If you didn’t know, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible and it contains 2,445 words! In verse 11 we find one of the greatest principles to embrace and foster in our daily lives and it reads, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Why should we hide God’s word in our hearts? Well, in short God knows that we are sinners and unfortunately it’s our nature to sin against Him.

Our hearts are the center of our being. The part that cannot be seen. Our mind, intellect, emotion, will. God is saying to keep these hidden but not forgotten.

Another reason God is telling us to hide His word away in our hearts is because every word that comes for His breath is precious, each word possess limitless value, and should be considered great treasures to be hidden away… in our hearts!

Look at this way, the ancients had no security systems or safety deposit boxes to stow their treasures away. They hid them! In today’s world most people typically store their valuables in a secure and not so easily accessible temperature controlled-dust free space, so that it’s protected and preserved from damage, theft, and any kind of contamination!!

The text says something in verse 11 that is not evident in the translation and goes like this: “I have hidden your word in my heart [to the end] that I might not sin against you.”

There is a reason the psalmist is hiding God’s word in his heart to the end. And it is easily seen in the text. He knows that he is a sinner and having the treasure of God’s word hidden in a safe yet accessible place will help him fight against sin. We are all in a battle against sin.

God tells us again when talking about wearing our spiritual armor we must put on daily for this epic spiritual battle that wages war on us from the second of our birth till our last breath (read Ephesians 6).

When we know, preserve, and protect God’s word within us [hide] we can draw it out like a double-edged sword from it’s sheath and use it to fight evil in our lives.

And according to the Bible, the word of God is the only offensive weapon we have against evil.

God, through the psalmist, is telling us to hide His word in our hearts so that when sin comes along we will know how to handle it and be strengthened not to sin against Him.