Engaging God’s Word

Chapter Two of Faith Basics focuses less on explaining the Word of God and more on how we approach, read, and understand it. Scripture not only reveals truth—it invites us to treasure that truth deeply. The Bible describes itself as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, given to guide, correct, and shape our relationship with God and each other.

In this chapter, we begin exploring how Scripture speaks about “hiding” God’s Word in our hearts and what happens when we do.

The verse we’ll center on comes from the longest chapter in the Bible. Can you guess which book that is? 

Psalm 119:11 — “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

A Brief Word Study: “Stored” or “Treasured”

Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm—a poetic celebration of God’s Word, with each section beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse 11 falls within the second section, Beth (verses 9–16), which focuses on purity and obedience.

Here’s the flow of thought in this passage:

• v. 9 — How can a young man keep his way pure?
• v. 10 — By seeking God with all his heart.
• v. 11 — Therefore, he stores up God’s Word in his heart to resist sin.

The idea of “storing” here is intentional—it speaks of inward devotion, a deliberate act of keeping God’s truth close so it can transform and protect us.

So what happens when we store God’s Word in our hearts?
The rest of the verse answers: “that I might not sin against You.”

This is the goal of the Christian life—to live in a way that honors God. But the pathway to that kind of life is not through striving alone; it’s through allowing God’s Word to saturate our souls.

Charles Spurgeon once put it beautifully:

“Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!”
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I once heard a dear mentor and friend, Larry Voldt, share his personal approach to reading God’s Word during a young men’s Bible study. After years of preaching, teaching, and writing, his method reflected the heart of Spurgeon’s words.

Larry described it like this: He would begin by praying—asking the Lord to prepare his heart to receive whatever truth He wanted to reveal that day. Then he’d start reading where he left off previously. When a verse or phrase stood out, he’d pause to pray and ask God why it had caught his attention.

He would then reread the passage prayerfully, seeking understanding, and finally, a third time, asking how to apply it to his life. He ended each reading with prayer and journaling what God had shown him. The entire process rarely took more than 30 minutes—but it was deeply transformative.

That rhythm of prayerful engagement is what it means to truly interact with Scripture—not merely to check a box, but to meet the living God through His living Word.

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “present ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

And as D.A. Carson once said,

“We are dealing with God’s thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly.”

So as we return to Psalm 119:11, remember: storing God’s Word in our hearts isn’t a one-time act—it’s a lifelong practice that sustains us in righteousness and draws us deeper into the life of Christ.

When motivation wanes, I often recall the simple wisdom of a friend who reminds me:

“Open Bible, insert face.”

Thank you, Vince, for those words of truth.