“but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)
Read: Psalm 1
Devotion: When I was in high school, I always hated when my math teachers would ban the use of calculators on tests. This oppressive rule would almost always come with the explanation that we won’t always have a calculator handy, so we needed to be able to manually do whatever level of math we were currently in.
Even though this was before the advent of the smartphone, calculators were still pretty portable, so I would always think, “When would there ever be a time when I couldn’t reasonably access a calculator to help me do a simple math problem? Am I going to be stuck on a desert island or get put on a game show?” After all, I thought calculators were invented so that we didn’t have to concern ourselves with the mechanics of rudimentary math. Looking back, my inward protests were really just a product of laziness in not wanting to put in the modicum of extra effort that it took to show my work on those math problems. I believe a similar resistance occurs with Bible memorization.
With the invention and proliferation of the printing press—and now more so with Bible apps—the Scriptures have never been more accessible to the believer (in most places). We modern believers, at least in the West, can easily take the blessing of having a personal Bible for granted. We not only have the Bible in our own language; we can access it in several different reliable translations in that language with various font sizes and portability that was unheard of in church history until roughly two hundred years ago.
For example, I personally own at least five English Bibles, two Greek New Testaments, and a Hebrew Old Testament. On top of that, I have a Bible app on my phone. Martin Luther and the other Reformers could only dream of the access that we have to the Bible. I literally have twenty-four hour access to the Bible wherever I am. And so, the thought can grow, “Why would I bother trying to memorize verses when I can just pull out my Bible at any time?” Memorizing Scripture can be frustrating and difficult. It takes time, it’s really repetitive saying the same verse over and over again out loud in my mind, and if I don’t regularly practice reciting the verse after I’ve memorized it, I’ll forget it.
So why memorize Scripture? First, Christians should continually cultivate a heart that treasures the Scriptures. The heart that treasures the Scriptures is the heart of righteous man in Psalm 1. It’s the attitude of God’s people. How can we, who have been saved through the word of God (1 Pet 1:23-25), not want that same word percolating in our minds day and night? Shouldn’t we want more of God’s Word, not less of it?
Second, we need that word to be in our minds so that it can have its effect. As the righteous man of Psalm 1 did, we need to think deeply on the word as often as we can. Through the transforming power of the word, we won’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. We’ll instead be like a tree planted by a stream of water: steadfast, growing, bursting with life.
“But,” you might object, “can’t that be done just through reading our Bibles? Why add an extra step in memorizing it?”
This question brings us to the third reason. Even with the near limitless access we have to the Bible today, it isn’t limitless nor is it guaranteed to be this accessible in the future. Did you know that even in Silicon Valley there are places without electricity and cell reception? There are plenty of forests and other hiking trails that have neither. What if you’re hiking and nature reminds you of a particular verse that would edify you if you read it, but you forgot to charge your phone? Or you left your phone and Bible in the car? There’s not as much edification for you if you didn’t previously memorize that passage or verse. Or think about your work or school day. There have been countless times that I have been encouraged or even convicted by a verse that the Holy Spirit recalls to my mind as I’m just working. That couldn’t have happened if I hadn’t memorized those verses.
And then, finally, what if you go on a mission trip or the country you are living in starts restricting your religious liberties? There are plenty of scenarios that we can imagine where we might not have easy access to the written of God. So why not be proactive now, while we do have access, in making sure that we will always have access by having it in our minds? Let us be the righteous believer of Psalm 1 who meditates on the Scriptures day and night.
Ponder and Pray: Write down any verses you’ve memorized. If you don’t have any verses memorized, try memorizing one today. Finish your time by thanking God for his word and praying for his word to saturate your minds.
