Psalms 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Study Note
Study Note
The psalmist's declaration 'Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee' articulates the internalization strategy for Torah that Deuteronomy 6:6 commands ('these words shall be upon your heart') and Jeremiah 31:33 promises ('I will put my law in their inward parts'). The Hebrew tsafonti ('I have stored up, hidden as treasure') connotes deliberate preservation rather than casual memory, suggesting an active discipline of memorization that was central to ancient Jewish piety. The purpose clause 'that I might not sin against thee' connects internalized Scripture to the preemptive resistance of temptation — a moral-psychological claim about the formative power of stored divine speech. Jesus' use of memorized Scripture in the wilderness temptations (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) exemplifies the practical application of this principle that Psalm 119:11 articulates.
Other Translations
Thy word have I laid up in my heart, That I might not sin against thee.
In my heart I have hid Thy saying, That I sin not before Thee.
I have kept your sayings secretly in my heart, so that I might do no sin against you.
Cross References
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach …
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of …
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all …
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and …
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, …