I consider your prophecies to be my greatest treasure

Psalm 119.11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

This is also a word that has followed me from my youth. I have experienced what the psalmist is talking about. Therefore, I have written this truth in one of the first pages of my Bible: This book will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you away from this book. There is a deep truth to this.

When we store God's Word deeply in our hearts, we will be led and motivated by the Word to do what is right and good and to avoid that which is sin. With the Word of God in our hearts, we will be aware of what God wants to do for us and through us. When the word of God dwells in our hearts, we will know God's will and be able to choose the right path when we have to make choices.

To store God's Word in the heart is to memorize the Word and learn by heart. It is also about meditating on the Word of God. This is a powerful combination: Memorize and meditate on the Word. This is something I have tried to do throughout my life and it has been a rich blessing for me. In my youth, I took a course in memorizing the Word of God from the Navigators. I am very grateful for what I learned then. I would recommend anyone to take this course from the Navigators on Bible Memorization. It is a good investment.

With the phrase "your word", the psalmist uses the ninth Hebrew expression of God's word: "imra." It means words, speech, statement and comes from "amar" which is to speak, talk, say something to oneself (think), bid, command or praise. "Imra" is used nineteen times in Psalm 119 and is most commonly used in the poetic scriptures. Otherwise, there is not much difference in the meaning of the word "dabar", which was used in the previous verse, and can be used as a synonym.

When we store the Word of God in our hearts, it is about listening to what God says and keeping it in the heart so that we live by it. It's about hearing and doing what God says. Reading the Bible is not enough. Learning Bible verses by heart is not enough. We must hear from God through what we read and memorize from the Bible.

“I consider your prophecies to be my greatest treasure, and I memorize them and write them on my heart, to keep me from committing sin’s treason against you.” (TPT)