The Greatest Love Letter Ever Written

By Danny Saavedra

“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.”—Psalm 119:10–12 (NIV)

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” These words, written by famous English poet Emily Barrett Browning, are easily among the most recognizable and quotable expressions in Western literature. Honestly, when I think of a love letter, Browning’s “Sonnet 43” almost immediately comes to mind. However, it’s not the first thing that comes to mind. What is? Psalm 119!

Did you know Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible? It has 176 verses which are divided into 22 sections. Each of the 22 sections contains eight verses. In addition, Psalm 119 is what we call an acrostic poem with each of the 22 sections beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Not only that, but the psalmist (believed to be either David, Ezra, Daniel, or Jeremiah) uses eight different words to describe God's Word: law, word, judgments, testimonies, commandments, statutes, precepts, and promises. Isn’t that cool?

So, now that we know all that, what is Psalm 119 about? Essentially, it’s a hymn about the prayer of someone who loves and lives by the Word of God. Charles Spurgeon said of it, “This wonderful psalm, from its great length, helps us to wonder at the immensity of Scripture.” Translation: It’s a long, beautiful, wonderful love letter to the Bible. And even with its length, beauty, and eloquence, my dear friends, I can tell you that no amount of words could do it justice!

With this in mind, I want to give you what I see as the primary application for our lives found within this love letter: verses 10–11: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

The Hebrew word for “hidden” is ṣāp̄antî. It means “to store up, to store up as one does with treasure, to hoard, cache, or reserve.” When you think of this word, think of squirrels, beavers, blue jays, or ravens who store food for the winter months. This is what Scripture memorization is!

Friends, when we hide the Word in our hearts, we’re not just memorizing words from a book, we’re etching the living, active, searching, and sanctifying voice of our Creator and Redeemer into our soul. We’re reserving the greatest treasure in all the world in the vault of our minds. We’re storing up what Peter called the “words of eternal life” (John 6:68 NIV) in our heart’s pantry.

Memorizing Scripture is an exercise in storing up an arsenal of weapons for the Spirit’s use in the future. It gives the Holy Spirit fuel to recall truth in moments of need and ministry. It prepares us to fight sin (as David said), to offer counseling, and to share the gospel. But it goes beyond that because we’re also listening and learning to identify the voice of Jesus today.

Very few things will be more effective in remaking and remolding our minds than memorizing Scripture. It recalibrates our thought processes—like clay it remolds our minds to mimic the structure and mindset of God. It’s how the Spirit gives us the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 2:5, 4:7) here and now!

My prayer is that you’ll embrace the life-changing practice of etching God’s Word into your heart and life!

Pause: How can you embrace the principles of Psalm 119?

Practice: One final fact to share about Psalm 119 is that it’s meant to be read slowly, section by section. Take the time over the next two weeks to slowly consume this glorious love letter.

Pray: Father, I thank You for Your beautiful, indescribable Word. Like the psalmist, I want to be known as someone who lives by Your Word. Help me, Lord, to hide Your Word in my heart, to make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.