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WEEKLY
Volume 6 Number 36
05 February 2012
God’s Word Hid in
Heart
(The message delivered by Pastor
Hien Nguyen at the Worship Service, Jan 29, 2012)
Bible Text: Ps 119:9-16
Young people are full of life, energy,
vigour, zeal, enthusiasm, passion, ambitions, etc. They easily deceive
themselves by thinking that they are smart and clever enough to direct
their own lives. As they are still young and do not have much life
experiences with failures and disappointments, they usually live in
their dreams, thinking that all will be good and nice. They easily
imitate and follow others whom they see nice, famous, modern, popular or
fashionable. If they strongly like or desire to do something, they just
do it with zeal and passion regardless of the advice of the mature,
experienced, and godly people, even their parents. We see a lot of young
people trying to keep themselves up to worldly values and indulge
themselves in worldly pleasures, music, movies, computer games,
pornography, fashions, ungodly friendship, and so on. Most of them just
want to enjoy life and do not care for their future. Satan is very
subtle and cunning, and he is using worldly values and pleasures to
attract many people including young people and lure them away from God
and His Truth.
Then, how can young people keep their
lives clean and pure in this sinful world full of temptations and
deception? We thank God for His Word and His Truth to direct our lives
and steps in the right and narrow way leading to eternal life,
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto
according to thy word” (Ps 119:9). We have learnt the first
paragraph of Psalm 119, telling us God’s blessing for those who are
perfect and undefiled before the Lord by seeking God and keeping God’s
Word. Today, we are learning the second paragraph to get some wise
instructions from God’s Word for the youth.
Meaning of Some Hebrew Terms
Wherewithal
(mah): how, what, why, whereby (by what means), wherein
(in which place). With 27 occurrences; KJV translates as “what”, “how”,
“why”, “whereby”, “wherein”, “how long”, “how oft”, and “to what end”.
Cleanse
(zakah): make pure and clean,
purify oneself. With eight occurrences; KJV translates as “clean”
six times, “clear” once, and “pure” once.
Take heed
(shamar): carefully keep, guard, observe. With 468 occurrences;
KJV translates as “keep” 283 times, “observe” 46 times, “heed” 35 times,
“keeper” 28 times, “preserve” 21 times, “beware” 9
times, etc.
Thereto:
to that matter, to that place.
Wander
(shagah): wander, go astray.
With 21 occurrences; KJV translates as “err” 11 times, “ravished” twice,
“wander” three times, “deceiver” once, “cause to go astray” once, “sin
through ignorance” once, “go astray” once, etc.
How to Keep Our Life Pure and Clean
The Psalmist starts the second
paragraph with a question, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
way?” (v 9). How shall you and I make our way of life, way of
thinking, or way of conduct clean and pure? Let us ponder on God’s
instructions:
Carefully Keep Our Life Clean and Pure
according to God’s Word:
God’s Word shows you and me the way of making our
life clean and pure by “taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Taking heed means carefully keeping or guarding. You and I must
carefully keep and guard our heart, our mind, our life according to
God’s Word. Why? Many are deceived by others or by themselves by taking
God’s Word lightly when they compromise and fail to keep their heart and
life carefully from evil communications. God’s Word warns us, “Be not
deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor 15:33).
Communication, in Greek, homilia, means companionship,
conversation. Some English words derived from this are “homiletic”
(pertaining to the art of preaching), “homily” (a discourse), and
“homilist” (one who writes or delivers homilies) (Zohdiates). Then,
such evil communications like ungodly friendship or talk, ungodly TV
programmes or websites, and unbiblical articles or sermons, etc will
corrupt or ruin good manners and characters. That is why you and I must
carefully keep and guard ourselves from such evil communications. Next,
you and I must flee from youthful lusts, “Flee also youthful lusts:
but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on
the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22). Satan makes use of human
sinful nature, especially the youthful lusts, to tempt and lure them
with ungodly friends, pornography, worldly pleasures, etc. It is wisest
for you and me to flee or to run away from such youthful lusts by
shutting our ears and turning our eyes and feet away from temptations
and keeping our hearts and minds undefiled by God’s holy presence, God’s
holy Word and our Saviour Jesus Christ’s precious blood. Like a clean
and smooth stone in the running stream, you and I can be clean and pure
always in Jesus’ precious blood when we
walk in God’s light and keep our close fellowship with Him, “But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin” (1 John 1:7). Praise the Lord! Finally, you and I must
carefully keep ourselves clean and pure so that we may be used by our
holy Lord, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be
a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and
prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim 2:21).
Seek God with Our Whole Heart and Pray
to Him for His Guidance and Protection:
The Psalmist acknowledged his
weaknesses and helplessness, so he humbly sought the Lord with his whole
heart, “With my whole heart have I sought thee” (v 10). What
about you and me? The Lord Jesus knows that we need Him and that without
Him we cannot do anything (John 15:5), but sadly not many of us truly
acknowledge that we do need the Lord and we cannot live without Him.
Only by such heart knowledge will you and I humbly and wholeheartedly
seek the Lord and His Word first, depend on Him and pray to Him to guide
us and keep us in His Word, “O let me not wander from thy
commandments” (v 10), and “Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy
statutes” (v 12).
Hide God’s Word in Our Heart:
Then, the
Psalmist revealed his next secret to keep himself clean and pure, and
that is to hide God’s Word in his heart, “Thy word have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against thee” (v 11). What about you and
me? Have you and I hid God’s Word in our hearts? How can you and I hide
God’s Word in our hearts? First, we must have a high view of God’s Word
and highly value and rejoice in God’s Word “as much as in all riches”
(v 14). Those who have a low view of God’s Word and doubt God’s Word
cannot hide God’s Word in their hearts. Next, we have to read and study
God’s Word and declare God’s Word and share God’s Word with others (v
13). Then, we have to meditate on God’s Word and delight ourselves in
His Word with a determination not to forget God’s Word (vv 15-16). By so
doing, we shall be blessed, “But his delight is in the law of the
LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper” (Ps 1:2-3). God’s Word is able to make you and
me “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”
(2 Tim 3:15), so “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom” (Col 3:16). God’s Word is “the sword of the Holy Spirit”
(Eph 6:17) that can help you and me to overcome Satan, “ye are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one” (1 John 2:14). Then, shall you and I not wisely read
God’s Word, treasure God’s Word, delight in and meditate on God’s Word,
declare God’s Word and hide God’s Word in our hearts?
To Set a Clear Purpose in Life:
The Psalmist had a clear
purpose of hiding God’s Word in his heart so that he “might not sin
against” God (v 11). It is vital for you and me to acknowledge that
when we commit any sin, we have sinned against God. David sinned against
Bathsheba and Uriah, but later he acknowledged that he had sinned
against God and then repented deeply with a broken and contrite heart,
saying, “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever
before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in
thy sight” (Ps 51:3-4). If only he had acknowledged this truth
before he fell into temptation! What did Joseph do when he was tempted
by Potiphar’s wife? He said “how then can I do this great wickedness,
and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9) and then he ran away. Joseph feared
God and had a clear purpose of keeping his heart and life clean and
pure, so God blessed him, used him, and made him a blessing to many
others. What about Daniel? “Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with
the wine which he drank” (Dan 1:8), so God could use Daniel as a
clean vessel of honour for His glory. What about you and me?
Conclusion
Dear friends, while living in this
sinful world full of temptations and deception, how can you and I keep
our hearts, minds and lives clean and pure before God? We thank God for
His wise instructions from His Word. May God help you and me carefully
guard our hearts, our minds, our thoughts and our deeds according to
God’s Word, wholeheartedly seek the Lord and His Word for help,
strength, guidance and protection, and highly value God’s Word and hide
God’s Word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him. May God
keep us and use us as His clean vessels for His glory. Amen.
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