Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim
Psalms 119:11: “Thy Word have I hide in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”
This was a very popular verse when I was a child attending Christian Service Brigade and Awana Clubs. Both organizations really put an emphasis on memorization of Scripture. To this day I am grateful for all the Scripture I memorized as a child to get my merit badges and rewards. As a child I did not always fully understand the meaning of the Scriptures I memorized, but as an adult those Scripture verses I memorized as a child have come back to me in times when I needed them the most. I will always be grateful to organizations like Awana and Christian Service Brigade and their lay leaders who encouraged me in Scripture memorization. Even if a child doesn’t understand the meanings of the words he hides in his heart, one day God will resurrect these words to bring comfort when they are needed most.
Psalms 119:11 is the keystone to Scripture memorization. Hiding the Word of God in our hearts so we will not sin against Him. The word “hide” in Hebrew is “saphan,” which means to hide a treasure. What a beautiful picture David paints here, hiding the Word of God, a treasure, in our hearts so that we will not sin against God.
As I read this verse in my Hebrew Bible, Saphan (hide) Sade, Pei, Nun jump out of the text. They are dressed like cowboys and Sade is carrying a box, I can not really read the word on the box. Nun is carrying a carriage whip, and Pei is wearing a red bandana around his neck and covering his mouth, he is also wearing a white cowboy hat. They shout out: “Yeehaa.” and run toward my “Looking Glass.”
I run behind them and follow them through my “Looking Glass” where I suddenly find myself in a stage coach. Sitting across from me is Sade, holding a box and grinning at me. I look outside and see that Nun is the stage coach driver, cracking his whip over the team of horses pulling the stage coach. Pei with his bandana over his mouth and white hat is riding shotgun.
“What’s going on?” I asked Sade. “We are delivering this box to the Master. It contains a great treasure.” I finally make out the word on the box. It says “amar.” “Amar,” I declare, “You are delivering the Words of God?” “Nay,” says Sade. “Indeed the word ‘amar’ does mean word, sayings, and utterances and indeed one meaning of Psalms 119:11 is what you always felt it meant, hiding the Word of God in your heart. But we have asked you on this journey to expand on this verse, for amar also means purpose. In this box is God’s purpose for your life. It is hidden in your heart. Nun, which means faith, is our driver, it is faith that is taking your purpose to it’s destination. It is guarded by Pei.”
“Why is Pei wearing the red bandana over his mouth and the white hat?” I ask.
“Ah, yes,” replies Sade, “Red like the blood of Jesus, it protects our words. You see the white hat shows that he has a pure heart and the red bandana protects Pei from breathing in the dust and dirt and other filth so that all his words will come out pure.
So as I settle back to enjoy the ride with the stage coach team, Saphan (hide), I suddenly hear some guns shooting, I look out the window and I see three horses. Their riders are shadows. I hear Pei shouting out, “It’s the shadows of “Chata’” “Chata!” I cried, “We are being pursued by “sin.” “Yes,“ Sade replies: “ Chata is sin but it also means to miss the mark. Look at the first rider, it is Chet, the shadow of Chet represents fear, fear will cause you to miss the mark, the target God has set for you life. Look at the other two riders.” I did look and saw that the other two riders completed the word Chata or missing the mark. Behind Chet was riding the shadow of Tet. The shadow of Tet is an outward goodness, a show of doing God’s will and fulfilling His purpose in your life, but in reality it is really not God’s purpose for one’s life and it is not being done with a pure heart, it is trying to accomplish God’s will for one’s own purposes. The final letter was the shadow of the Aleph. The shadow of Aleph was nor far behind The shadows of Chet (fear) and Tet (selfishness) The shadow of the Aleph is nothingness and worthlessness. It is the feeling that your life has no purpose or is worthless. This is one of the greatest tools the enemy has to keep you from fulfilling God’s purpose in your life.
“There is only one thing that will defeat these bandits,” Sade said as he called to Nun to stop the stage coach. Sade who represents humility and righteousness jumped out and opened the box named Amar (Word of God and life’s purpose). Immediately a light like a search light came out of the box.
The three bandits, Chet – fear, Tet – selfish motives, and Aleph – worthlessness were blinded such that they could not shoot straight and all their bullets missed their mark. God’s Word and life’s purpose routed Chata’ – sin and/or missing one’s mark.
Back in my study I reflected on the motto of the Christian Service Brigade: James 1:22: “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.” Memorizing the Word is not enough, we must be doers of the word to defeat Chatas. Oh yeah, for those of you who are not in the know, Awana is not an Indian name, it’s an acronym for “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed.” II Timothy 2:15.
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