An Invitation to Memorize God’s Word

Well, if you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to the middle of the Bible. You’ll be close to Psalms, and open to Psalm 119, Psalm 119.

I have a ton of ground to cover in a little bit of time today, so I’m going to dive right in with a question for every follower of Jesus. I want to ask you, are you currently memorizing God’s Word?

Obviously, I don’t mean the whole thing, but do you currently have a plan that you are implementing to memorize verses or chapters or books of the Bible?

Over the next few minutes, I want to build a case from God’s Word for why memorizing God’s Word to the extent that you are mentally able to do so is critical for your walk with Jesus.

I will never forget the moment when God showed me this in a memorable way, as a teenager. I was in a worship service. The guy leading musical worship, at one point, just put down his guitar, and he just quoted a chapter of the Bible, and was so powerful. I’d never heard anybody do that before. And afterward, a leader in the church pulled me aside and said, “David, if you commit to memorization of God’s Word, it will totally transform every facet of your life.”

And my life has never been the same since. It was a defining moment for me.

I don’t want to be presumptuous today because only the Spirit of God can make those moments happen, but I have prayed that today might be a defining moment for some of you, whether you’re a teenager, or younger, or young adult, or middle-age, or senior adult, whether you’re new to faith or you’ve been following Jesus for decades, including leaders or maybe even pastors in our church family, who are not currently implementing a plan for Scripture memorization. So, this is for all of us.

I’ll add, this is the overflow of fresh conviction in my own life of how I need to grow in this. So, at the end of our time, a few minutes from now, I’m going to put two questions before all of us. The first is, what challenging, attainable goal will you set for memorizing God’s Word over the next four months, so, between now and the end of the summer?

That’s obviously not to say, once you get to September, just stop memorizing God’s Word. I actually want to build a case for why followers of Jesus, to the extent where we’re mentally able to do so, would be wise to always be memorizing some portion of God’s Word, but I want to put a practical set period of time in your mind today.

So, what challenging, attainable goal can you set for memorizing certain verses over the next few months? Maybe it’s a verse a week, or every couple of weeks, or a couple of verses a week, or maybe it’s a chapter of the Bible, or a couple of chapters, or a book of the Bible. My encouragement is for you to set a challenging goal, realizing this is going to take work, but things that are worthwhile in our lives take work.

I want to show you, you’re not alone in this work. I want to show you that God wants to help you in this work, and you need others to help you. So, the other question I’m going to ask you at the end is, who will you share this goal with so that they can pray for you and encourage you along the way?

I want you to think about who you can enlist today or tomorrow to help you reach your goal of memorizing God’s Word by praying for you and encouraging you.

Now, if you’re not a follower of Jesus, you may think this is not for you, but while you may not be at a point where you’re ready to commit to memorize part of the Bible, I want to show you today why this book is worth memorizing. So, this is for all of us, whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not. In the next few minutes, I want to show you a few reasons. Actually that’s not completely accurate. In the next few minutes, I want to show you 50 reasons, so five zero. I want to show you 50 reasons why you would be wise to always be implementing a plan for Scripture memorization.

So, I told you. That’s what I meant when I was saying I have a ton to cover and a little bit of time. So, if you’re taking notes, get your pen or pencil or device ready. It’s going to be like sitting in front of a fire hydrant. I want you to walk away soaked from the next few minutes, and all 50 of these reasons are going to come straight from one chapter in God’s Word, Psalm 119, that just so happens to be in our church’s Bible reading this week. A week ago, I was not planning on us doing this today, but as we got into our Bible reading this week, I just sensed God saying camp out here. So today in our Bible reading, we’re actually finishing Psalm 119.

And I should mention, mcleanbible.org/biblereading. We’re reading, as a church family, through the whole Bible over the course of this year, and it’s always a good time to jump in or jump back in. But Psalm 119, it’s the longest chapter in the Bible. It’s 176 verses. It is a poetic masterpiece arranged around the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, that just exalts the wonder and the beauty of God’s Word.

I want to jump straight to verse 11. It’s one of the more well-known verses in the Bible. I tell you what, let’s just read it out loud together, at the same time. So, will you read this out loud with me. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Do you see this language? “I have stored up your Word in my heart…” How do you do that? And I think the answer to that question is obvious. You memorize it. You store it inside you. It’s what you do, which leads to a word we see all over this Psalm, meditate or meditation. I’ll show you just one example. Psalm 119:97, “Oh, how I love your law. It’s my meditation all the day.” And this picture of meditation is not like an Eastern search for inner peace by emptying your mind. This is actually filling your mind with God’s Word, just turning it over and over and over again, chewing on it, digesting it.

We’ve talked about this many times before. I’ve shared an acrostic, maps as a guide for reading the Bible. I actually put it into a small book that comes out this week, called How To Read the Bible: A Simple Guide to Intimacy with God. I meet so many Christians who are missing out on the treasure we have in God’s Word, on a daily basis, were missing out on life. So, it’s just a short little book that walks through a map that we’ve talked about before in our church family, for reading Scripture.

And the M stands for meditate and memorize because memorization is one of the most practical ways that we can meditate on Scripture. When you’re memorizing a verse, or a passage, or longer, you’re saying it over and over and over again, until it’s in you. It’s second nature to you. It’s a part of you. That’s the only way that God’s Word can be your meditation all the day, unless you’re carrying around your Bible and looking at it all day. This means you need God’s Word inside you, so you’re thinking about it, and you’re reciting it, and you’re remembering it all day long because, don’t miss this, because you love it. And that Word is so important.

Because the last thing I would want for you is to walk away today thinking, “I guess I’m supposed to memorize God’s Word to be a good Christian.” If that’s what you’re thinking after today, then you and I will both miss the point.

I want to show you 50 reasons so that you’re like, “Yes, I want this Word. I love it and all that it does. And I want to memorize and meditate on it all day long because I want all 50 of these benefits.”

So, without further ado, let’s dive in. If you’re taking notes, and you miss one or more of these reasons because I’m going too fast, which is probably going to happen. There’s no reason to get frustrated or mad at me. Our team is putting the whole list together. We’re going to send it out through enews this week or other means so you can have it, and you can always go back and watch, listen online as well. So, if you find yourself getting so focused on writing things down that you’re missing what God is saying, then just calmly put the pen and device down and just soak it in.

All right, here we go. Reason number one, to always be implementing a plan for Scripture memorization, one, because it will bring you true lasting happiness.

I’m just going to put the verse numbers from Psalm 119 in parentheses because we’re not going to have time to read them all. And all 50 of these reasons are going to begin with the word it, so it will always refer to having and implementing a plan for Scripture memorization. So, I exhort you to put that plan into practice at all times in your life because it will bring you true lasting happiness. And this is not me saying this, this is God saying this. It’s the first two verses of the Psalm. Verse one, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.” That word means happy, like true everlasting happiness. It’s how the whole Psalm starts. It’s actually how the whole book of Psalm starts. Look at Psalm 1:1.

“Blessed is the man,” same word, “who walks not in the counsel of wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law…” He does what?

He meditates day and night. So, if you delight in the Word of God, and you meditate on it, you think about it, you turn it over and over in your mind, you soak it in day and night, then you will experience true everlasting happiness.

Need I say more? I don’t need 49 more reasons, right? Is this not enough? Who of us does not want true lasting happiness?

We all want that.

Every one of us, no matter what age stage we are in life, we want true lasting happiness. And God is saying, “I want this for you.”

“And the way to get it is through meditating on my Word day and night.”

So, the other 49 reasons are essentially an explanation of what this happiness looks like in action. So, number two, “It will help you experience freedom from and victory over sin.” This is the verse we read together out loud a moment ago, “I have stored up your Word in my heart, memorized it so that,” purpose, “I might not sin against you.” This Word stored in my heart helps me experience victory over sin. A couple of verses before that, in verse nine, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word.” So, my way can be pure when it’s guarded by your Word, which can’t happen if your Word is not in me.

Just think Jesus, when he was tempted by the devil three times, in Matthew 4. All three times, what did he do in response? He quoted Scripture. You and I are powerless in our battles with temptation and sin, if we’re fighting without God’s Word stored in our hearts.

You need God’s Word in you to experience freedom from and victory over sin in your life, period.

Along these lines, number three, it will crucify your pride, and number four, it will cultivate your humility. All throughout the Psalm, the writer is asking God to help him, teach him, lead him, keep him, save him from himself. God’s Word hidden in our hearts reminds us we need God all day long. We cannot live, like truly live, without him because he knows better than us what is best for our lives, yet we’re prone to think otherwise. That’s our pride, and we need humility, and God’s Word in us crucifies that pride and cultivates that humility.

So, hiding his Word in your heart and mind will then, number five, lead you in good ways.

And it will keep you from evil ways.

Verses 128 and 129, “Therefore, I consider all your precepts to be right or good, and I hate every false way. Your testimonies are wonderful. Therefore, my soul keeps them.” So good ways, right, good ways that are wonderful, and evil false ways. How do you know the difference, and how do you walk in one and not the other? By keeping his testimonies, precepts. How do you do that? By considering them all the time.

Then number seven, it will, implementing a plan for Scripture, memorization, will make you richer than the wealthiest person in the world.

Verse 72, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” Verse 127, “Therefore, I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.”

I have used this illustration before. It’s in this little book that’s coming out this week, but I’m going to mention it again here because I know some people are thinking, right now, “I just can’t memorize Scripture. I just can’t do it.” I know different people have different abilities to memorize, and I know a relatively few people may not be mentally able to do so, which means figuring out the best way for you to work to meditate on Scripture. But if I were to tell you today that I will give you $100,000 for every verse you can memorize between now and this time tomorrow most of you could figure it out. John 11:35, “Jesus wept,” boom, 100K. You’d Google search shortest verses, and you’d go for it hardcore between now and tomorrow. You would totally do that.

So, the question is apparently not, can you memorize? The question is, what’s more valuable to you, money or the Word of God?

What means more to you? And this is better than money. It’s better than a lot of it.

God help us to believe this. Our church is spread out across five of the seven wealthiest counties in the United States, which is one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest country in the entire world.

God raised up a pocket of people in McLean Bible Church who love the Word of God infinitely more than the wealth of this world, and it’s evident in the way we live in the way we treasure and love this Word.

You store this Word in your heart, and you are richer than the richest people in this world. Believe that. Believe that.

The world, the adversary are selling you lies all day long.

Don’t buy it. This is treasure.

And number eight, it will satisfy you more than the finest meal in the world.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth?” This Word is fine dining, waiting for you to feast on all day long. The Bible is not a fast-food restaurant, get something really quick and move on. This is food to linger over.

Number nine, it will open your eyes to wonderful things. The more you hide God’s Word in your heart, the more your eyes will see wonderful things that you could never see another way.

Number 10, it will thrill you with endless treasure. Psalm 119:162, “I rejoice at your Word like one who finds great spoil.”

Isn’t that a great verse?

Spoil just waiting for you. Every morning when you wake up, just spoil waiting for you. Who doesn’t like the thrill of discovering treasure and delighting in it? That’s Scripture memorization.

Knowing, number 11, it will fill you with what will never fail you. Verse 140, “Your promise is well-tried, and your servant loves it.” God’s Word filled with promises will prove itself worthy of your love over and over and over and over again. It will fill you with what will never fail you.

Number 12, it will help you understand God’s ways, and it will help you trust God’s plans, especially when those plans are hard to understand, which is the whole context for this Psalm. Don’t get the idea that the person who’s writing this is just walking through just rosy life where everything is going great. He’s in the middle of affliction and trials and challenges, which is why he needs to hide God’s Word in his heart. It’s why we need to hide God’s Word in our hearts. So, when we are hit with flaming darts of the adversary, when we’re walking through difficult days, we have the shield of faith. Trust in the Word of God to extinguish those flames.

Which leads to number 14, it will guide you amidst challenges in this world. It will transform your trials for good so that you see God’s good purposes in your trials. “It will strengthen you in sorrow.” That’s language straight from verse 28, and it will sustain you in struggles. I love verse 92. Essentially it says, “If your law had not been inside me, I would not have made it through.” You can’t make it through life challenges and trials and sorrow and struggles in this world without the Word of God hidden in you feeding you helping you go on.

Which leads to number 18, it will counsel you when you’re confused. It will comfort you when you’re afflicted. Verse 50, “This is my comfort in my affliction. Your promise gives me life.”

It will quiet you when you’re anxious. Verse 143 says, “When anxiety is…” Here’s the language. It says, “When anxiety is finding you out, God’s Word will be your delight.”

When you’re overwhelmed with anxiety, when it’s overtaking you, God’s Word, your delight.

And it will keep you from being ashamed. Mark it down. You will never, ever, ever regret knowing and hiding God’s Word in your heart, never.

You will regret all the times you turn to your ways because his Word is not in your mind and heart. You will never regret clinging to God’s Word and putting it into practice, never. It will keep you from being ashamed.

Number 22, it will guard you from living for selfish gain, and number 23, it will free you from looking at and living for endless triviality in this world. You and I are inundated with the mundane all day long. Hours spent on screens scrolling through mind-numbing content. Fill your mind with something better, everlasting truth.

This is what meditation memorization does. It takes over your mind in those idle moments so that instead of thinking about things that don’t matter all the time and reflexively pulling out your phone at those idle moments, we’re so addicted to our devices, memorization makes us addicted to God’s Word.

So, that whether you’re in bed, or the bathroom, or the waiting room, or the stoplight, you’re getting ready in the morning, you’re looking in the mirror, don’t you want all those moments to be filled with truth and wonder from God’s Word not lies and silliness from this world?

So, get off the hours here and put hours here.

Fill your mind with this.

From looking at living for endless triviality, it’s beckoning us every single day, at every idle moment.

And along these lines, number 24, it will give you perspective on power in this world. We need this Word filling our minds, reminding us what real power is.

We think presidents are powerful and CEOs of big companies are powerful, athletes and singers and movie stars are powerful. People, wake up.

This is what our Bible reading in Isaiah has been this week. God holds the people we think have power in the palm of his hand.

You really think Putin’s presidency, or Trump’s second term, or Taylor Swift’s following is power?

No. Wake up. Behold your God.

The nations of the world are like dust on scales and a drop in a bucket.

Behold God, and you have his Word.

God help us to hide your Word in our hearts, so we aren’t deceived and worked up over cheap imitations of power in this world. The one who has all the power is speaking to us.

Let’s listen.

Let’s listen.

And then look at the world in light of what he’s saying.

And putting in our minds, hiding it deep there, knowing, number 25, it will build and embolden your faith to memorize Scripture, especially when people taunt you about your faith, verse 42 says.

And it will equip you to encourage others. You will not be able to speak God’s Word into others lives, to help encourage, bring life to them, if you aren’t hiding God’s Word in your heart.

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

That’s why we talk about trivialities all the time, because our hearts are so full of them, news, sports, weather, current events. It’s not that that’s bad, but at some point, let something that really matters for the next 10 trillion years come out. And it won’t come out if it’s not in here.

It will equip you to encourage others. So, fill your heart with God’s Word in a way that comes out in words you speak, in ways that then lead to, number 27, continual worship of God. This Psalm is filled with spontaneous praise and worship and thanksgiving because the overflow of hiding God’s Word in your heart is enjoying and exalting God’s glory in your life. We read it this morning in end of Psalm 119, “Seven times a day, I will praise you for your righteous rules.” It’s a picture of just perfection, seven. Like, all day long, I’m praising you as your Word is overflowing in me to praise to you.

And it will show you the sufficiency of God as your portion as the one who is sufficient to provide for your every need, and it will fill you with hope in God over and over and over again. The psalmist says, “Your Word gives me hope.”

Psalm 119 and 147, “I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words.”

I hope from the early morning is in your Word. We need this. We are all prone to despair, and we need the hope of God and his Word hidden in our hearts and minds.

Number 30, it will fuel your prayer life. I could put almost every verse here because the whole Psalm is a prayer. It’s a conversation with God, which makes sense. How can you have a conversation with God if you never listen to what he’s saying?

And really think about, soak in what he’s saying. Having God’s Word hidden in your mind and heart is God always speaking to you. You’re speaking back to him. This is conversation with God. This is relationship, walking with God.

At the same time, it will deepen your friendships with other people who know God’s Word because you’ll have a basis for that conversation, foundation that’s literally out of this world. It’s part of what I love about doing a Bible reading plan with my wife, or my kids, or us as a church family. We have so much to talk about. We could talk all afternoon about Isaiah 58 through 60 today and the last part of Psalm 119, just this morning’s reading.

As soon as we see each other, “Did you see that? That was amazing. Like what Isaiah 58 said about true fasting, what Isaiah 59 said about God is our protector, our defender. He’s your protector. He’s your defender.” Now, we’re having a good lunch conversation. Isaiah 60, “His light shines on us in a way that spreads through us,” let’s do this together.

All that’s just from reading the Word, and the same day, letting it hide in your heart and mind.

Number 32, it will calm you amidst attacks against you.

There’s so much I would love to say here, but I’ll just say this. You do not want to experience people saying all kinds of evil about you or to you without having your mind filled with what God says about you and to you.

You need his voice drowning out their voices.

And I’ll share a little secret I’ve learned. When their voices become louder, his voice actually becomes sweeter in ways you’ve never experienced before.

It’s true.

It’s true. It will calm you amidst attacks against you.

Number 33, memorizing God’s Word will unite you with generations before you who’ve done the same thing going all the way back to Joshua, “Meditate on my Word day and night.” We’re doing the same thing God’s people have been doing century after century, generation after generation.

And in the process, it will remind you of God’s faithfulness to you. Hiding God’s Word in your heart will ultimately save you from sin and death and provide you with true safety and security. So, for all who are visiting today, or you may not yet be a follower of Jesus, this Word has power to save you from sin and death.

Because this Word contains the greatest news in all the world that we have all been made for relationship with God that God loves us, desires life for us forever. The problem is we’ve all rebelled against God, turned from his ways to our own ways, and as a result, we’re separated from God, and we deserve eternal separation, judgment before God. But the good news of this Word is that God loves us so much, he’s revealed himself to us, and he’s revealed his love for us. He came to us in Jesus, known as the Word made flesh who lived a life of no sin, never disobeying this Word. And then even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin, for our rebellion. He died on the cross for our sins, and then three days later, rose from the grave.

He defeated sin and death so that anyone, anywhere, no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done if you will turn from your sin yourself and trust in Jesus as the Savior of your sin and the Lord of your life, God will forgive you of all your sin and restore you to the life you were made to live forever with him.

That is worth meditating on all day long and it never ever, ever gets old.

And nothing else in this world can save you from sin and death and provide you with true safety and security and everlasting life. Your 401(k) can’t do that. Your nice house, nice car, your job, security, that’s not security. I’m talking 10 trillion years from now security, only the Word hidden in your heart provides that.

Leads to number 37, it will make you wiser than your enemies, and it will make you more knowledgeable than your teachers. The 10-year-old little girl who hides God’s Word in her heart is more knowledgeable than the distinguished doctor or professor who denies God’s Word in his life because she knows God.

Memorizing God’s Word will be light for your steps. When you’re in the dark, you don’t have time to pull up a verse. You need verses in your mind to light the way.

And not just light. Over and over again, the psalmist says it will be life for your soul. Verse 107, “Give me life, oh, God, according to your Word.

Number 41, it will cause you to love what God loves, and it will cause you to hate what God hates. We need the desires of our hearts transformed by God’s Word in our hearts.

We need new desires, knowing our hearts are prone to wander, which leads to… This is so interesting. Number 43, it will rescue you from wandering. Verse 176, it’s the only verse 176 in the entire Bible. After 175 verses filled with love for and devotion to God’s Word, listen to the last verse of this Psalm. “I have gone astray, like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.” Wow.

At the end of this Psalm exalting God’s Word, the psalmist’s last word is, “And I still wander from it.” Is that not honest and relatable, applicable to all of us, myself included? I can preach this message, I can memorize Scripture, I can meditate on it every morning, but as soon as I finish and start to get ready for my day, I am already in a battle to keep believing it.

So, how do we stay close to God, our shepherd, when we so easily stray like lost sheep? Here’s how. You do not forget his commandments.

You have his Word hidden in your heart. So, then those moments when you’re wandering, you hear God’s Spirit saying to you, “I’m seeking you.”

“I love you. Come back to me.”

This is why we need God’s Word in us, deep. And this is why, parents, this is why we help our kids memorize Scripture, knowing there’s no guarantee for how their story is going to play out. But if they wander, the more of God’s Word they have hidden in their minds and their hearts, from their parents and their church family pouring that Word into them when they’re young, the more power there is inside of them for their rescue.

They need it. We all need it. We need God’s Word hidden in us to rescue us from wandering.

All right, let’s draw this to a close. Hiding God’s Word in your heart, number 44, we’ll remind you that God is with you at all times, no matter what’s coming at you in this world.

To have his voice speaking to you at the top of your mind, we need that.

You’re not alone. I’m with you and I’m for you. Number 45, it will draw you to God’s love for you. Verse 41, “Your steadfast love, oh, Lord, comes to me through your Word.”

His love just pouring out through his Word. Why would we not just want to abide in his love by abiding in his Word.

And 46, it will captivate you with love for God and his Word. How we respond to God’s Word is a reflection of how we respond to God. If we ignore his Word, we are ignoring God.

Are you ignoring God?

Just look at your practice in your life. If you’re ignoring God’s Word, it’s a picture of ignoring God. Conversely, if we love God’s Word, we’re loving God. Let’s love God.

Love his Word. Hiding God’s Word in our hearts will lead us to deeper love for God, and it will create in us a longing for God and his Word. The psalmist says, “I open my mouth and pant for your Word because I long for your commandments.” So many people, so many people say, “Well, I just don’t desire God’s Word like that. So what do I do? I just don’t have a desire for it.” The answer is, so how do you grow in a desire for it? You meditate on it and memorize it.

Of course you don’t desire it because you’re filling your stomach with drivel from this world. You need new taste buds.

Stop eating the junk of this world.

Start feasting on God’s Word. It’s better than Netflix.

It’s better than all the social media feeds.

It’s better. It’s so much infinitely better than all that. And once you see it, you’re like, “Why am I tasting this? I got this over here. Why settle for McDonald’s patty when I have like steakhouse filet?”

Or whatever the comparable vegetarian illustration would be, it’s better, it’s better, it’s better. You taste this, you won’t want to go back ever.

That leads to number 48, it will help you endure to the end.

I think about my mentor, Jim Shaddock. I’ve shared about it before, who went to be with the Lord a couple of months ago, after a year-long bout with brain cancer. I sat by his hospice bed. He was barely able to move, struggling to breathe, could only speak with a whisper. And as I would read Scripture over him, through whispers, he would finish the verses I was reading.

He knew them.

They were hidden deep in his heart all the way to the end.

Don’t you want that to be your story on a hospice bed?

Whenever that moment comes, which leads to the last two, number 49, it will prepare you to stand before God on that day.

One day, you are going to stand before God with all of your ways before him.

You need his Word deep in you guiding your way to prepare you for that day.

This world and all that’s in it, everything in the DNV, everything in the United States, in the world, none of it’s going to last.

It’s all going to be gone. We read it in Isaiah 40 this week, “The grass withers, the flower fades. The Word of God alone stands forever.”

So, you want to live, but what’s going to matter on that day? Fill your heart with this Word today knowing, number 50, it will enable you to walk with God on this day.

It’s not just about later. It is now, all day, all night long, walking with God.

Can I share something with you? Before I came here this morning, I heard the voice of God.

Without question, it was God.

I heard his voice.

I had an encounter with God. He spoke to me.

He spoke to me, David Platt, God speaking to me.

And the beauty is he didn’t just speak to me. He will speak to you.

You, right where you’re sitting, God wants to talk with you. He wants to have conversation with you. He wants to hear you, and he wants to speak to you through his Word every single day and night. All you have to do is open up the book.

Listen to it. Turn over in your mind. If God wants to speak to us, don’t you think it’d be wise to listen, and remember, and hide whatever he says to us in our hearts, like a treasure? In that How To Read the Bible book, I talk about it. And I’ve talked about this before here, probably to the point where y’all are sick of it, like letters Heather would send me when we were dating, and how I obsessed over them. That’s what we’re talking about here. We’re not just going through motions here, check off a Sunday morning box. We’re in love relationship with the God of the universe.

We’re walking with God. You are created to know, enjoy, savor God.

So, fill your mind, your heart with what he’s saying to you, in ways that lead you to talk to him, like just this conversation with God.

I put all 50 of these reasons on the screen here, and I know you can’t read it, but that’s kind of the point. Do you want this?

Do you want all 50 of these things that we just walked through?

Because I should add, there’s more. I had to cut it off somewhere. So, do you want all of this and more than you can imagine?

Then I ask you, what challenging attainable goal will you set for memorizing God over the next four months? Because all those things are available to you.

And who will you share this goal with, so they can pray for you and encourage you along the way? I want to encourage you to answer those questions ASAP.

And yeah, and you might be thinking, “I don’t even know where to start.” Here’s just a few ideas, just to get your mind going. Maybe just digest a verse a day or a verse a week.

Pick a verse in the morning that you haven’t memorized and chew on it all day or the beginning of the week and chew on it all week.

I was doing this yesterday with Psalm 119, 147. It’s why just top of mind. “I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words.” So, all day long yesterday, I’m coaching kids games. I’m like, “I do not hope in the outcome of this game,” or, “I don’t hope in this referee who’s like totally missing it.”

Anyway, my hope is in your Word all day long, just in practical… And then last night, lay my head on the pillow, and last thing I’m saying to myself, “I hope in your words. I rise before dawn and cry for help. I hope in your words.” Just chew on it all day long. You do that with one verse a week, you’ll have close to 20 verses hidden in your heart over the next four months. Or maybe you can do more, or maybe try a chapter or a book, which I know, to many of you, sounds totally unrealistic.

But I just think about years ago, we were walking through I John. We were memorizing I John 1 together, during that series. And one brother who’d never done anything like that before, he went for it. Invited his teenage son to do it with him, so they memorized verses together on their way to school in the morning, and they did it. They got the whole chapter. And that was all we did as the church, but the son said to his dad after they finished the first chapter, said, “We’re not stopping here are we.” And he and his son memorized the whole book of I John.

You tell me what better use of your time with your kids is than filling it with God’s Word like that or your time with your parents, your time with your friends. Take Psalm 1, or Psalm 23, or Romans 8, or I Corinthians 13, or a short book of the Bible. Do not underestimate what you can do with the Holy Spirit’s help.

And along these lines, I hope the book I’ve mentioned that’s coming out this week, it’s helpful for you how to read the Bible, but I also want to encourage you to get how to memorize Scripture for life. This is a book written by a friend of mine, fellow pastor named Andy Davis. Andy has memorized all the New Testament, many books in the Old Testament. He is such a humble Christ-like brother, and he’s written an excellent, helpful, practical book on memorizing everything from a verse to a book. I wrote an endorsement for that book. I said, “I wish every Christian could read this book and do what it says. It would change everything.”

And then finally, here’s one more just practical tip. Start with one hour. You have 168 hours ahead of you this week. Spend one of them in concentrated attention focused on memorizing Scripture. Just put distractions aside for one hour, and you will be surprised how much you can memorize in that one uninterrupted hour.

And then spend the rest of the week, whenever you have idle time, sitting at a stoplight, getting ready in the morning, going here or there, instead of pulling out your phone, or maybe, if it’s on your phone, you pull out your phone, but don’t look at anything else, but just focus on reviewing, reciting what you’ve been learning. It’ll start to take hold in your heart. You can do this. This is not rocket science. All of this is accessible to you today.

Just start somewhere.

All right, let me give you a moment with God to reflect on, answer, or at least begin to answer these two questions. Let me pray. Let me pray for you.

God, I pray for every person within the sound of my voice, pray that You would speak to them now, by your Spirit. I trust, God, I pray, you’ve been speaking through your Word, by your Spirit. And in this moment, you’re going to open their eyes to see all the good that you have, all the good that you desire for them, that comes from hiding your Word in their hearts. I pray that you would help them to not hold back from however you’re calling them to memorize your Word over the next few months. I pray, oh, God, that this would be a defining moment in many people’s lives that will bear fruit far beyond this moment.

So, you pray and reflect before God. Then I or somebody at your location will lead us from there.

What does the passage say?

1. Read Psalm 119 aloud as a group. What is the main theme of this psalm? (cf. Ps 119:1–2)
2. How would you explain or summarize today’s passage in your own words?

What does the passage mean?

1. What is the fundamental aim of this psalm? What summary invitation does it hold out to the one who hears it?
2. What stands out to you most as you read and consider today’s passage?

How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1. Read and reflect on Psalm 119:1, 9, 11, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 57, 65, 73, 81, 89, 98, 105, 114, 125, 129, 137-138,145, 153, 162, and 169-170. Why is memorizing and meditating on the LORD’s Word essential to and precious for your heart, life, and relationship with the LORD?
2. Review the list of reasons given above (ref. “Sermon Recap”) for memorizing and meditating on the LORD’s Word. Which of those reasons responds to your heart’s most deeply-rooted challenges? Which ones directly respond to your most deep-seated questions or doubts about the LORD?
3. Starting this week, how might you regularly store up the LORD’s Word in your heart? Maybe begin by (a) spending one hour focusing on His Word and then reflecting on that Word throughout the remainder of the week, (b) memorizing and meditating on one verse per day or week, and/or (c) memorizing and meditating on those verses in Psalm 119 that speak directly to your personal heart-level challenges, doubts, and disturbances?
4. Are you currently memorizing God’s Word? What challenging, yet attainable, goal might you set for memorizing God’s Word over the next four months? Who might you share this goal with so that they can pray for you and encourage you along the way?

Sermon Recap

Memorizing and meditating on God’s Word (to the extent that you are mentally able to do so) is critical for walking with Jesus. Why?

1. It will bring you true, lasting happiness. (Ps 119:1–2; cf. 1:1–2)
2. It will help you experience freedom from and victory over sin. (Ps 119:9, 11, 61, 110, 133)
3. It will crucify your pride. (Ps 119:21)
4. It will cultivate your humility. (Ps 119:12, 26; cf. Is 66:1–2)
5. It will lead you in good ways. (Ps 119:35, 129)
6. It will keep you from evil ways. (Ps 119:29, 104, 128)
7. It will make you richer than the wealthiest person in the world. (Ps 119:14, 72, 127)
8. It will satisfy you more than the finest meal in the world. (Ps 119:103)
9. It will open your eyes to wonderful things. (Ps 119:18)
10. It will thrill you with endless treasure. (Ps 119:162)
11. It will fill you with what will never fail you. (Ps 119:140)
12. It will help you understand God’s ways. (Ps 119:27, 34, 73, 125, 130)
13. It will help you trust God’s plans. (Ps 119:67–68)
14. It will guide you amidst challenges in this world. (Ps 119:19, 173)
15. It will transform your trials for good. (Ps 119:67, 75)
16. It will strengthen you in sorrow. (Ps 119:28)
17. It will sustain you in struggles. (Ps 119:92)
18. It will counsel you when you’re confused. (Ps 119:24)
19. It will comfort you when you’re afflicted. (Ps 119:50, 52, 76, 143)
20. It will quiet you when you’re anxious. (Ps 119:143)
21. It will keep you from being ashamed. (Ps 119:6, 31, 46, 80, 116)
22. It will guard you from living for selfish gain. (Ps 119:36)
23. It will free you from looking at and living for endless triviality in this world. (Ps 119:37)
24. It will give you perspective on power in this world. (Ps 119:23, 46, 161)
25. It will build and embolden your faith. (Ps 119:42)
26. It will equip you to encourage others. (Ps 119:13, 79)
27. It will lead you to continual worship of God. (Ps 119:48, 62, 120, 164, 171–172)
28. It will show you the sufficiency of God. (Ps 119:57)
29. It will fill you with hope in God. (Ps 119:43, 49, 81, 114, 116, 147)
30. It will fuel your prayer life. (Ps 119:58, 169)
31. It will deepen your friendships. (Ps 119:63, 74)
32. It will calm you amidst attacks against you. (Ps 119:69, 78, 95, 150-151, 157)
33. It will unite you with generations before you. (Ps 119:90)
34. It will remind you of God’s faithfulness to you. (Ps 119:90, 140)
35. It will save you from sin and death. (Ps 119:94, 118–119, 170)
36. It will provide you true safety and security (Ps 119:114, 117, 165)
37. It will make you wiser than your enemies. (Ps 119:98)
38. It will make you more knowledgeable than your teachers. (Ps 119:99–100)
39. It will be light for your steps. (Ps 119:105)
40. It will be life for your soul. (Ps 119:93, 107, 156)
41. It will cause you to love what God loves. (Ps 119:136)
42. It will cause you to hate what God hates. (Ps 119:128, 163)
43. It will rescue you from wandering. (Ps 119:176)
44. It will remind you that God is with you. (Ps 119:121, 151)
45. It will draw you to God’s love for you. (Ps 119:41, 124)
46. It will captivate you with love for God and His Word. (Ps 119:97, 167)
47. It will create in you a longing for God and His Word. (Ps 119:131, 174)
48. It will help you endure to the end. (Ps 119:33, 44–45, 87, 112)
49. It will prepare you to stand before God on that day. (Ps 119:89, 168; cf. Is 40:7)
50. It will enable you to walk with God on this day. (Ps 119:55, 147–148)
51. … and infinitely more!