Day 4: Memorize

Many of us think of Scripture memorization as what you do as a child. In my case, as I grew older, I continued to read Scripture daily, but I gave up this practice of memorization. I came of age with Google. Why put in all that work?

But in recent years, I have come full circle to realize what the wise ones of the Way of Jesus have long said: This practice, of storing the truth of Scripture deep in your body, isn’t one you mature beyond or you can hack with an app or website. If anything, it becomes more important as we make progress in our spiritual journey.

And you see this in the life of Jesus. Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 27. Let’s read what were — in Matthew’s version — Jesus’ final words before his death.

Pick up in verse 45: “From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

You may not know this, but Jesus’ final words — “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — are a quote from Psalm 22. Some people misread this line to mean Jesus is doubting God, or denying his faith. Not at all.

Turn to Psalm 22. Look at verse one: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

Look at verse 7: “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Sound familiar? In Matthew’s narrative, they mock Jesus like this as he’s dying.

Verse 16 “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.”

Ring a bell?

Verse 18: “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

This is exactly what happens to Jesus on the cross; the soldiers cast lots for his robe.

But then David’s prophecy of the Messianic king shifts gears inverse 23:

“You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”

Do you see the parallels between this prophecy and Jesus’ story?

His quote of Psalm 22 was a Hebrew practice called a remez, where a Rabbi would quote the first line of a well-known passage, and expect his listeners to call the entire passage to mind from their memory.

This is what Jesus is doing. He is drawing to mind Psalm 22, this thousand-year-old prophecy of the coming Messiah’s death, and gaining strength from its literary power for himself and his followers to stand and face the cross and come out the other side.

This practice of absorbing key passages of Scripture so deeply into our body that they begin to take up residence in our inner woman or man is called memorization.

And if Jesus needed to put Scripture to memory, how much more so do you and I?

And if you’re thinking, “That sounds like a lot of work,” and again, “I have Google.” Let me just name a few examples of what memorization can do that digital tools cannot.

It’s a way to:

1. Hear God’s voice. So many people I know wish God would speak to them, but they do not realize that one of the main ways God “speaks” to us is by bringing Scriptures to our minds.

2. Renew our mind. What we think about is so incredibly important. The problem is, without something good, beautiful, and true to direct our mind toward, we default to negative rumination. And I know of no better way to fill your mind with what is true, noble, right, and pure than to memorize Scripture.

3. Resist temptation. Think of when Jesus was in the wilderness. When he was tempted by the devil, what did he do? He quoted Scripture. The Desert Fathers and Mothers took this story very seriously. They used to memorize a long list of Scriptures, and whenever that particular lie or temptation would come to mind, like Jesus, they would just calmly counter it with a truth from Scripture.

4. Draw on God’s strength in seasons of pain and suffering. It’s hard to comfort yourself well during suffering in real-time; you need to have it in you beforehand. You see this in Jesus on the cross. When he was under pressure, when he was squeezed, what came out of him? Scripture. And he was able to draw on his inner library to face the cross with joy.

Do you see why memorization is such an important tool in our spiritual formation?

I hope that over the last four days, it’s become clear to you: Scripture isn’t just a book or a library, it’s a key mechanism of how we are formed.

So tomorrow morning as you rise, may you meet Jesus on every page.