From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part one of a series.

Psalm 119:11 is about far more than merely memorizing Scripture. It speaks of holding God's Word to be precious - a concept that has become foreign in most of today's churches.

Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

(Psalm 119:11)

Many who are reading this article probably memorized Psalm 119:11 in Sunday school as children. For centuries it has been one of the passages most quoted from the pulpit. Preachers and teachers often use Psalm 119:11 to encourage Christians to memorize Scripture. This is how they have typically explained the concept of "hiding God's Word in our hearts."

But the original language of Psalm 119:11 encompasses far more than this. The word translated "have hidden" is a form of the Hebrew tsaphan. In this particular form and context, tsaphan has the meaning not only of hiding something, but moreover treasuring it.

Ample Proof in Today's Churches

In much of the post-evangelical church, this has become a foreign concept. While much lip service may be given to the value of God's Word, most of the self-described Bible-believing church does not treasure Holy Scripture. Three developments prove this beyond doubt

First, systematic congregational reading of Scripture, once the practice of nearly every church, has virtually disappeared from worship services in the last thirty years. The typical church "no longer has time" for full-length Scripture reading because the service is packed with entertainment.

Secondly, expository preaching of the Scriptures has likewise passed into extinction in the majority of churches. Often the leadership has fallen prey to the false arguments of church-growth "experts" who have decided that the present sound-byte generation simply "won't sit through" a thirty- or forty-five-minute sermon. And so, what often comes from the pulpit - if there is still a pulpit - is a short homily or psychological pep-talk that at best gives a brief nod to some snippet of Scripture as a point of departure.

I use the term departure advisedly, because usually the preacher's rhetoric quickly departs from any pretense of focusing on the Word of God and instead elevates the thinking of sinful man. Most contemporary preachers cheat their hearers; they fall far short of mining the rich and boundless treasures of Scripture.

Thirdly, regular reading and study of Scripture in the home has become a rarity. Very few Christians - less than 15% according to reliable surveys - read the Bible as often as once a week individually or in a family setting. And why would they, when their so-called spiritual leaders have done everything possible to remove the Word of God from its rightful front-and-center position in the life of the Christian individually and the ministry of the church as a body?

The tragic result is that we live in the time of what we must honestly call the Bible-less church.

Adverse Effects Throughout History

Why does the present-day church seem increasingly ineffectual, while societies deteriorate around the globe; aggressive Islam, resurgent Roman Catholicism, secular humanism, and the New Atheism prosper; and a growing number of spiritual plagues infect churches that were once sound?

The answer is quite straightforward. We see it in the Old Testament, in Israel's history of lengthening periods of apostasy interspersed with ever-shorter periods of reformation and revival. We see it in the New Testament in the rapid descent of the Corinthian church, which began so well under Paul the church-planter, into carnality, syncretism, and deep immorality after he left. We see the same pattern in our own time. With few and precious exceptions, today three things characterize the nominally Evangelical and Reformed churches, and all result from the fact that they no longer treasure the Word of God.

Today's Bible-less Church: Unplugged, Uncertain, Ineffectual

First of all, as we have seen, today's church is the church unplugged - increasingly disconnected from the only Source of truth and authority.

Secondly, the church unplugged from the Word of God is the church uncertain - unsure of what it believes and why; unable to articulate and defend even the core truths of the Christian faith.

Thirdly, the church unplugged from the Word of God and uncertain of what it believes has become the church ineffectual. The post-evangelical church, with few and precious exceptions, is the church of perhaps growing numbers, but living in growing sin. It is a merely institutional church un-armed and un-armored for spiritual warfare against the enemies of truth, and thus unable to resist the influences of this present evil world. It is an Spirit-less gathering unprepared to carry out Christ's Great Commission to evangelize the world and edify the saints, and therefore has become nothing more than a religious social club.

An Unfair Indictment?

Some may say that the foregoing is an unfair or inaccurate indictment of the church in our time. But with ever-dwindling exceptions, it is true - not only of churches, but also of Christian colleges and seminaries. Many of them were once on fire for God and self-consciously Protestant. But most have grown spiritually lukewarm, even cold. Many self-consciously seek compromise with the world, and even with false religions, in pursuit of numbers and acceptability.

The reason for all of this is that they no longer hold the Word of God to be precious in the way of which Psalm 119:11 speaks. And the seeds of disregard and even distain for the inspired Word that have been planted in colleges and seminaries for several decades are now bearing their tragic fruit in the churches in which former students hold positions of leadership and influence.

What is the solution? The word tsaphan ["hidden"] in Psalm 119:11 tells us the answer in four vital ways, and we shall examine them as we continue.

Next: Esteeming the Word as Valuable and Precious

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