Psalm 119:11 – ‘Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.’ (NASB)
In my previous post, I spoke about remembrance and how important it is to be mindful of God’s hand in our lives. I for one have taking this on board and sought to be more intentional in recalling what God has done (and is doing) in my life; it has definitely helped to remember God’s faithfulness and mercies in the times when life got challenging. I hope you were encouraged similarly to do the same.
This time, my focus on remembering and recollecting isn’t on moments in your life, but rather on God’s Word.
(Note: If you haven’t read our previous post, ‘You Are What You Read’, I would suggest having a read of it when you can.)
Do you take time to be intentional in storing up God’s Word in your heart? Of course, I would venture to state the obvious truth, that you would only have sought to do this if you actually deemed God’s Word as something valuable enough to be so treasured. One who doesn’t believe in God or the Bible would find little benefit in committing it to memory, but the believer should know different.
David writes about God’s words, ‘They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.’ (Ps. 19:10, NASB, emphasis added) He found it sweeter than any food and more precious than any treasure—no wonder he clung tightly to it!
Do You Treasure God’s Word?
I know I do; yet I have found that often times my actions betray my sentiments when I find myself running to other things, meditating on other things, or hastily skimming through it, rather than treasuring it. Just as good food is to be savoured, the Word of God, which is food to our souls (Deut. 8:3; 1 Pet. 2:2-3) ought to be savoured all the more. I have heard the saying, ‘the path to hell is paved with good intentions,’ and that is indeed true of all the things we would like to do—godly and righteous as they are—yet nothing come out of them. Before going any further then, let me encourage you to act upon any godly desires you might have to treasure the Word of God, for they shall indeed prove to be a blessing to your soul; it might not be immediately, but it will eventually.
‘How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.’ (Ps. 1:1-2, NASB)
The Blessings of Memorizing Scripture
‘All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17, NASB)
Volumes could be written about the benefit to be drawn from reading, studying, memorizing and recalling the Word of God—believer or not. Much of the common law and morality we enjoy in society today I would suggest come from a widespread saturation of the Bible over the years (although this isn’t quite the case anymore, unfortunately, and we can see evidence of it in our society’s moral and spiritual decline), and that is something believers and unbelievers alike benefit from. However, for the context of the post, what we shall seek to identify is something more intentional and specific.
Okay, so this serves as our introduction! In my next post I highlight five blessings that I find to be easily noticeable, and I hope they will be encouragements for you to practice memorizing Scripture for yourselves.
Until then…
