Memory Verses. That’s today’s topic.
Let me take you back. The other day, a friend of mine asked me what my favourite Bible verse was.
Of course, it was quite hard to pick just one, but I went to the usual: Matthew 5:16.
16 Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Now I’ve got a reason, when people ask why, but that only came over time.
To be honest, I only used to say this verse because it was really the only verse I had memorized outside of the obvious ones like a John 3:16. And I give thanks to Sunday school as a kid, because this one stuck with me, and I’m so happy it did.
What if I could not answer that question…I mean, surely not. But it’s not just about answering that question, there’s a lot of value in “memory verses.”
Aldous Huxley made a statement that relates to the memorization of Scripture. He declared that “Each man’s memory is his private literature.”
You see, God gave us a memory.
And though you seem to lose those general knowledge quizzes on Kahoot, trust me, your memory is pretty amazing. Oliver Wendell Holmes said about the memory, “Memory is a crazy witch. She treasures bits of rags and straw and throws her jewels out the window.”
I’ll explain further. I’m sure a lot of you have early memories of a dirty or scary story you heard as a child. You probably wish you didn’t. But you do. Your memory is active.
Many of us remember what we should have forgotten and forget what we really should have remembered. There’s a little trick to get past this. Memorizing scripture. For those of us without a perfect memory, there’s only so much we can commit to memory without letting go of something else.
So, replace the bad stuff…with the good.
I know that is much easier said than done but that’s where memorising scripture comes in. It helps you to remember what you really should remember and to forget what you really need to forget.
However, memorizing scripture, and the whole ideas of memory verses isn’t just about blocking out the bad stuff in your memory.
Before Jesus left for Calvary, He encouraged His disciples with these words:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
While this passage is one that uniquely applied to the disciples, it is applicable in principle, to all believers. We can even look at Jesus Himself, and see the value of Scripture memorization.
Jesus said “Thus saith the Lord” or “God said” or “It is written” or “Have you not read that it was said” over 90 times! Clearly our Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man, left an example for us. We should have scripture stored in our hearts and our minds.
We all know about the temptation of Christ. Jesus used specific Scriptures to stop Satan’s temptations. He called on particular passages from the Old Testament to counter the particular temptations He faced.
So, what does that mean for me and you?
Well, we should be encouraged to memorize Scriptures that deal with the particular temptations to which we are especially vulnerable. Then we should ask the Holy Spirit to bring these passages to your mind at times of temptation.
As John Butler says “The principle for believers is that the Holy Spirit helps us to remember Scripture and spiritual lessons. When a verse pops into the mind when teaching, preaching, studying or pondering a decision of some sort—it is not your memory that is bringing that text to your mind, but it is the prompting of the Holy Spirit that is doing it. However, for the Holy Spirit to prompt your memory, you must have previously stored the Scripture in your memory. The Holy Spirit is like the recall button on a calculator—if you do not put anything in memory in the calculator, the recall button will not bring up any information.” (Analytical Bible Expositor: John)
You have difficulty memorizing Scripture? You are not alone.
I can give you plenty of reasons as to why people, including myself, are not actively memorizing Scripture.
“Bible verses are for the children”
“I don’t have a good memory”
“I’m too old to memorize”
“It’s too much work and to tell you the truth I’m just too lazy!”
But considering the advantages gathered from just the example earlier should be reason enough to motivate every believer to seriously consider, or re-consider, Scripture memorization as an integral part of disciplining ourselves.
Do note though, there is little merit inherent in the mere process of memorizing Scripture. One could memorize a crazy amount and be an atheist. Satan memorized enough to use it to tempt Jesus. Memorizing is helpful when we yearn for Scripture to energize our whole lives
So, what makes the difference between superficial and beneficial Scripture memorization?
I believe it is prayerful meditation.
Memorization may sharpen our intellectual capacities, but that’s about all. Memorization with a view to meditation helps us think straight in our, well, crooked world.
And just one other thing.
We’ve gotta be careful when memorizing single verses. We really don’t want to “wrench” them out of their context and give the passage a meaning (and an interpretation) God never intended.
Context matters.
So, it’d definitely be worth reading or even memorising the surrounding verses. You may even reach a point where you are memorizing larger sections of Scripture, including chapters or even entire books.
Okay, so we’ve got to read and remember things in their proper context, but how do we even go about memorising things.
William Evans actually gives some tips:
1. Memorize the location of the verse together with the verse. You will find it just as easy to say, “John 1:29, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” as you would if you merely said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and all that follows
2. Learn it. The exact verse. Let’s not get a faint, indefinite idea. If you want to remember any text after a couple years, let it make a deep, clear and vivid impression on your mind, from the moment you learn it.
3. Read the verse over. Not 2 or 3 times. But let’s give a rough figure. Hmm. Twenty times. Close your Bible and see if you can repeat it correctly, then to be sure, read it again. Once writing the verse is worth a dozen repetitions of it by mouth.
4. Review. This is the secret of memorizing. Review every day, every week, every month, and every year.
5. Practice. Use the passages of Scripture. Seek occasions for talking to persons who have difficulties.
Let’s wrap this up.
At the beginning of 2009, John Piper challenged his congregation to memorize Scripture in his sermon entitled If My Words Abide in You…
He summed up his Testimony of memorizing scripture in eight short sentences.
- Memorizing Scripture makes meditation possible at times when he can’t be reading the Bible, and meditation is the pathway of deeper understanding.
- Memorizing Scripture strengthens his faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ, and that happens when he is hearing the word in his head.
- Memorizing Scripture shapes the way he views the world by conforming his mind to God’s viewpoint.
- Memorizing Scripture makes God’s word more readily accessible for overcoming temptation to sin, because God’s warnings and promises are the way we conquer the deceitful promises of sin.
- Memorizing Scripture guards his mind by making it easier to detect error—and the world is filled with error, since the god (little g) of this world is a liar.
- Memorizing Scripture enables him to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist, and so protects himself and his family from his assaults.
- Memorizing Scripture provides the strongest and sweetest words for ministering to others in need.
- Memorizing Scripture provides the matrix for fellowship with Jesus because he talks to him through his word, and he talks to him in prayer.
And so, each week, I want you lot to do something.
Learn one verse a week.
Commit to learning in, meditating on it, and even using it in prayer.
One a week and this time next year, you will be 52 verses up.
I will be sharing my verse, or verses, of the week on Me, Myself and Christ and my Instagram but of course you can pick your own.
If you would want to send yours to me directly, for-accountability sake, go ahead. Message me on Instagram @leke_o_.
I am going to at least try. It may be tough, but with God, all things are possible right?
My Sunday Skl 