“Thy
word have I hid
in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
(Psalm 119:11 KJV)
Using
the
older King James Version, we have the use of “hid”
in Psalm 119:11. What
does this hiding mean? Does this contradict other
passages in Scripture about
not hiding our faith?
For
example,
the gospel of Matthew tells us not to hide our light
under a bushel, which
means not to mask, conceal, or bury our talents and
gifts given by God.
“Neither
do people
light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead,
they set it on a lampstand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the
same way, let your light
shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in
heaven.” (Matthew 5:15-16 Berean Study Bible)
In
Matthew,
we see Jesus unequivocally telling believers not to
hide their faith.
However,
in
Psalm 119:11, the hiding of God’s Word is a good
thing. Lexical help will
surely be profitable to understand this seeming
ambiguity.
From
Strong's
Lexicon, we learn more about
the Hebrew word צָפַ֣נְתִּי(hidden,
hid)and
its range of
meaning:
I
have hidden
צָפַ֣נְתִּי (ṣā·p̄an·tî)
Verb
-
Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's
Hebrew
6845: 1) to
hide,
treasure, treasure or store up 1a) (Qal)
1a1) to hide, treasure, treasure up 1a2) to
lie hidden, lurk 1b) (Niphal) to be hidden, be stored up 1c) (Hiphil) to hide, hide from
discovery
The
lexicon
is helpful, allowing us to see that hiding can be
storing up or to
treasure up, is a good thing.
There
is a wrong kind
of hiding God’s Word, alluded to in Psalm 40:10:
“I
have not hid thy
righteousness within my heart…” (Psalm 40:10 KJV)
The
Psalmist
declares in the first part of Psalm 40:10 that he
has not hidden God’s
righteousness. Hiding God’s Word would be analogous
to putting the light of the
gospel under a basket or bushel.
In
the
Psalm 40:10 passage, the Psalmist states that he has
not concealed or hid
God’s Word.
As
seen
from these two passages from Psalms, there are two
types of hiding, one good
and one wrong. David did not conceal in his heart;
God’s righteousness. He did
not keep it to himself. On the contrary, he declared
God’s righteousness.
The
next parallel
passages from the New Testament gives a full
understanding of the Psalmist’s
use of “hid” in Psalm 119:11 by comparison with a
similar New Testament word:
“But
Mary treasured
(συνετήρει)
up all these things and
pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19 NIV)
“But
Mary kept
(συνετήρει)
all these things, and
pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19 (KJV)
From
Strong’s
Lexicon, we learn about the
Greek word συνετήρει
(treasured) and
its similar range of meaning as the Hebrew צָפַ֣נְתִּי.
(hidden). In fact, Psalm 119:11 is listed as a
parallel passage to Luke 2:19:
treasured
up
συνετήρει (synetērei)
Verb
-
Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's
Greek
4933: From sun and tereo; to keep closely together,
i.e. to
conserve; mentally, to
remember.
The
second
part of Psalm 40:10 is positive and reads: “I have
declared thy
faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed
thy lovingkindness and thy
truth from the great congregation” (KJV)
Likewise,
the
second part of 119:11 reads: “that I might not sin
against thee.” (Psalm
119:11 KJV)
Why
did he hide it?
The
hiding
or treasuring up in 119:11 is for a moral or
righteous purpose, namely,
“that I might not sin against thee.” Storing God’s
Word in the heart is a protection
against the enticement to sin.
In
closing:
From
Gill's
Exposition of the Entire Bible:
“Thy
word have I hid
in mine heart, Not only heard and read it, but
received it into his affections;
mixed it with faith, laid it up in his mind and
memory for future use;
preserved it in his heart as a choice treasure,
where it might dwell richly,
and be of service to him on many occasions; and
particularly be of the
following use:
that
I might not sin
against thee; the word of God is a most powerful
antidote against sin, when it
has a place in the heart; not only the precepts of
it forbid sin, but the
promises of it influence and engage to purity of
heart and life, and to the
perfecting of holiness in the fear of the Lord; and
all the doctrines of grace
in it effectually teach the saints to deny all sin
and worldly lusts, and to
live a holy life and conversation; see 2 Corinthians
7:1.” (1)
An
Exposition of
Psalm 119:11 from the Treasury
of David
by C. H. Spurgeon:
“Verse
11. When a
godly man sues for a favour from God he should
carefully use every means for
obtaining it, and accordingly, as the Psalmist had
asked to be preserved from
wandering, he here shows us the holy precaution
which he had taken to prevent
his falling into sin.
Thy
word have I hid
in mine heart. His heart would be kept by the word
because he kept the word in
his heart. All that he had of the word written, and
all that had been revealed
to him by the voice of God, -- all, without
exception, he had stored away in
his affections, as a treasure to be preserved in a
casket, or as a choice seed
to be buried in a fruitful soil: what soil more
fruitful than a renewed heart,
wholly seeking the Lord? The word was God's own, and
therefore precious to
God's servant. He did not wear a text on his heart
as a charm, but he hid it in
his heart as a rule. He laid it up in the place of
love and life, and it filled
the chamber with sweetness and light. We must in
this imitate David, copying
his heart work as well as his outward character.
First, we must mind that what
we believe is truly God's word; that being done, we
must hide or treasure it
each man for himself; and we must see that this is
done, not as a mere feat of the
memory, but as the joyful act of the affections.
That
I might not sin
against thee. Here was the object aimed at. As one
has well said, -- Here is
the best thing -- "thy word"; hidden in the best
place, -- "in
my heart;" for the best of purposes, -- "that I
might not sin against
thee." This was done by the Psalmist with personal
care, as a man
carefully hides away his money when he fears
thieves, -- in this case the thief
dreaded was sin. Sinning "against God" is the
believer's view of
moral evil; other men care only when they offend
against men. God's word is the
best preventive against offending God, for it tells
us his mind and will, and
tends to bring our spirit into conformity with the
divine Spirit. No cure for
sin in the life is equal to the word in the seat of
life, which is the heart.
There is no hiding from sin unless we hide the truth
in our souls.
A
very pleasant
variety of meaning is obtained by laying stress upon
the words "thy"
and "thee." He speaks to God, he loves the word
because it is God's
word, and he hates sin because it is sin against God
himself. If he vexed
others, he minded not so long as he did not offend
his God. If we would not
cause God displeasure we must treasure up his own
word.
The
personal way in
which the man of God did this is also noteworthy:
"With my whole heart
have I sought thee." Whatever others might choose to
do he had already
made his choice and placed the Word in his innermost
soul as his dearest
delight, and however others might transgress, his
aim was after holiness:
"That I might not sin against thee." This was not
what he purposed to
do, but what he had already done: many are great at
promising, but the Psalmist
had been true in performing: hence he hoped to see a
sure result. When the word
is hidden in the heart the life shall be hidden from
sin.
The
parallelism
between the second octave and the first is still
continued. Psalms 119:3 speaks
of doing no iniquity, while this verse treats of the
method of not sinning.
When we form an idea of a blessedly holy man (
Psalms 119:3 ) it becomes us to
make an earnest effort to attain unto the same
sacred innocence and divine
happiness, and this can only be through heart piety
founded on the Scriptures.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND
QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin
against thee. There laid up in
the heart the word has effect. When young men only
read the letter of the Book,
the word of promise and instruction is deprived of
much of its power. Neither
will the laying of it up in the mere memory avail.
The word must be known and
prized, and laid up in the heart; it must occupy the
affection as well as the
understanding; the whole mind requires to be
impregnated with the word of God.
Revealed things require to be seen. Then the word of
God in the heart -- the
threatenings, the promises, the excellencies of
God's word -- and God himself
realized, the young man would be inwardly fortified;
the understanding
enlightened, conscience quickened -- he would not
sin against his God. John Stephen.
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin
against thee. In proportion as
the word of the King is present in the heart, "there
is power"
against sin (Ec 8:4). Let us use this means of
absolute power more, and more
life and more holiness will be ours. Frances Ridley
Havergal, 1836-1879.
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart. It is fit that the word,
being "more precious
than gold, yea, than much fine gold," a peerless
pearl, should not be laid
up in the porter's lodge only -- the outward ear;
but even in the cabinet of
the mind. Dean Boys, quoted by James Ford.
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart. There is great difference
between Christians and
worldlings. The worldling hath his treasures in
jewels without him; the
Christian hath them within. Neither indeed is there
any receptacle wherein to
receive and keep the word of consolation but the
heart only. If thou have it in
thy mouth only, it shall be taken from thee; if thou
have it in thy book only,
Thou shalt miss it when thou hast most to do with
it; but if thou lay it up in
thy heart, as Mary did the words of the angel, no
enemy shall ever be able to
take it from thee, and thou shalt find it's
comfortable treasure in time of thy
need. William Cowper.
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart. This saying, to hide,
imports that David studied not
to be ambitious to set forth himself and to make a
glorious show before men;
but that he had God for a witness of that secret
desire which was within him.
He never looked to worldly creatures; but being
content that he had so great a
treasure, he knew full well that God who had given
it him would so surely and
safely guard it, as that it should not be laid open
to Satan to be taken away.
Saint Paul also declareth unto us (1Ti 1:19) that
the chest wherein this
treasure must be hid is a good conscience. For it is
said, that many being void
of this good conscience have lost also their faith,
and have been robbed
thereof. As if a man should forsake his goods and
put them in hazard, without
shutting a door, it were an easy matter for thieves
to come in and to rob and
spoil him of all; even so, if we leave at random to
Satan the treasures which
God hath given us in his word, without it be hidden
in this good conscience,
and in the very bottom of, our heart as David here
speaketh, we shall be
spoiled thereof. John Calvin.
Verse
11. Thy word
have I hid in mine heart. -- Remembered, approved,
delighted in it. William
Nicholson on (1671), in "David's Harp Strung and
Tuned."
Verse
11. Thy word.
The saying, thy oracle; any communication from God
to the soul, whether
promise, or command, or answer. It means a direct
and distinct message, while
"word" is more general, and applies to the whole
revelation. This is
the ninth of the ten words referring to the
revelation of God in this Psalm.
James G. Murphy, 1875.
Verse
11. In my
heart. Bernard observes, bodily bread in the
cupboard may he eaten of mice, or
moulder and waste: but when it is taken down into
the body, it is free from
such danger. If God enable thee to take thy soul
food into thine heart, it is
free from all hazards. George Swinnock, 1627-1673.
Verse
11. That I
might not sin against thee. Among many excellent
virtues of the word of God,
this is one: that if we keep it in our heart, it
keeps us from sin, which is
against God and against ourselves. We may mark it by
experience, that the word
is first stolen either out of the mind of man, and
the remembrance of it is
away; or at least out of the affection of man; so
that the reverence of it is
gone, before that a man can be drawn to the
committing of a sin. So long as Eve
kept by faith the word of the Lord, she resisted
Satan; but from the time she
doubted of that, which God made most certain by his
word, at once she was
snared. William Cowper.
HINTS
FOR PASTORS AND
LAYPERSONS
Verse
11. -- The best
thing, in the best place, for the best of purposes.”
(2)
“The Bane and Antidote of Souls
I.
THE BANE of souls.
What is the bane? Sin. A little word, but a terrible
thing. The Bible represents
it as a slavery, a disease a pollution, a poison,
etc. It is loathsome to the
Creator; it is the curse of the creature. This is
the bane.
II.
The ANTIDOTE of
souls. God's Word contains the power, and the only
power, to destroy sin. (Homilist.)”
(3)
Notes:
John Gill, Exposition
of the Old and New Testaments, Psalms,
(Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs, 2011), p. 1375.
C. H. Spurgeon, The
Treasury of David, Vol. II, (Nashville,
Tennessee, Thomas Nelson), p. 165-166.
David Thomas, The
Homilist; or, The pulpit for the people,
(England, Wentworth Press), p. 383.
“To
God, only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.
Amen.” (Romans 16:27) and “heirs according to the
promise.” (Galatians 3:28, 29)
Mr. Kettler has previously
published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is the
author of the book defending the Reformed Faith
against attacks, titled: The
Religion That Started in a Hat. Available at: http://www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com