Memorization is hard work. James 1:25 tells us that we tend toward forgetting what we have learned in God’s Word and that it takes special effort to work against that trend. While applying the Word is the primary means for helping us to remember, we also are charged with “hiding” God’s Word in our heart. When technololgy fails or my Bible is taken away from me, when I’m with a person in crisis and I’m searching for the right words to offer to encourage, God’s Word tucked into my mind is a true blessing.
Memory fades. The human mind is dynamic. Though we lose articulation after time and can’t recall word-for-word what we had memorized previously, we can trust the Holy Spirit to honor His promise to bring the necessary Word back to us if we have bothered to put it in.
The goal is to keep God’s message to us: the Word, not just “words.” What we commit to the Lord will not be in vain! God’s Word will accomplish its work in us as we devote ourselves to knowing, rehearsing, and ultimately obeying it (Isaiah 55:10-11).
Memorization of the Holy Bible is not explicitly commanded. But then we must consider what the Bible does command:
- What does it mean to “treasure” the word of God, to let it “dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:6)?
- We are charged to “lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 11:18 ESV).
- What does it mean that “this Book of Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (Joshua 1:8 ESV)?
- What does it mean to “eat” God’s words (Jeremiah 15:16)?
- How do we “bind them on your heart always” (Proverbs 6:21-22)?
- What does it mean to have “the law of God in [our] heart” (Psalm 37:31; Psalm 40:8)?
- What does it mean to “delight” in the law of God (Psalm 1:2)?
In all these scriptures, memorization is a means of taking in the effectual truth of God’s Word in an intimate manner. Just as we memorize the face of a loved one, so we live with the scriptures so that the image of its truth becomes stamped on our lives. We love God’s Word because we love the Father (YHWH). We who call ourselves Christians love God’s Word because we love His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ (Yeshua Hamashiach).
On the following pages, you will find these helps:
- How to Use the Memorization Challenge Posters.
- General Resources Aiding Memorization – (See “Resources” Tab) This page is full of extra resources on the web and certain books and programs designed to help you memorize scripture.
- 12 Ideas for Using the Psalm 119 Memorization Pages. After memorizing Psalm 119 together, it will be good to proceed on to other important passages of scripture — some you may already know (e.g., The Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23). Some may be a fresh challenge (e.g., Psalm 88).
- Audio Memorization. Find some interesting notes about multi-sensory learning and notes about using the audio clips found on the website at ReadPsalm119.com.
- SR3 Study Method. This is a brief method of study utilizing intervals of restful, passive learning between more intense study and memorization activities.
© 2019, ReadPsalm119.com. Rev. Oct. 21, 2024.
