Words of the Wise Incline your ear, and hear
the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it
will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are
ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made
them known to you today, even to you. Have I not written for you thirty
sayings of counsel and knowledge, to
make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? (Proverbs
22:17-21, ESV.)
1.
MEMORIZING GOD’S WORD—BENEFITS AND METHODS
The rapidity with which a man grows spiritually and
the extent to which he grows, depends upon this discipline. It is the
discipline of the means.
Many Christians look on the Spiritual Discipline of
memorizing God’s Word as something tantamount to modern-day martyrdom. Ask them
to memorize Bible verses and they react with about as much eagerness as a
request for volunteers to face Nero’s lions. How come? Perhaps because many associate
all memorization with the memory efforts required of them in school. It was
work, and most of it was uninteresting and of limited value. Frequently heard,
also, is the excuse of having a bad memory. But what if I offered you 10K for
every verse, what could memorize in the next seven days? Do you think your
attitude toward Scripture memory and your ability to memorize would improve?
Any financial reward would be minimal when compared to the accumulating value
of the treasure of God’s Word deposited within your mind.
1.1.
Why should you
memorize Scripture?
1.1.1.
Memorization
Supplies Spiritual Power
When Scripture is stored in the mind, it is
available for the Holy Spirit to take and bring to your attention when you need
it most. That’s why the author of Psalm 119 wrote, “I have
hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (v. 11). It’s one thing, for instance,
to be watching or thinking about something when you know you shouldn’t, but
there’s added power against the temptation when a specific verse can be brought
to your mind, like Colossians 3:2: “Set
your minds on the things above, not on earthly things.”
When the Holy Spirit brings a definite verse to
mind like that, it’s an illustration of what Ephesians 6:17 can mean when it
refers to “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” A pertinent
scriptural truth, brought to your awareness by the Holy Spirit at just the
right moment, can be the weapon that makes the difference in a spiritual
battle.
There is no better illustration than Jesus’
confrontation with Satan in the lonely Judean wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Each
time the Enemy thrust a temptation at Jesus, He parried it with the sword of
the Spirit. It was the Spirit-prompted recollection of specific texts of
Scripture that helped Jesus experience victory. One of the ways we can
experience more spiritual victories is to do as Jesus did—memorize Scripture so
that it’s available for the Holy Spirit to take and ignite within us when it’s
needed.
1.2.
Memorization
Strengthens Your Faith
Want your faith strengthened? What Christian
doesn’t? One thing you can do to strengthen it is to discipline yourself to
memorize Scripture. Let’s walk through Proverbs 22:17-19,
To “apply
your mind” to the “words of the wise”
spoken of here and to “keep them within
you” certainly pertains to Scripture memory. Notice the reason given here
for keeping the wise words of Scripture within you and “ready on your lips.”
It’s “so
that your trust may be in the Lord.” Memorizing Scripture strengthens
your faith because it repeatedly reinforces the truth, often just when you need
to hear it again.
1.3.
Memorization and
Witnessing and Counseling
On the Day of Pentecost (the Jewish holiday being
celebrated when the Holy Spirit first came to dwell within Christians), the
Apostle Peter was suddenly inspired by God to stand and preach to the crowd
about Jesus. Much of what he said consisted of quotations from the Old
Testament (see Acts 2:14-40). His experience illustrates how Scripture memory
can prepare us for unexpected witnessing or counseling opportunities that come
our way.
1.4.
A Means of God’s
Guidance
The psalmist wrote, “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors” (Psalm
119:24). Just as the Holy Spirit retrieves scriptural truth from our memory
banks for use in counseling others, so also will He bring it to our own minds
in providing timely guidance for ourselves.
1.5.
Memorization
Stimulates Meditation
One of the most underrated benefits of memorizing
Scripture is that it provides fuel for meditation. When you have memorized a
verse of Scripture, you can meditate on it anywhere at anytime during the day
or night. If you love God’s Word enough to memorize it, you can become like the
writer of Psalm 119:97, who exclaimed, “Oh,
how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” Whether you’re walking
or driving the car, riding on the matatu, waiting at the airport, queuing in
bank, rocking a baby, or eating a meal, you can benefit from the Spiritual
Discipline of meditation if you have made the deposits of memorization. How do
we go about filling our personal spiritual arsenal with a supply of swords for
the Holy Spirit to use?
1.2. How You Can Memorize Scripture
Most people think they have a bad memory, but it’s
not true. Most of the time memorizing is mainly a problem of motivation. If you
know your birthday, phone number, and address, and can remember the names of
your friends, then you can memorize Scripture. The question becomes whether you
are willing to discipline yourself to do it.
When Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, was converted
to faith in Christ in 1926, he began memorizing one Bible verse every day. He
was driving a truck for a lumberyard in Los Angeles at the time. While driving
around town he would work on his verse for that day. During the first three
years of his Christian life he memorized his first thousand verses. If he could
memorize over three hundred verses a year while driving, surely we can find
ways to memorize a few.
1.1.
Have a Plan
There are several good prepackaged Scripture memory
plans available in Christian bookstores. But you might prefer selecting verses
on a particular topic where the Lord is working in your life right now. If your
faith is weak, memorize verses on faith. If you’re struggling with a habit,
find verses that would help you experience victory over it. One man told Dawson
Trotman that he was afraid that following his example of Scripture memory would
make him prideful. Trotman’s reply: “Then make your first ten verses on
humility!” Another option is to memorize a section of Scripture, such as a
psalm, rather than isolated verses.
2.1.
Write Out the
Verses
Make a list of the verses on a sheet of paper or
write each one on a separate index card.
3.1.
Draw Picture
Reminders
Nothing elaborate here, just a few lines or stick
figures beside each verse. But this makes the verse “visual” and puts the
picture-is-worth-a-thousand- words principle to work for you. One simple
picture can remind you of a couple dozen words. This is especially true if the
drawing illustrates some action described in the verse. For instance, with
Psalm 119:11, you might make a crude drawing of a heart with a Bible inside to
remind you of treasuring God’s Word in the heart. For Ephesians 6:17, a sketch
of a sword is an obvious reminder. You’ll find this method particularly helpful
when memorizing a section of consecutive verses. I realize that you are
probably no more of an artist than I am, but no one else has to see the
pictures and they can make Scripture memory easier.
4.1.
Memorize the
Verses Word-Perfectly
There’s a great temptation, especially when first
learning a verse, to lower this standard. Don’t settle for just getting close,
or getting the “main idea.” Memorize it word for word and learn the reference,
too. Without an objective standard of measurement, the goal is unclear and you
may tend to continue lowering the standard until you quit altogether. More-
over, if you don’t have the verse memorized exactly, you lose confidence in
using it in conversation and witnessing. So even though memorizing “every jot
and tittle” is harder in the beginning, it’s easier and more productive in the
long run. Incidentally, verses you know word-perfectly are easier to review
than those you don’t know so accurately.
5.1.
Find a Method of
Accountability
Because of our tendency toward sloth, most of us
need more account- ability on Scripture memory than on other Disciplines. And
the busier we are, the more we tend to excuse ourselves from this commitment.
Some, like Dawson Trotman, have developed personalized means of accountability
to this Discipline that keep them faithful. Most Christians, however, are more
consistent when they meet or talk regularly with someone else—not always
another Christian—with whom they review their verses.
6.1.
Review and
Meditate Every Day
No principle of Scripture memory is more important
than the principle of review. Without adequate review you will eventually lose
most of what you memorize. But once you really learn a verse, you can mentally
review it in a fraction of the time it would take to speak it. And when you
know a verse this well, you don’t have to review but once a week, once a month,
or even once every six months to keep a sharp edge on it. It’s not unusual,
however, to reach a point where you spend 80 percent of your Scripture memory
time in review. Don’t begrudge devoting so much time to polishing your swords.
Rejoice instead at having so many!
A great time to review your better-known verses is
while going to sleep. Since you don’t need a written copy of the verses before
you, you can repeat them and meditate on them while dozing off or even when you
have trouble sleeping. And if you can’t stay awake, it’s fine, since you’re
supposed to be sleeping anyway. If you can’t go to sleep, you’re putting the
most profitable and peaceful information possible into your mind, as well as
making good use of the time. The goal is to memorize the Word of God so that it
can transform our minds and our lives.
Dallas Willard said in this regard, “As a pastor,
teacher, and counselor I have repeatedly seen the transformation of inner and
outer life that comes simply from memorization and meditation upon Scripture.
Personally, I would never undertake to pastor a church or guide a program of
Christian education that did not involve a continuous program of memorization
of the choicest passages of Scripture for people of all ages.”
Donald Whitney's book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Navpress
If you are really interested in pursuit of holiness you find if here
www.BiblicalSpirituality.org
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