Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Treasuring God's word within the heart keeps a person from sinning against Him by guarding against temptation. The word so hidden is God's law of love, the perfect rule of right and wrong and the appointed means of salvation, and the heart is the secret thoughts, purposes and inclinations that determine character. Hiding means storing its teachings and promises in the mind beforehand through prayerful study, so that in time of peril the Holy Spirit brings back exactly what is needed to resist the enemy. Christ Himself proved this pattern by meeting every temptation with Scripture believed, and His victory becomes ours as we trust the power of the Word rather than our own weakness. Received and obeyed within, that truth sanctifies heart and mind, reshapes the whole life after God's character, and fits believers and their children to stand firm and serve others.
Words and Setting
The psalm exalts God's law and testimonies, and the verse belongs to that exaltation. God's law is to rule life, and His Word sets out the principles of righteousness that clearly distinguish right from wrong and truth from error.
Cleansing the way, especially the way of a young man, comes by taking heed according to God's word. It comes by seeking God with the whole heart, by asking Him not to let one wander from His commandments, and by treasuring His word within in order not to sin against Him. This keeping is the experience gained through knowing God's word and one of the results of receiving it. It stands with blessing on the undefiled who walk in the law, who keep His testimonies and do no iniquity. It stands with respecting all His commandments, learning His righteous judgments and declaring His judgments, rejoicing in His testimonies, meditating in His precepts, delighting in His statutes and not forgetting His word. It stands also with choosing faithfulness by setting His ordinances before the mind and walking at liberty by seeking His precepts. So understood, it is a prayer of consecration of heart and mind to be offered continually.
The heart where the word is treasured means the secret thoughts, feelings, purposes and inclinations that determine character and are discerned by God. Rebellious purpose formed in the heart completes sin and brings condemnation before it is expressed in unlawful word or deed. Such word or deed is only the fruition of evil rooted within.
The word hidden there is God's law of love proceeding from the God of love, His great law book. It is a perfect rule, guide and counselor whose lessons are to be practiced. It is the right standard of right and wrong and of sound moral principles. It is a faithful friend and guide in perplexity, instruction for every part of life including private moments, a priceless gift of divine wisdom, and the appointed instrument of salvation. It contains the life of God that gives life to the world, the only source of power and the bread of life. It is the same Word by which disease was healed, demons were cast out, the sea was stilled and the dead were raised. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, with Jesus as the one perfect revelation of God.
Safeguard From Sin
God's word received, treasured and kept in the heart guards against temptation and keeps from sinning against God. Keeping it within is family instruction to be read with tender softened hearts, with children encouraged to commit it to memory together with the first sixteen verses of the psalm, as a precious jewel of truth that furnishes for every good work. It belongs to an appeal for young people to study God's words and desire to follow His way. Received into the soul, it guards against temptation and helps keep from sin.
Kept within, the Word acts as a strong barrier against temptation and destructive paths. Hiding is preoccupying the heart with truth, becoming rich in knowledge of the Scriptures, filling the heart with Scripture and taking shelter beneath the promises of God. So furnished, the mind has weapons of divine power to vanquish the enemy, baffle and defeat Satan, resist being misled by error and falsehood, withstand evil, and stand firm in spiritual conflict with wisdom that leads to salvation. When the heart is occupied with God's truth Satan is baffled, and when temptation comes a mind filled with Scripture has divine weapons to resist and shelter in the promises. The Christian whose heart is thus stayed upon God in close connection with Him, guided and controlled moment by moment by the Holy Spirit and often uplifted in silent prayer even during daily work, cannot be overcome and no evil arts can destroy his peace, for all the promises, all the power of divine grace and all the resources of God are pledged to secure deliverance, giving calm steady faith and undaunted moral courage to brace for trial and strengthen for duty, needed now as never before because the coming of the Lord is near and time to make ready is short.
Hiding means storing Christ's teachings and God's promises in the mind beforehand through prayerful study. That stored Word gives weapons to meet Satan when temptation comes. In time of peril, temptation and great necessity the Holy Spirit and heavenly angels bring back to remembrance the exact truths hidden there that are needed to resist the enemy, lifting up a standard when the enemy comes like a flood. The Word and its promises give light, strength and power to obey the commandments and withstand temptation, and encourage those severely tempted. The tempted are to rely on that power, looking to the power of the Word and its promises rather than to circumstances, personal weakness or the strength of temptation.
Failure to study and receive the Word leaves a person unprepared, off guard, vulnerable and surprised into sin as an easy prey for Satan. Then temptation seems irresistible and promises cannot be remembered. Neglect brings weakness that leads to wrongdoing, for many are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Receiving and assimilating the Word makes it part of actions and character and sustains spiritual life. This keeping especially guards youth from impure thoughts and yielding to temptation, from pressure to follow others into wrong choices, and from wandering. Cleansing the way of a young man comes by heeding God's word, seeking Him with the whole heart and holding to His commandments without wandering, done by diligent study joined with guarding the avenues of the soul, refusing to read, see or hear what suggests impurity, refusing to let the mind wander at random where Satan leads, fixing thought on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and continuing in earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness under the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit that draws the mind upward and trains it to dwell on pure and holy things. Having Scripture within as a treasure arms the young against pressure to follow others into wrong choices and prepares a person to meet opposition and test everything by the Scriptures even when separated from Christian companionship.
Christ's Victory Pattern
The word treasured in the heart shapes what is delighted in and keeps from sin, and in Christ it shaped His delight and kept Him from joining the frolics of the youth of Nazareth. When young companions urged Him to act as they did, His carefulness came from heeding God's word and not from narrowness. When His brothers urged Him to do wrong He refused and answered from God's word, keeping to what was right.
In the wilderness encounter with the prince of darkness He met every temptation with Scripture, prefacing every answer with It is written. That victory proves that the word believed and obeyed vanquishes Satan. Study of the word joined with earnest prayer is the means provided to resist temptation when drawn away by lust and enticed, and those who make it their study arm themselves with weapons of divine power against the attacks of the foe.
His victory included struggle against appetite and can become ours as we trust in God. Its promises are available to those who look to its power rather than to circumstances or personal weakness. The mind grows by what it is fed upon, so tasking it with Scripture gives strength and vigor while dwelling only on earthly things dwarfs and enfeebles it, and the word so used exerts transforming power that strengthens the intellect, ennobles the affections and enlightens the understanding unto salvation.
Hiding the Word Daily
Hiding the word requires diligent deep searching of the Scriptures for hidden treasure rather than settling for superficial knowledge. This is close study, loving regular reading and searching especially on the Sabbath, and diligent daily study. It means studying, dwelling on and fixing Scripture in the memory until its meaning becomes one's own, committing portions to memory, so that even a single memorized text sustains spiritual life in the soul. It includes tracing the fulfilment of prophecies, learning the lessons given to the disciples, and searching out references to see the chain of truth and new beauties. It uses spare moments such as when traveling or waiting, for those who read the word most love it most while neglecting reading loses love for it, and a heart renewed by grace feasts on its rich truths and promises.
The word must be studied with earnest prayer, humility and the Holy Spirit's power, and meditated on as should be done. It is to be cherished and laid up to rule within, received and assimilated to become part of every act and every attribute of character. It is to be studied for the purpose of practicing it in daily life with practical application, shaping heart and life and building trust through knowing him. It is learned as Mary did by choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of the divine Teacher, which gives immortal vigor of soul, perfected experience and joys that abide forever. So received, it arms with weapons of divine power against the foe, exerts transforming power that strengthens the intellect, ennobles the affections and enlightens the understanding, makes a person righteous and holy and keeps that person so, sanctifies and purifies the heart to become a source of life, and gives victory over the wicked one and growth up into Christ in all things including remaining a peacemaker when beset by temptation.
Hiding involves becoming rich in knowledge, filling the mind with precious truths, directing it toward what is pure and holy, fixing thought on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and training it to dwell on pure and holy things under the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit that draws the mind upward. This is done with frequent silent prayer even during daily work, in close connection guided and controlled moment by moment by the Spirit. It requires guarding the avenues of the soul by refusing to read, see or hear what suggests impurity and refusing to let the mind wander at random where Satan leads, continuing in earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness, and diverting the mind from what is impure and untrue. For the mind grows by what it is fed upon so tasking it with Scripture gives strength and vigor while dwelling only on earthly things dwarfs and enfeebles it. A Christian thus stayed upon God cannot be overcome and no evil arts can destroy his peace, for all the promises, all the power of divine grace and all the resources of God are pledged to secure deliverance, giving the calm steady faith and undaunted moral courage only Christ can give to brace for trial and strengthen for duty, which is needed now as never before because the coming of the Lord is near and time to make ready is short.
Truth so treasured within and held by God's strength cannot be wrenched away by Satan, but keeps the person right, guards the heart from sin and temptation, and helps resist Satan's arguments and devices.
Transformed Character and Life
When divine truth is brought into the soul and given authority in the heart, the heart is sanctified and purified and becomes a source of life. The word so stored sanctifies heart, mind and soul, makes a person righteous and holy and keeps that person so. The mind is to be filled with the precious truths of Scripture and the soul marked with pure principles, so that those truths shape the life and guard against sin. That inward keeping means truth is treasured in the heart and made part of life, changing character and shaping words, conduct, thoughts and experience.
The word believed and obeyed exerts transforming power upon life and character, strengthening the intellect, ennobling the affections and enlightening the understanding. Keeping God's law in the heart gives its sacred principles a corrective influence over the whole life. That respect reshapes selfish, greedy and avaricious dispositions after the character of God and turns the heart from disobedience.
This treasuring gives firm, decided will-power in life and character. It inspires pure, holy thought by earnest effort in directing the mind and diverts the mind from what is impure and untrue, when the word is studied and meditated on as should be done and learned as by choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did. Storing Bible truth in the mind builds a barrier against temptation, shapes heart and life through practical application, and helps a person trust in Jesus through knowing Him. Having the word abiding within gives victory over the wicked one and causes growth up into Christ in all things, including remaining a peacemaker when beset by temptation, and this keeping power comes by studying the Scriptures for the purpose of practicing them in daily life. Treasuring its lessons allows the Holy Spirit to enlighten understanding and soften hearts, making teachers and pupils sensitive and sympathetic and freeing them from pride and selfishness. Neglect of this sacred instruction and study leaves weakness that leads to wrongdoing, with lack of will-power manifest in life and character.
The Jewish nation rejected this change, for sinful indulgence drove out love for God and His law while love of the world led them to disobey.
Teaching Children and Serving
Thy word hidden in the heart is family instruction to be set before children with tender, softened hearts so they grow up to trust and believe in God as their very best Friend. Children are to be encouraged to commit it to memory together with the first sixteen verses of the psalm, for hiding God's word within keeps from sin against Him. It is a precious jewel of truth in the Word of God, a treasure house from which parents are to draw to be furnished for every good work in the domestic nurture and piety of their children. Parents must take time for this work, cutting out everything else that prevents it, living economically and neglecting temporal interests rather than neglecting religious training, and they must train their children after God's order because children are the heritage of the Lord to be brought up in His nurture and admonition, or Satan will supply the deficiency.
Instructing children constantly in God's word keeps them from temptation and supports their salvation. The Holy Scriptures must be explained and engraved in the hearts of youth and kept as the rule of life, and the word of God must be diligently studied in every institution, for where this is neglected corruption follows. Hiding means impressing the principles of truth upon the hearts of the young, instructing children in the Scriptures from earliest childhood and teaching sacred regard for the claims of the law of God. Its precious words are to be committed to memory, with large portions of both Old and New Testament repeated when copies of the Bible are rare, with thoughts of God associated with nature and with daily blessings with gratitude, and with truth valued above houses and lands, friends, kindred and even life itself. This training teaches to endure hardness, bear responsibility, submit to control, think and act for oneself, and be guarded in speech.
Scripture so treasured arms the young against pressure to follow others into wrong choices. Storing Bible truth in the mind builds a barrier against temptation and helps trust in Jesus through knowing Him, learned with practical application so it shapes heart and life. Becoming familiar with God's word and keeping its truths in the heart guards against temptation and sin. Cleansing the way of a young man comes by heeding God's word, seeking Him with the whole heart, and holding to His commandments without wandering, and young people know this by personal experience when they learn to read and study the Bible along with practical work, first learning temperance and obedience themselves so that great change is wrought in mind and life and they are fitted for missionary work to enlighten other minds. Treasuring God's words in the heart and practicing them in life keeps youth and even those of mature years from being easily led into temptation and sin, for studying the word of God and meditating on it as should be done gives firm, decided will-power in life and character, inspires pure, holy thought by earnest effort in directing the mind, and diverts the mind from what is impure and untrue, while neglect of sacred instruction leaves lack of will-power manifest, and choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did to learn of the divine Teacher is treasuring His words in the heart.
Christian workers and ministers must hide the Word by study to avoid sin and be fitted for service. Treasuring God's word inside keeps from sinning against God, and requires diligent, deep searching of the Scriptures for hidden treasure instead of settling for superficial knowledge, and this earnest study gives essential qualities of mind and character otherwise lacking. Cleansing the way comes by taking heed according to God's word, by seeking God with the whole heart and asking Him not to let one wander from His commandments, and by hiding God's word in the heart so as not to sin against Him, for God's law is love proceeding from the God of love and the Bible is God's great law book, so this seeking, praying, hiding, and heeding is what is needed when entering any line of service. God's word is to be stored in the heart, and having Scripture within prepares a person to meet opposition and to test everything by the Scriptures even when separated from Christian companionship. Hiding means devoting time to reading, study, meditation and prayer to store the mind with useful knowledge by committing portions of Scripture to memory, tracing out the fulfilment of the prophecies, and learning the lessons Christ gave His disciples, employing every spare moment such as when traveling or waiting at the station, and this habit closes an effectual door against a thousand temptations so as not to sin.
Keeping God's word in the heart helps avoid sin and calls for abandoning a wrong course and choosing the Lord's way. Here that means confessing and making right the sin of neglecting one's mother. The verse applies to obeying God by honoring and caring for one's mother.
Treasuring God's word within the heart keeps a person from sinning against Him by guarding against temptation. The word so hidden is God's law of love, the perfect rule of right and wrong and the appointed means of salvation, and the heart is the secret thoughts, purposes and inclinations that determine character. Hiding means storing its teachings and promises in the mind beforehand through prayerful study, so that in time of peril the Holy Spirit brings back exactly what is needed to resist the enemy. Christ Himself proved this pattern by meeting every temptation with Scripture believed, and His victory becomes ours as we trust the power of the Word rather than our own weakness. Received and obeyed within, that truth sanctifies heart and mind, reshapes the whole life after God's character, and fits believers and their children to stand firm and serve others.
Words and Setting
The psalm exalts God's law and testimonies, and the verse belongs to that exaltation. God's law is to rule life, and His Word sets out the principles of righteousness that clearly distinguish right from wrong and truth from error.
Cleansing the way, especially the way of a young man, comes by taking heed according to God's word. It comes by seeking God with the whole heart, by asking Him not to let one wander from His commandments, and by treasuring His word within in order not to sin against Him. This keeping is the experience gained through knowing God's word and one of the results of receiving it. It stands with blessing on the undefiled who walk in the law, who keep His testimonies and do no iniquity. It stands with respecting all His commandments, learning His righteous judgments and declaring His judgments, rejoicing in His testimonies, meditating in His precepts, delighting in His statutes and not forgetting His word. It stands also with choosing faithfulness by setting His ordinances before the mind and walking at liberty by seeking His precepts. So understood, it is a prayer of consecration of heart and mind to be offered continually.
The heart where the word is treasured means the secret thoughts, feelings, purposes and inclinations that determine character and are discerned by God. Rebellious purpose formed in the heart completes sin and brings condemnation before it is expressed in unlawful word or deed. Such word or deed is only the fruition of evil rooted within.
The word hidden there is God's law of love proceeding from the God of love, His great law book. It is a perfect rule, guide and counselor whose lessons are to be practiced. It is the right standard of right and wrong and of sound moral principles. It is a faithful friend and guide in perplexity, instruction for every part of life including private moments, a priceless gift of divine wisdom, and the appointed instrument of salvation. It contains the life of God that gives life to the world, the only source of power and the bread of life. It is the same Word by which disease was healed, demons were cast out, the sea was stilled and the dead were raised. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, with Jesus as the one perfect revelation of God.
Safeguard From Sin
God's word received, treasured and kept in the heart guards against temptation and keeps from sinning against God. Keeping it within is family instruction to be read with tender softened hearts, with children encouraged to commit it to memory together with the first sixteen verses of the psalm, as a precious jewel of truth that furnishes for every good work. It belongs to an appeal for young people to study God's words and desire to follow His way. Received into the soul, it guards against temptation and helps keep from sin.
Kept within, the Word acts as a strong barrier against temptation and destructive paths. Hiding is preoccupying the heart with truth, becoming rich in knowledge of the Scriptures, filling the heart with Scripture and taking shelter beneath the promises of God. So furnished, the mind has weapons of divine power to vanquish the enemy, baffle and defeat Satan, resist being misled by error and falsehood, withstand evil, and stand firm in spiritual conflict with wisdom that leads to salvation. When the heart is occupied with God's truth Satan is baffled, and when temptation comes a mind filled with Scripture has divine weapons to resist and shelter in the promises. The Christian whose heart is thus stayed upon God in close connection with Him, guided and controlled moment by moment by the Holy Spirit and often uplifted in silent prayer even during daily work, cannot be overcome and no evil arts can destroy his peace, for all the promises, all the power of divine grace and all the resources of God are pledged to secure deliverance, giving calm steady faith and undaunted moral courage to brace for trial and strengthen for duty, needed now as never before because the coming of the Lord is near and time to make ready is short.
Hiding means storing Christ's teachings and God's promises in the mind beforehand through prayerful study. That stored Word gives weapons to meet Satan when temptation comes. In time of peril, temptation and great necessity the Holy Spirit and heavenly angels bring back to remembrance the exact truths hidden there that are needed to resist the enemy, lifting up a standard when the enemy comes like a flood. The Word and its promises give light, strength and power to obey the commandments and withstand temptation, and encourage those severely tempted. The tempted are to rely on that power, looking to the power of the Word and its promises rather than to circumstances, personal weakness or the strength of temptation.
Failure to study and receive the Word leaves a person unprepared, off guard, vulnerable and surprised into sin as an easy prey for Satan. Then temptation seems irresistible and promises cannot be remembered. Neglect brings weakness that leads to wrongdoing, for many are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Receiving and assimilating the Word makes it part of actions and character and sustains spiritual life. This keeping especially guards youth from impure thoughts and yielding to temptation, from pressure to follow others into wrong choices, and from wandering. Cleansing the way of a young man comes by heeding God's word, seeking Him with the whole heart and holding to His commandments without wandering, done by diligent study joined with guarding the avenues of the soul, refusing to read, see or hear what suggests impurity, refusing to let the mind wander at random where Satan leads, fixing thought on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and continuing in earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness under the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit that draws the mind upward and trains it to dwell on pure and holy things. Having Scripture within as a treasure arms the young against pressure to follow others into wrong choices and prepares a person to meet opposition and test everything by the Scriptures even when separated from Christian companionship.
Christ's Victory Pattern
The word treasured in the heart shapes what is delighted in and keeps from sin, and in Christ it shaped His delight and kept Him from joining the frolics of the youth of Nazareth. When young companions urged Him to act as they did, His carefulness came from heeding God's word and not from narrowness. When His brothers urged Him to do wrong He refused and answered from God's word, keeping to what was right.
In the wilderness encounter with the prince of darkness He met every temptation with Scripture, prefacing every answer with It is written. That victory proves that the word believed and obeyed vanquishes Satan. Study of the word joined with earnest prayer is the means provided to resist temptation when drawn away by lust and enticed, and those who make it their study arm themselves with weapons of divine power against the attacks of the foe.
His victory included struggle against appetite and can become ours as we trust in God. Its promises are available to those who look to its power rather than to circumstances or personal weakness. The mind grows by what it is fed upon, so tasking it with Scripture gives strength and vigor while dwelling only on earthly things dwarfs and enfeebles it, and the word so used exerts transforming power that strengthens the intellect, ennobles the affections and enlightens the understanding unto salvation.
Hiding the Word Daily
Hiding the word requires diligent deep searching of the Scriptures for hidden treasure rather than settling for superficial knowledge. This is close study, loving regular reading and searching especially on the Sabbath, and diligent daily study. It means studying, dwelling on and fixing Scripture in the memory until its meaning becomes one's own, committing portions to memory, so that even a single memorized text sustains spiritual life in the soul. It includes tracing the fulfilment of prophecies, learning the lessons given to the disciples, and searching out references to see the chain of truth and new beauties. It uses spare moments such as when traveling or waiting, for those who read the word most love it most while neglecting reading loses love for it, and a heart renewed by grace feasts on its rich truths and promises.
The word must be studied with earnest prayer, humility and the Holy Spirit's power, and meditated on as should be done. It is to be cherished and laid up to rule within, received and assimilated to become part of every act and every attribute of character. It is to be studied for the purpose of practicing it in daily life with practical application, shaping heart and life and building trust through knowing him. It is learned as Mary did by choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of the divine Teacher, which gives immortal vigor of soul, perfected experience and joys that abide forever. So received, it arms with weapons of divine power against the foe, exerts transforming power that strengthens the intellect, ennobles the affections and enlightens the understanding, makes a person righteous and holy and keeps that person so, sanctifies and purifies the heart to become a source of life, and gives victory over the wicked one and growth up into Christ in all things including remaining a peacemaker when beset by temptation.
Hiding involves becoming rich in knowledge, filling the mind with precious truths, directing it toward what is pure and holy, fixing thought on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, and training it to dwell on pure and holy things under the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit that draws the mind upward. This is done with frequent silent prayer even during daily work, in close connection guided and controlled moment by moment by the Spirit. It requires guarding the avenues of the soul by refusing to read, see or hear what suggests impurity and refusing to let the mind wander at random where Satan leads, continuing in earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness, and diverting the mind from what is impure and untrue. For the mind grows by what it is fed upon so tasking it with Scripture gives strength and vigor while dwelling only on earthly things dwarfs and enfeebles it. A Christian thus stayed upon God cannot be overcome and no evil arts can destroy his peace, for all the promises, all the power of divine grace and all the resources of God are pledged to secure deliverance, giving the calm steady faith and undaunted moral courage only Christ can give to brace for trial and strengthen for duty, which is needed now as never before because the coming of the Lord is near and time to make ready is short.
Truth so treasured within and held by God's strength cannot be wrenched away by Satan, but keeps the person right, guards the heart from sin and temptation, and helps resist Satan's arguments and devices.
Transformed Character and Life
When divine truth is brought into the soul and given authority in the heart, the heart is sanctified and purified and becomes a source of life. The word so stored sanctifies heart, mind and soul, makes a person righteous and holy and keeps that person so. The mind is to be filled with the precious truths of Scripture and the soul marked with pure principles, so that those truths shape the life and guard against sin. That inward keeping means truth is treasured in the heart and made part of life, changing character and shaping words, conduct, thoughts and experience.
The word believed and obeyed exerts transforming power upon life and character, strengthening the intellect, ennobling the affections and enlightening the understanding. Keeping God's law in the heart gives its sacred principles a corrective influence over the whole life. That respect reshapes selfish, greedy and avaricious dispositions after the character of God and turns the heart from disobedience.
This treasuring gives firm, decided will-power in life and character. It inspires pure, holy thought by earnest effort in directing the mind and diverts the mind from what is impure and untrue, when the word is studied and meditated on as should be done and learned as by choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did. Storing Bible truth in the mind builds a barrier against temptation, shapes heart and life through practical application, and helps a person trust in Jesus through knowing Him. Having the word abiding within gives victory over the wicked one and causes growth up into Christ in all things, including remaining a peacemaker when beset by temptation, and this keeping power comes by studying the Scriptures for the purpose of practicing them in daily life. Treasuring its lessons allows the Holy Spirit to enlighten understanding and soften hearts, making teachers and pupils sensitive and sympathetic and freeing them from pride and selfishness. Neglect of this sacred instruction and study leaves weakness that leads to wrongdoing, with lack of will-power manifest in life and character.
The Jewish nation rejected this change, for sinful indulgence drove out love for God and His law while love of the world led them to disobey.
Teaching Children and Serving
Thy word hidden in the heart is family instruction to be set before children with tender, softened hearts so they grow up to trust and believe in God as their very best Friend. Children are to be encouraged to commit it to memory together with the first sixteen verses of the psalm, for hiding God's word within keeps from sin against Him. It is a precious jewel of truth in the Word of God, a treasure house from which parents are to draw to be furnished for every good work in the domestic nurture and piety of their children. Parents must take time for this work, cutting out everything else that prevents it, living economically and neglecting temporal interests rather than neglecting religious training, and they must train their children after God's order because children are the heritage of the Lord to be brought up in His nurture and admonition, or Satan will supply the deficiency.
Instructing children constantly in God's word keeps them from temptation and supports their salvation. The Holy Scriptures must be explained and engraved in the hearts of youth and kept as the rule of life, and the word of God must be diligently studied in every institution, for where this is neglected corruption follows. Hiding means impressing the principles of truth upon the hearts of the young, instructing children in the Scriptures from earliest childhood and teaching sacred regard for the claims of the law of God. Its precious words are to be committed to memory, with large portions of both Old and New Testament repeated when copies of the Bible are rare, with thoughts of God associated with nature and with daily blessings with gratitude, and with truth valued above houses and lands, friends, kindred and even life itself. This training teaches to endure hardness, bear responsibility, submit to control, think and act for oneself, and be guarded in speech.
Scripture so treasured arms the young against pressure to follow others into wrong choices. Storing Bible truth in the mind builds a barrier against temptation and helps trust in Jesus through knowing Him, learned with practical application so it shapes heart and life. Becoming familiar with God's word and keeping its truths in the heart guards against temptation and sin. Cleansing the way of a young man comes by heeding God's word, seeking Him with the whole heart, and holding to His commandments without wandering, and young people know this by personal experience when they learn to read and study the Bible along with practical work, first learning temperance and obedience themselves so that great change is wrought in mind and life and they are fitted for missionary work to enlighten other minds. Treasuring God's words in the heart and practicing them in life keeps youth and even those of mature years from being easily led into temptation and sin, for studying the word of God and meditating on it as should be done gives firm, decided will-power in life and character, inspires pure, holy thought by earnest effort in directing the mind, and diverts the mind from what is impure and untrue, while neglect of sacred instruction leaves lack of will-power manifest, and choosing the better part and sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did to learn of the divine Teacher is treasuring His words in the heart.
Christian workers and ministers must hide the Word by study to avoid sin and be fitted for service. Treasuring God's word inside keeps from sinning against God, and requires diligent, deep searching of the Scriptures for hidden treasure instead of settling for superficial knowledge, and this earnest study gives essential qualities of mind and character otherwise lacking. Cleansing the way comes by taking heed according to God's word, by seeking God with the whole heart and asking Him not to let one wander from His commandments, and by hiding God's word in the heart so as not to sin against Him, for God's law is love proceeding from the God of love and the Bible is God's great law book, so this seeking, praying, hiding, and heeding is what is needed when entering any line of service. God's word is to be stored in the heart, and having Scripture within prepares a person to meet opposition and to test everything by the Scriptures even when separated from Christian companionship. Hiding means devoting time to reading, study, meditation and prayer to store the mind with useful knowledge by committing portions of Scripture to memory, tracing out the fulfilment of the prophecies, and learning the lessons Christ gave His disciples, employing every spare moment such as when traveling or waiting at the station, and this habit closes an effectual door against a thousand temptations so as not to sin.
Keeping God's word in the heart helps avoid sin and calls for abandoning a wrong course and choosing the Lord's way. Here that means confessing and making right the sin of neglecting one's mother. The verse applies to obeying God by honoring and caring for one's mother.