Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart

BIBLE REFERENCE:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalms 119:105

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all
generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. Psalms 119:89-90

Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Psalms 119:164

At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. Psalms 119:62

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. Psalms 119:44

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalms 119:11

For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:6-9

HYMN HISTORY:

This popular gospel hymn was based on portions of Psalms 119, a chapter of Scripture containing 176 verses, the majority of which the Lord speaks to His children regarding the importance of knowing and obeying the written words of God.

The first stanza of this hymn is based on verse 105:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The second stanza is based on verses 89 and 90:

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

The third stanza is based on verses 164, 62, and 44:

Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

The forth stanza is based on verse 41:

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

The chorus is taken directly from verse 11:

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The author and composer of this hymn, Earnest Orlando Sellers, was born on October 29,1869, in Hastings, Michigan. After finishing high school, he was appointed city engineer and superintendent of public works in Lansing, Michigan. After his conversion Ernest enrolled as a student at the Moody Bible institute in 1895. After his graduation he served at the Lansing Y.M.C.A as secretary throughout the country. From 1908 to 1919, Sellers once again became associated with the Moody Bible Institute as an assistant to Daniel B. Towner, the first director of the school’s music department. Sellers was also very active evangelizing during this time and also was song director for such well-known evangelists as Reuben A. Torrey, Gypsy Smith, A. C. Dixon, and J. Wilbur Chapman. During the early years of World War I, Sellers served with the armed forces overseas as a special Y.M.C.A. Representative. In 1919, Ernest Sellers accepted the position of director of the Music Department of the Baptist Bible Institute of New Orleans, now known as the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Here he remained faithful until his retirement in 1945. He was a highly respected teacher, song director, the author of numerous articles and poems, and the composer of a number of hymn tunes, including the still popular hymn “Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus!”

Ernest wrote and composed “Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart” in 1908. Its first publication was in the Ideal Song and Hymn Book, compiled by Daniel B. Towner in 1909. It is still one of the hymns most frequently sung by young and old alike concerning the believer’s relationship to the Scriptures.

"I will meditate in Thy precepts." -- Psalm 119:15

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in His service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have juice from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the juice of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve to day, "I will meditate in Thy precepts."