(9) How should a young man keep his life’s path pure? By obeying your Word. (10) I seek you with my whole heart. Do not let me stray from your commands. (11) I have hidden your Word in my heart so that I might not sin against you. (12) Blessed are you, Yahweh! Teach me your decrees. (13) With my lips I rehearse all the judgments of your mouth. (14) In following the way of your statutes I rejoice as though (I were rejoicing) in great riches. (15) On your precepts I meditate, and consider your ways. (16) In your decrees I find delight. I will not forget your Word.
The first verse of the Beth stanza opens with a question, “How should a young man keep his life’s path pure?” The rest of the segment provides the answer. By using the same word, “obey” (vs. 9), as he did previously (vss. 4, 5, & 8), the psalmist establishes obedience as the central theme of this segment and links it to the previous one.
A question of interpretation arises with the verb translated “keep pure” (vs. 9 in the NIV). An earlier translation (KJV) renders this verb as “cleanse.” Was the author asking how a young man maintains his purity (NIV) or how he regains his purity after sinning (KJV)? While both senses may be conveyed by the Hebrew verb, the context pushes us in the direction of the NIV’s interpretive translation (vss. 10 & 11). The psalmist first asks God to keep him from straying (vs. 10) and then gives the avoidance of sinful behavior as his motive for hiding God’s Word in his heart (vs. 11). Three other words are repeated in this stanza: “your Word” (vss. 9 & 16), “path/way” (vss. 9 & 15), and “heart” (vss. 10 & 11).
Only those who delight in obeying God’s Word maintain a lifestyle that honors him.
What does hiding God’s Word in our hearts (vs. 11) specifically entail? Believers over the centuries have considered this a strong exhortation to commit important scripture passages to memory. This way, verses needed at moments when we might be tempted to sin are readily available for our protection. Jesus modeled this for us at the beginning of his earthly ministry in his encounter with Satan in the wilderness (Mt. 4:1-11). In each of three temptations, Jesus responded by quoting verses from Deuteronomy. First, when tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread to assuage his hunger, he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. (Mt. 4:3 & 4). Then when Satan suggested that he jump from the pinnacle of the temple to prove that he was God’s Son, he quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 (Mt. 4:5-7). Finally, when offered dominion over the kingdoms of the world in exchange for bowing the knee to Satan, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13.