Memory Is a Melody Away!

When my children were small, they delighted in listening to a set of children’s tapes called GT and the Halo Express.  These stories and songs lulled them to sleep at night and  kept them company on long car trips.  Because of those tapes, both of the children easily learned a number of Bible verses.  Why?  Those verses were put to catchy tunes that were easily sung. 

I was raised on the hymns of the faith, and I know by heart the words to songs like these:

 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee…

What can wash away my sin?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus…

Amazing love!  How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?...

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!...

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame…

Nursery rhymes set to song bubble up from my subconscious every once in a while, and I can still sing/chant the words to a high school football cheer from my teen years!  And those commercial jingles from another era of television—well, just start with the first word or two, and I’m off and running with the words and tune (think “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!”).  Is there any one of us who cannot sing the alphabet (a, b, c, d, e, f, g….)?

Why are these words so easily retrieved from my memory?  I believe it is because there was a melody to go with them—an underlying tune that helped imprint, so to speak, the words in my brain.  The tune helps me learn the words in the first place and it helps me to retrieve those same words from my long-term memory.

Is it possible to apply this principle to memorizing and retaining Bible verses? 

I found several sites on the internet that specialize in putting Scripture to music and then making it available for us to download or buy.  Here is a sampling of those sites:

http://www.biblememorymusic.com/ 

http://www.scripturesongs.net/

http://www.theblazingcenter.com/category/free-scripture-song

http://www.joyfulnoisescripture.org/

http://thewordinmusic.com/music/default.htm

Scripture put to music for children:

http://www.gthalo.com/

http://www.seedsmusicstore.com/

Have you ever thought about incorporating music into your Scripture memory work?  Make up a melody to go with your newest verses, or use an existing tune and give it new words from Scripture to help you remember, retain, and recall. 

Using Topics for Memorization and Review

It’s difficult for me to pass by books even when I’m grocery shopping, so when I stopped to look at a revolving display rack at Wegman’s and saw a slim and inexpensive volume simply titled Bible Memory Plan, I knew I wanted to buy it.

The premise of this book, by Pamela McQuade, is that anyone who wants to memorize Bible verses can do it, by starting slowly with short verses and building gradually to longer passages.  McQuade challenges readers to memorize one verse per week for an entire year, verses which she has pre-selected; each verse is labeled with a general category, and tips and encouragement for memorizing are included for each week. 

The author assigns a topic to each verse she suggests memorizing; Christian life, our God, salvation, God’s word, faith, and seeking God are the six categories she uses. This is my third year of systematically memorizing Scripture, and I have never thought to put my verses into categories like this for the purposes of reviewing or memorizing.  I think this is a great idea!

Here is an example from each category:

Christian Life—For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Phil. 4:13 (NLT)

            God’s Word--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Ps. 119:105 (KJV)

            Our God—It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

2 Sam. 22:33 (NIV)

Faith—So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17 (KJV)

Salvation—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

            I John 1:9 (NIV)

Seeking God—Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

            Matt. 7:7-8 (NIV)

If these classifications don’t fit you, why not make up your own topic list and label your verses accordingly.  I can think of other possibilities, such as promises to claim, sins to avoid, commands to follow, prayers to pray, the Holy Spirit, and prophecy.  Use your personal topics to help you review your verses and relate them to each other, which should give you another “hook” to help you remember them.

           

In the past, I have reviewed my verses in the order I memorized them, or in the order of their appearance in the Bible; I even made an alphabetical list of first words and/or phrases to force myself to come up with the rest of the verses and their references.  I have used the last few cards of my spiral to make an index or table of contents for the year’s verses and used that to help prompt my memory.  I don’t intend to forsake my former tried-and-true methods of reviewing, but now I have a new tool to add to my repertoire—topics!