In The Word

Every once in a while I do a search on Rhapsody for “Scripture Memory” in hopes that there is some non-lame scripture memory music. Usually the search returns very little but last week the search turned up an album by Rick Altizer called Scripture Memory — Pop Symphonies.  This is good stuff. Well crafted songs which have hints of George Harrison-esqe guitar licks and Vocals which subtly resemble the greatness of Elvis Costello.  I love this album.  It’s a great thing to get a song suck in your head and realize that its actually God’s word.

Check out a free sample here.
Buy it here.

When Judgment Day comes, we will regret the waste of a single moment not used for the glory of Christ. We will, However, not regret one moment we spent diligently studying God’s Word and hiding it in our heart. We will only wish we’d spent more moments doing this.

-Dr. Andrew Davis from An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture

Dr. Andrew Davis offers an aggressive approach to memorizing scripture.

Memorizing Books Is Better Than Memorizing Individual Verses

Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Paul said “All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16) Memorizing individual verses tends to miss intervening verses that the individual does not feel are as significant. Furthermore, most of Scripture is written to make a case… there is a flow of argumentation that is missed if individual verses are memorized. Furthermore, there is also a greater likelihood of taking verses out of context by focusing on individual verses.

Memorizing a whole book seems nearly impossible to me but he makes a good case…maybe I’ll give it a shot!

Leave a comment if you think you might give it a go.

The best thing I ever did for my scripture memory routine was to start memorizing scripture with my 5 year old. Today was a big day because she just went through Psalm 1 by herself. It’s such a blessing hearing her speak the word of God at such a young age. As she gets older and the reality of life comes flying at her she will have hidden in her heart the deepest wisdom, the most important words, the only true rock on which she will be able to lean. She will be like a tree planted by streams of water.

This has also done wonders for my own scripture memory for obvious reasons. Day in and day out I’m reading, explaining and reviewing scripture with her. Here is the general format we’ve been using:

1. She tries to recite the passage alone

2. We focus on reviewing the verses she knows and once she has them down cold we add a single verse at a time (or half verse).

3. I explain some of the key concepts of the verse we are reading, then discuss what she has learned ( what does standing in the way of sinners mean?).

4. Don’t push too hard, there will be some weeks where progress is very slow and that is OK (it gives me time to catch up with her!)

Feel free to comment about how you approach scripture memory.