August 29 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

These meditations are on the psalms. All those songs about Zion, the temple, and the Son of David really make sense when they are sung In the New Testament church.

Bible Reading:

Psalm 119:9–16

Bible Text:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Ps. 119:11).

Devotional:

When we say "heart," we usually mean the seat of our emotions. "My head says yes, but my heart says no" means that in my mind I am in favor, but emotionally I am opposed.

The Old Testament's use of heart is broader. The heart is the center of the person, the self. All of my feeling and thinking and doing begin in my heart.

So when the believer says, "I have hidden your word in my heart," he means: Your word is deep within my being. It's at my roots. It's the center of my life.

To the psalmist "your word" means first of all God's written revelation, the Bible. In the psalmist's time there wasn't much of a Bible. You and I have much more.

Learning a Bible verse "by heart" (by memory) is an excellent thing. But it does not necessarily mean that we have "hidden the word in our heart." We also learn the multiplication tables by heart. And some of us know the names of all football players by heart. That does not put them at the center of our lives (we hope!). All it does is put the football heroes or the multiplication tables or the Bible verse in our memory bank.

God's Word is bigger than the written revelation. It's also God's will revealed in creation and—especially—in Jesus Christ. He must live in our hearts by his Spirit. That Word must be the hidden Source of our desire, thought, will, and action.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.