“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Most everyone has heard this phrase used numerous times in their lives, especially if they are holding a speeding ticket in their hand because the speed limit changed and you did not notice it. In Psalm 119:11 we see the same principle at work. Ignorance will not suffice as an excuse for not obeying God’s law. We have God’s expectations for us in our hands. If we choose not to look at it we are still responsible for its contents. Temptations to sin against God are not excused away by ignorance of God’s expectations. John Calvin said about this verse in his commentary on Psalms,
“This psalm not being composed for the personal and peculiar use of the author only, we may therefore understand, that as frequently as David sets before us his own example, under this model he points out the course we ought to pursue. Here we are informed that we are well fortified against the stratagems of Satan when God’s law is deeply seated in our hearts. For unless it have a fast and firm hold there, we will readily fall into sin. Among scholars, those whose knowledge is confined to books, if they have not the book always before them, readily discover their ignorance; in like manner, if we do not imbibe the doctrine of God, and are well acquainted with it, Satan will easily surprise and entangle us in his meshes. Our true safeguard, then, lies not in a slender knowledge of his law, or in a careless perusal of it, but in hiding it deeply in our hearts. Here we are reminded, that however men may be convinced of their own wisdom, they are yet destitute of all right judgment, except as far as they have God as their teacher.”
All of what Calvin said is true, still, I think a more positive attitude is driving the Psalmist in making this confession, and for us exhortation. I desire to please my wife, one of the ways I do that is I have forced my mind to remember items, either concrete or abstract, that matter to her which are not particularly important to me. Because I love her I have hidden her interest in my heart so I might be able to please her. I think the same is occurring here.
The Psalmist is storing God’s Word in his heart so he will not sin against God, not only because of the pragmatic nature of not facing judgment, but also because he desires to please God by obeying God. You cannot please God with your actions and thoughts unless you know what God’s desires are. Storing them in our hearts is the mechanism that makes it possible for us to know what will please God with our thoughts and actions at any given moment.
Yet there is more than just knowing how to please God here. When we store God’s Word in our hearts we are conforming our heart and mind to the heart and mind of God. One of our desires is to become like Christ and God the Father. We are to be progressively growing in Godliness, this means we will grow into men and women who think like God and Christ. The only way we can know what God thinks, and change our hearts and minds to think and believe as He thinks and believes, is to store God’s Word in both our hearts and our minds.
So out of love and a desire to please God let us say and do as Calvin, let us “imbibe the doctrine of God” and hide “it deeply in our hearts.”
No comments:
Post a Comment