At the National Bible Bee Competition in 2019, I remember sitting to the left of the stage, the lights swiveling to center stage, the music climaxing. When asked to recite Psalm 119:17-48, Josephine Haab proceeded to proclaim the passage so passionately that many in the room were moved to tears. She went on to win the grand prize for the senior division but far more impressive was her evident love for God’s Word.
She inspired me to memorize Psalm 119 as I started college, a daunting passage but a powerful one memorized by believers throughout history. From Martin Luther to David Livingstone, Psalm 119 has had a tremendous impact on those who commit it to memory. The story of William Wilberforce, a 19th century British abolitionist, reciting Psalm 119 on his walk home from work encouraged me to listen to the passage on my drive to work.
But often when you’re memorizing long passages and trying to keep synonyms straight – Psalm 119 is a constant struggle between precepts, testimonies, statutes, ordinances, and so on – it can be challenging to persist to the finish line.
So Why Should We Memorize Scripture?
Scripture memorization is just one of many areas in life where it’s important to know the why behind what you’re doing. If you have the right motivation, you can remind yourself of the importance and value of your goal. If you don’t have a strong purpose in it, the inspiration and good intentions can fade away.
So why do we memorize Scripture? Is it for quick recall of an answer on a test? Is it to avoid having to skip a passage during oral recitations? Is it to have a chance at a cash prize? Is it to impress people around us? I pray that’s not the case!
Psalm 119 gives us several reasons why we should commit Scripture to memory. For anyone who seeks to memorize this passage, there are timely reminders of its value and treasure in each section. Here are five of those reasons that should encourage us to memorize Scripture:
To Know and Love God More
Several times through Psalm 119, the Hebrew word dāraš is used, which is translated to seek and is used to describe searching for the Lord. Strong’s Concordance defines it as, “to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by implication, to seek or ask; specifically to worship”. God promises that when we seek Him, we will find Him when we search for Him (dāraš) with all our heart, learning to love Him more deeply. When we frequently dāraš the Lord in His word and in worship, we step more fully into a knowledge of Him and a relationship with Him. As we meditate on memorized Scripture, we think of God in the terms and words by which He describes and defines Himself. In his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer exhorts,
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
If, when we are thinking about God, we think of Scripture that describes Him and His glory, we are cultivating a right view of God and a love for who He says He is.
To Show Us the Way
How often we want to know the way, where we are going, how we are getting there, what the next step is. We want to walk in God’s will and like Thomas in John 14, we ask, “How do we know the way?” Because we live in the New Testament world, we know that Jesus declares that Thomas already knows the way because he knows Jesus and Jesus is the way.
In the Old Testament, the question is asked, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” The answer found in Psalm 119 is, “by keeping it according to Your word.” From mentions of the faithful way to condemnation of the false way, the psalmist tells of his ways to the Lord and prays that the Lord would show His way clearly.
When we come to a decision in which way we should direct our steps, we can turn to the testimonies of the Lord. The Scripture we memorize can shed light on our path when we need to take the next step, revealing the guidance of the Lord through passages brought to mind. He establishes our steps so that, “Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.”
To Comfort and Prepare Us
A beautiful progression is woven throughout the psalm, beginning when the psalmist is agonized by his affliction and seeks comfort in verses 49 and 82, “My eyes fail with longing for Your word while I say, ‘When will you comfort me?’”
Over the course of the chapter, he begins to realize that before his affliction, he didn’t delight in God’s law but thanks to the struggles he went through, he has learned the faithfulness of God through His word.
When trials come, our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, uses verses we have memorized to console our souls. These reminders of truth provide incomprehensible peace and restore indescribable joy.
To Keep Us From Sin
When we have Scripture memorized, it is often used to convict us when we are tempted to sin. It also gives us strength to defy temptation, as Jesus Himself used Scripture to reject the taunts of Satan in Matthew 4. Even though Satan misused Scripture against Jesus, the rightly used word of God was stronger. A professor at my school once said, “My greatest fear in life is that Satan would know the word of God better than I do.” When we study and memorize the word of God, we sharpen our sword of the Spirit, which is living and active.
Instilling in us a fear of the Lord and a desire for His righteous ways, Scripture keeps us from falling into pits and snares of sin. In stark contrast to His word, we see wickedness for what it is: dross in comparison to fine gold.
To Encourage and Edify Others
When we are speaking to others, we are encouraged by Peter to do so, “as one who is speaking the utterances of God”. How much better it is to simply speak the utterances of God in Scripture through the verses we have memorized! We can speak truth into others’ lives and circumstances directly from the Bible, which is far better than any advice we could offer on our own. In Psalm 119, the psalmist talks about how he is a companion of those who fear the Lord and how they turn to him. Even those who already know the word of the Lord can be encouraged by reminders of Scripture. We also have opportunities to proclaim and praise the testimonies of the Lord in the presence of unbelievers, and we must be ready for those opportunities by keeping the word of truth in our hearts and mouths.
As I look back over college and evaluate all the things I have done, I am sure of one thing: the time spent memorizing the word of God was never wasted but was rather the best investment throughout my four years. The Lord has taught me more through His word than I could ever learn in school, and Psalm 119 is greater and more lasting reward than any diploma I could obtain. Whether it’s National Bible Bee Competition season or not, I pray that you will be ready in season and out of season, compelled by these reasons in Psalm 119 to commit God’s word to memory. Time spent in the word of God will never return void and will never be a regret!
Written by NBB Alumna: Julia Cagasan
