Psalm 119 2nd Stanza Path of Righteousness is Hidden in the Heart

^©Lightwritingmatters 2015

Path of Righteousness is Hidden in the Heart
Consideration of the 2^nd stanza Psalm 119

What does this mean?

A way to see with eyes of understanding what the Psalmist is saying here:

9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.

When we were in school we often ‘learned something by heart’. But can the ‘heart’ learn? The idea embodied in that idiom is to memorize something so thoroughly you do not need to think about it. Notice vs 11 in blue above. DONE!

Or how about ‘from the bottom of my heart’? What does that mean? It may mean you are truly committed; you wholly believe something. Notice vs 10 above in purple. DONE!

Lastly, muscle memory. The heart is literally a muscle. While the idea of muscle memory is a usually noted as ‘so many repetitions of some action’ thus it becomes ‘second nature’ done with little to no cognizant thought. Between the idea of ‘learning something by heart’ and ‘committing so deeply it would be as if from the ‘bottom of your heart’ the Psalmist asks and answers the opening sentence of the next portion of the multi-stanza Psalm with the query: How can a young person stay on the path of purity? Ostensibly, ‘young’ would normally be understood as a chronological or age related youth. However, a Christian believer can become ‘a young person’ in their Christian walk at any age which makes the question all the more relevant: How does one stay on the path of purity?

What defines purity?

 The following two verses grants us ‘understanding’ as it is iterated in the 2nd stanza backing up the opening stanza of Psalm 119.

1.   that I might not sin against you

2.   I will not neglect your word.

Sin is defined in the Bible via Strong’s Lexicon in Hebrew and in Greek as follows:

• ·       to miss the mark [as in archery];
• ·       to make a mistake;
• ·       to commit an offense;
• ·       to do or go wrong and finally to wander from the law of God/violate God’s law.

While reading, researching and dissecting scripture we pick through to find the significant nugget of gold that at that moment in time seems to speak to our spirit, our heart, our soul, our mind. Clearly, in order to walk a path of principled faith and love we need to identify the source of our principles and value, emulate an adhere to those sources from deep within our being, our heart. Why the heart? Perhaps because we identify the heart with ‘love’ or ‘fondness’ or ‘affection’. Clearly, the Psalmist provides outstanding example of being absolutely committed to a path of purity from deep inside - out!  

^©Lightwritingmatters 2015