Memorizing Scripture

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Psalm 119:11

I don't know the Bible as well as I ought. I'll be honest, as a pastor, there are times when I am embarrassed by my lack of mastery of the Scriptures. When speaking with others, relevant passages will come to mind, but I cannot recite them verbatim. So I'll say something like, "I'm paraphrasing here, but in some place Jesus said,..." Or every so often, someone will ask, "Where is the verse that says (such and such)?" And I'm a bit ashamed when I can't give a quick answer.

It's only a small consolation to know I'm not alone in this. We live in a day and age in which most people are biblically illiterate. I remember once, before I became a Christian, watching a football game on T.V. with a friend who grew up in a church-going home. After the screen flashed the ubiquitous "John 3:16" sign someone was holding up, I asked my friend, "I see that everywhere - what does that mean?" I had no idea, but even worse, my church-going friend didn't know either! So, both in and out of the church, people simply don't know the Bible.

And in case you're wondering, John 3:16 says - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." It's O.K., I didn't know it either!

While this ignorance is understandable, at least for Christians, it's inexcusable. Obviously the solution is to read and study the Bible more. But an indispensable part of that study is committing Scripture to memory. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." The way to store up God's Word in your heart is to memorize it.

Psalm 1 says the man is blessed who delights "in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night" (v.2). The word "meditate" in Hebrew means literally to "groan" or "utter". The idea is that of a person going over and over in his mind some portion of God's Word, muttering it to himself as he does. Here you see the close connection between meditation and memorization. Memorizing Scripture is really forced meditation. As you say the same words over and over, they become fixed both in your heart and mind.

This is one great value of a diligent and consistent effort to memorize Scripture - you are meditating on God's Word. And in the hustle and bustle and push and pull of our complicated, busy, distracted lives, if you don't plan to meditate on, and memorize, Scripture, it won't happen. In the parable of the sower, when Jesus spoke of the thorns that will choke the word that has been implanted in the heart, he said that they stand for, among other things, "the cares of the world" (Mark 4:19). As busy people taken up with all sorts of concerns and worries, we must take care lest the cares of the world leave no more room in our minds for thoughts of God. Thus, memorizing verses and passages will help you to ponder and meditate on God's Word. And, as Psalm 1 says, this is the way to be blessed.

Another benefit of memorizing Scripture is that once you commit a verse or passage to memory, it becomes yours; you own it. The Spirit will bring it to mind at just the right time to minister to you, or through you, to another. And that brings up another reason to commit Scripture to memory, especially for preachers. If you are a pastor, I am convinced that nothing will make your preaching and teaching ministry more effective over the long haul than a growing mastery of God's Word. When I preach or teach, or counsel, how I wish I knew the Bible better! Nothing lends weightiness to a minister's words than a well-chosen verse or passage that speaks right to the heart of a matter.

How do you go about memorizing Scripture? It helps if you are young! Children have an amazing capacity to memorize, and I am glad my kids are memorizing both Scripture and catechism (and, I have to give a hearty thanks to their Sunday School teachers, and to their mother, who regularly assign them Bible verses to memorize).

If you're not young, here is what works for me. I work on memorizing a larger passage at the same time as three or four different verses. Right now, I am trying to memorize Psalm 119 and at the same time various New Testament verses. I work on Bible memorization 15 minutes at a time, using 3 X 5 note cards. I don't get to it every day, and there will be stretches of days or even weeks at a time when I don't work on memorization (it's a lot like physical exercise that way). But the beautiful thing about memorizing Scripture is, it is always time well spent. And diligence and consistency will pay big dividends.

Now, I will say the following not in order to boast, but to show that it is possible even for someone with average intelligence to memorize a large portion of Scripture: while I was serving as a one-year pastoral intern, I memorized the entire book of Romans. All 16 chapters. I did it for one hour of seminary credit, but the real benefit was getting into Romans, and getting Romans into me. I couldn't recite it now, but the exercise was still worth every minute I put into it.

Paul says in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." One sure way to have Christ's Word indwelling in you richly, is to commit it to memory. Memorizing is hard work - it is grunt work! - but it is never wasted time.