Table of Contents
An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture
2014 Dr. Andrew M. Davis
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eISBN: 978-1-62020-379-8
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Scripture Memorization Commanded
Welcome to the rich and challenging journey of extended memorization of Scripture! You are about to embark on one of the most searching and rewarding exercises of spiritual and mental labor anyone could ever attempt: the memorizing of whole chapters and books of the Bible. This effort will challenge you to the depths of your being. Not simply because memorizing is hard work (it is), but because the verses themselves will search your souls with the light of Gods perfect Word. Some days memorizing is harder than others, and it gets harder as you get older and busier. But the rewards of knowledge of Gods Word and of growing intimacy with Christ will make all your labor in the face of these challenges worthwhile.
As you face the challenges of extended memorization, it is good to know whether God is commanding you to do this. Scripture is very clear that God does not want us to innovate when it comes to pleasing Him: He wants simple obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Jesus said If you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15). Now the incredible beauty of the Christian life is that we learn that the Lord will enable us to keep all His commands by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 36:27 promises that God will put His Spirit in us and move us to follow His commands and be careful to keep His laws. If this is so, the amazing power of the New Covenant in Christ is that Gods commands become promises of what He will do in our lives by His Spirit.
So, has God commanded us to memorize Scripture? Yes, I believe He has in many places, and that Scripture encourages memorization in other places. Lets look at some key passages.
In John 15, Jesus likens Himself to a vine and believers as branches that must abide (or live, dwell, remain) in Him in order to stay alive and be fruitful. In John 15:7-8, Jesus gets even more specific, saying that if we remain in Him and His words (plural!) remain/live/dwell/abide in us, then we may ask whatever we wish and it will be given to us.
John 15:7-8 If you remain in me and my words remain in you , ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
This is the essence of the fruitfulness by which we will both glorify God and prove that we are Jesus disciples. But what does it mean to have Jesus words (plural!) remaining/living/dwelling/abiding in us? It means at least that we can remember them. More than that, it means that they are captivating our minds and hearts, multiplying and spreading like yeast within us, dominating our heart more and more. It is hard for me to see how this can be done as fully as Jesus intends apart from memorization.
Similar to this passage is Pauls commandment to the Colossians:
Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God (emphasis mine).
How can we obey this commandment fully apart from memorization? By saturating our minds with the Word of God, and by continually keeping it in front of us, we may obey Pauls words here.
Along with these verses come some from the Old Testament which speak of Gods people meditating on Gods Word day and night. Before the invention of the moveable type printing press by Gutenburg in 1439, Bibles were copied by hand and extremely expensive. Only a small percentage of Gods people would have had their own copies of Gods Word. So to meditate day and night on a passage meant to have memorized it:
Psalm 1:1-3 - Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night . He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (emphasis mine).
Joshua 1:8 - Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night , so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (emphasis mine).
Psalm 119:97 - Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long (emphasis mine).
Psalm 119:148 - My eyes stay open through the watches of the night , that I may meditate on your promises (emphasis mine).
It is the same for us today, even in our blessed age in which the Word of God is so readily accessible to so many of Gods people. Meditating on Scripture continually (day and night or all day long) is very difficult without memorization.
Some passages in Proverbs speak of storing up Gods commands within us:
Proverbs 2:1-6 - My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you , turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding (emphasis mine).
Proverbs 7:1-3 - My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you . Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart (emphasis mine).
If you read these two passages carefully, they seem to lead directly to the discipline of memorization. What does it mean to store up Gods commands within you apart from memorizing them? The second passage speaks of writing the teachings of God on the tablet of your heart. That seems like memorization to me!
Perhaps one of the best known verses on memorization comes from Psalm 119, that marvelous and complex poem of praise for the perfection of Gods Holy Word. In verse 9, we have a clear recommendation of memorization, coupled with a powerful motivepersonal holiness:
Psalm 119:11 - I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
So also Deuteronomy 6 commands Jewish fathers to have Gods word upon their hearts and to sharpen them (the literal Hebrew word translated, impress):
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 - These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress (lit. sharpen) them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
If you read these vital words carefully, the strong sense of memorization will come clearly to the fore. What does it mean to have these commandments (plural!) upon our hearts? I am not saying that memorization is sufficient to fulfill this, but it may well be necessaryor at least helpful! And how can you talk about the commands of God so continually with your children while walking along the road if you cant recite their content? The word impress (sharpen) implies a continually repeated hearing of Gods commands... its going on all the time. Again, that points to memorization.
