After a long, hard day we often find ourselves dirty. In order to get clean again, we need to wash up. In order for our clothes to get clean, we need to wash them, as well. With some clothes we might need to read the labels to check for special washing instructions. We not only get physically dirty every day, we also get spiritually dirty through sin on a regular basis. How do we get cleansed from that? Jumping in the shower won’t work here. In our Scripture from Psalm 119, the longest psalm and also the longest chapter in the Bible, God has given us the instructions for how to get cleaned up from sin. Just as it is important to follow instructions for how to clean clothes, it is important to follow God’s instructions for how to get cleansed from sin.
As we begin our short Scripture today, the psalmist asks an important question - how a young person can cleanse his ways (vs. 9). This actually would apply to anyone, male or female, and of any age, young to elderly. As everyone goes through life each day, we face any number of temptations to sin, and we all slip and fall into some of them. By the time we go to bed at night, every one of us has some sins that we need to confess to the Lord. The psalmist wonders how he can get cleansed, and how he can avoid and keep from getting really dirty from day to day, how he can keep his way clean. This world is a dirty one, not only physically, but especially spiritually. Every time we walk outside we face a sinful environment, so it is important to know how we can keep clean.
God gives us an answer in our Scripture. He tells us that we can cleanse ourselves from sin, and also avoid sin by taking heed to His Word, the Bible. The way to stay spiritually pure is by reading God’s Word and doing what it says.
The key here is that we must spend time reading and meditating on Scripture in order to know what it says and means. We can have a whole cabinet filled with soap and shampoo, but unless we actually get in the shower and use them, they can’t clean us up. In the same way, we can have a whole bookshelf filled with Bibles, but unless we actually open one up, read, and study it, it will do us no good. Just having a Bible, but not reading it, is not going to guard us from sin. We must read and obey it, taking heed to what it says.
Internalizing God’s Word, or as the psalmist says in verse 11, hiding God’s Word in our heart, is a believer’s best weapon to defend against encroaching sin. Hiding or keeping God’s Word in our heart is a deterrent to sin. One good way is to memorize Scripture verses. It is also very important to not only memorize, but to make sure we put it to work in our lives, having the Bible guide everything we do. The power of hiding God’s Word in our hearts can help to keep us from sinning.
Since temptation usually comes unexpectedly, we must be prepared for it, even when we can’t grab a Bible. That’s why having Scripture stored in our mind and heart is so important. When sin, temptation, and troubles come, we can only use what we have stored in our arsenal to combat them. We can only use what we have stored in our heart. If Scripture chapters and verses haven’t been placed there ahead of the attacks of temptation and troubles, it can’t help us. God’s Word is often referred to as our sword, to use in attacks of the devil (Ephesians 6:17). However, if our sword isn’t kept sharp, or it isn’t within quick reach, it does no good.
Sometimes as we grow older, our memory starts to lag. That need not worry the child of God with regards to Scripture we’ve memorized. Even when we begin to notice memory slips, God’s Word, memorized years earlier, is still there, stored up and treasured in the heart. Even when our mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be, we know that God’s Word, hidden in our heart, will continue to speak to us. Nothing, not even a failing memory, can separate us from God’s love and care.
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