider Scripture they would state a concept or what they felt it or certain teachers or Prophets meant. Then they would discuss these concepts sometimes for days! When the notion of writing things down on scrolls came about, they began to diligently write down what different teachers thought. This is why even Jesus used the terminology, “You have heard it said” when he quoted or taught a godly truth. Often, he and other writers of the New Testament would not quote precisely word for word Scripture passages. Why? Because it did not matter to them to get it perfect, the truth or concept was more important than the wording. Notice that in Psalm 119:11 people often forget the verse before that states: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.” The writer was answering the question he posed: “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (v. 9a) He knew it was “By living according to your word.” (v. 9b) Notice he does not say it is by memorizing verbatim new translations of the Bible.

What the Psalmist meant is that he “hid”, thought about, considered, and pondered the Godly truths he knew to be true in his life and practiced them daily. He learned the commands of God and lived by them. The Old Testament Law no longer holds the New Testament believer in prison to this strict adherence, but rather we are to walk by faith in Jesus Christ. Don’t believe me, Jesus said the Law and the Prophets was completed in him as he went to the cross, and Paul wrote about it effectively in his letters to the Romans and Galatians as did the writer of the Book of Hebrews. What the Law was powerless to do, Jesus did.

Finally, notice that the Psalmist also goes on to write: “Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalms 119:12-16 NIV84)” And there it is, he asks God to teach him how to live, he thinks about God’s truths that were given to Moses, and tries his best to live by them. Hiding them meant he meditated on them daily and applied them to his life.

I am not saying you should not read your Bibles or even memorize certain passages, especially if it helps you to think about the Lord in your life. But do not use it as a means to try and gain some kind of perfection, ability, or certainty that in doing so you are a far better person than those who do not do so. Most of us would be far better off by learning, meditating on, and applying the godly truths we find in the pages of our Bibles than learning word for word a multitude of passages we never apply.
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This article is copyrighted © 2022 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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