Put Down Your Phone, Write Out a Psalmনমুনা

The heart is a storage unit for treasure, so what will you hoard?

The heart is a large territory that can be divided. It can be kept separate from God. It can also be hidden from the individual. It’s a storage unit of treasure and the riches it hoards accrue interest and whatever is invested grows. For better or for worse.

Be careful what you put into it!

When the treasure hoarded is the word of God, it truly changes a life and transforms the pathway of the treasure bearer. David wants all of his heart to be aligned with God’s ways. He commits to treasuring it as a strategy to protect against the bankruptcy of sin and despair:

I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes (Psalm 119:11-12, NRSV).

But David also lives in the real world. He admires earthly treasures, values them, and seeks them. In fact, worldly value and blessing are a key way to frame and understand spiritual blessing.

David doesn't despise or neglect the riches.

In a world of such inequality and disparity, which we've seen first hand if we've walked down the street or travelled across the world. Suffering is a reality we sometimes smash up against.

David is not too spiritual or good to desire nice things. But he values the decrees and words of God much more:

I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in all riches (Psalm 119:14, NRSV).

David seeks the bounty. He wants a big blessing and he wants the spiritual spa treatment by God (see v. 17). In fact, the reception of God’s goodness and blessing helps reinforce, for the psalmist, that he is on the right path, and it spurs him to live and observe God’s word even more.

Blessings—both material and spiritual—help him on the path. They spur him on.

Action steps

• Take time to write out Psalm 119:1-19 verse by verse.
• Get a journal, some paper with a pen
• Put your phone in a drawer or another room
• Get a physical Bible (so you won't get distracted by anything else)
• Reflect on what God is highlighting for you