Do you memorize "verses"?

[Neighbor]

Do I memorize verses? No I do not. I read books of the Bible and try to find copies that do not impose numbers, stars, cross references, in the middle of the writing. I don't even like the so called chapter breaks.

Why (?) well verses,to me, can and do become mere slogans. I want the joy of the full product, not a slogan or jingle about it.  A verse mentioned that brings to mind the fuller message  in a book well that is nice, but that requires an audience that has read and practiced life  right out of the book.

Isolate a verse and  one can find another that in isolation seems to counter it's slogan; but put them in full book context, wow they are consistent and powerful!

The Bible, as I understand it, is a two volume encyclopedia of books with God's inspired words fully developed for mankind, not a listing of isolated jingles to defend one's point of view and feel good about it.

So no I do not memorize  verses. 

 

INCOMING!

p.s. -Now the Bible man, hey he is pretty cool. Memorizing entire books is a bit of a cool thing!

 

[farouk]

I think it can be helpful to memorize verses of Scripture.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119.11)

[Sower]

31 minutes ago, farouk said:

I think it can be helpful to memorize verses of Scripture.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119.11)

I think I understand where you are coming from Neighbor. Simply reading the bible is nice, pleasant.
Like a story book unfolding. Memorizing the word is work, but the results are gratifying, eternal.

Memorizing scripture is only one of the many ways used at home/church for the children/youth/adults.

That's the very verse I was heading for, farouk. I repeat it daily in my prayers,
combined with another verse in Psalms 119, and Proverbs 3:5-6

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."     Psalm 119.11

" a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"    Psalm 119:105

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths"   Proverbs 3:5-6
 

My mentor several decades back introduced me to the  Bible Memory Association, or BMA.
Small pocket sized booklets with scripture verses. I started on page one and started 'downloading' into my heart.

Many different versions, adult/children, personal issues and witnessing etc.
Years later I met the founder of  the  Bible Memory Association, N. A. Woychuk, at a home school book swap at church.
He started the association in 1944, was pretty old then, and I let him know how his booklets had helped me to grow.
70yrs of helping people store God's word within. I wished I hadn't given away so many of them as they went out of print.
But you never know where/who the seeds of truth may land...

Thanks farouk..

[Still Alive]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

Do I memorize verses? No I do not. I read books of the Bible and try to find copies that do not impose numbers, stars, cross references, in the middle of the writing. I don't even like the so called chapter breaks.

Why (?) well verses,to me, can and do become mere slogans. I want the joy of the full product, not a slogan or jingle about it.  A verse mentioned that brings to mind the fuller message  in a book well that is nice, but that requires an audience that has read and practiced life  right out of the book.

Isolate a verse and  one can find another that in isolation seems to counter it's slogan; but put them in full book context, wow they are consistent and powerful!

The Bible, as I understand it, is a two volume encyclopedia of books with God's inspired words fully developed for mankind, not a listing of isolated jingles to defend one's point of view and feel good about it.

So no I do not memorize  verses. 

 

INCOMING!

p.s. -Now the Bible man, hey he is pretty cool. Memorizing entire books is a bit of a cool thing!

 

Holy cow, I could have posted that. i.e. I completely agree. The main advantage of chapters and verses, to me, is solely to quickly idenfity a verse when in conversation with people. It makes it easy to find a part. But yeah, I prefer to read a version with none of the breaks. And context is everything.

I'm starting a sunday school class where we tackle one epistle a week. we'll see if that works (with the exception of Romans - too long for this format). 

Anyway, the way it will work is first we will talk about who wrote the epistle. Who they wrote it to, and why they wrote it, looking to issues they were trying to solve, or perhaps instruct (as in the Timothy epistles). Second, I'll ask the class to imagine they are that person or church to which the epistle was written and ask them to try to put themselves into their shoes, culture, etc. I'll then read the epistle from cover to cover, with no called out verses or chapter breaks, as I expect would have been done back in the day when it was received. I'm using the ESV and will actually print off pages from the internet with no chapter or verse breaks. 

Then discussion time. I'll ask what, if any, things about the epistle jumped out to them that they never noticed before. It will be interesting to see if this works. Most of the epistles can be read in under 15 minutes, even if I avoid rushing. 

I'm hoping that it will increase understanding of context.

[RdJ]

I have learned a few. Maybe 10. Once with a Bible school cause we had to. And with a youth group we had to learn Genesis Exodus etc. That's handy. But in church they always said: learn texts with the reference and I hated that to just stomp it in your head as if it's dumb homework you spit out once at an exam and forget the rest of your life. The Holy Spirit can just bring texts up if you have read or heard them.

What I have very often is: A text pops up. Sometimes the whole text, sometimes a part. I Google it. You get the whole text with reference. It would be handy to memorize if you were locked in a prison without a computer and a Bible. With a phone now always nearby I'm glad I was too lazy.

But Corrie ten Boom was happy that she had done it. She did also smuggle a little Bible in though.

 

I do like it when it's a song. Oh how's that text again? Ah of course that song.

Edited June 11, 2024 by RdJ

[Marathoner]

Do I memorize verses?

No. 

[Logostician]

I memorize verses without trying to memorize them.  They just stick in my mind because they stick in my heart and soul. Everyone who has read the Bible can recite John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Maybe they won't get every word right.  And every translation has slightly different wording.  It's not an exercise of the mind alone.  It is an exercise of the heart, mind, and soul.  Which brings to mind another verse I have memorized:

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

I can literally do this all day.  Verse after verse will come to me, because it's all God's revelation of himself to us.

And this brings to mind another verse about how powerful the word of God is.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[Tristen]

I don't ritually set out to "memorize verses". However, sometimes I will find a verse that I want to remember correctly - and so go over it several times to make sure I remember it right.

I also like to read scripture out loud. I find that puts the pattern of the words in my brain a bit more securely - as well as the context. It's like remembering a poem, or a song after hearing it over and over - i.e. getting to know how each phrase fits into the overall structure of the narrative.

 

[warrior12]

Yes. I struggle to get it completely right at times, but it is good to have scripture in memory. Why ?, when warfare comes knocking, you learn to use the weapons of our warfare, that is the word.   It is part of the armor that we are  told to be put on as a believer, see Ephesians 6.  Plus use it as a praise and worship in whatever manner and circumstances you may be in.

[Neighbor]

Hi, Taking a line from Psalm 119  is a great example of why one might want to know the entirety  of this particular acrostic  psalm, the psalmist David plus  when and under what circumstance it was written and why. Otherwise the excerpt once isolated from  the full longest  and  perhaps grandest of the Psalms to sing is rather shallow by comparison. Taken by itself I wonder am I  to hide the word of God, not share of it? Is it a sin to share of it?

One fun example is;  "The LORD is my Shepherd I shall not want." Really? Why would you not want the LORD as your shepherd?

p.s. The internet is sooo slooow right now that I cannot acknowledge the posts of others right now. I am finding them interesting and enlightening ,but can't quote nor  stamp them with a thumbs up or interesting.