What are some good ways to memorize Bible verses?

The question now recurs, Is it possible for the average Christian, with his life full of busy duties, to be able to accomplish a tithe of all this? We answer, Not all at once. The great thing is to make a beginning, to learn one verse, and to proceed quietly in this way. Perhaps we will be astonished at the end of a month how much we have committed to memory. Let us begin, say, at the age of twenty. We will suppose that one is fairly familiar with the New Testament and is growing in acquaintance with it and the Old through the daily reading such as has been already suggested. Let such an one begin, for instance, with the epistle to the Galatians. Already, many verses are familiar, and often as many as three or four can be fully learned in a few minutes. A chapter is mastered, we will say, in a week. It is then reviewed at some leisure time, on Lord's Day. Perhaps a number are interested in the same work, and by hearing each other will have their interest quickened and their memories brightened. It is probably always better to repeat what we have learned aloud, first to ourselves and then, if possible, to some one else. We will find that the words are more firmly embedded in the mind by this. The daily family reading would be a good time for this, and an hour on Lord's Day might be happily and profitably occupied in reviewing the week's work.

In a month or six weeks, the entire epistle will have thus been learned. This is not expecting too much, but let us cut it, if you please, in four parts and suppose that in six months we have learned the epistle to the Galatians, in another six that to the Ephesians, and in four months more, Philippians. By the end of two years, we will have become fully acquainted with the most of the small epistles and will be astonished at the ease with which we continue to memorize. Frequent reviews will keep what we have learned fresh in the mind.

We now turn to the Gospel of John and will probably find that one year and six months will enable us to recite practically the entire book. The remaining six months of that year could be devoted to the epistle to the Hebrews. Thus in four years, a person of ordinary intelligence, by spending from five to ten minutes a day upon it, could have committed these portions to memory and have formed a habit which would go with him through life, so that in all probability by the time he was thirty years of age the somewhat lengthy list of Old Testament passages also would be safely housed within his heart.

But instead of going on with fresh work, we would suggest that these spend the time in a review of what has been gone over in the past week. The portion which has been memorized might be all reviewed and it would be very interesting at some time during the day, when the whole family can be together, for all to recite the verses which they have been learning.

Now, all this applies to the study of the word of God, no small part of which consists in memorizing. It has been said, and probably is correct, that if one verse were committed to memory each day, the entire Scriptures would have been memorized in the course of twenty-five years. Imagine what rich stores would thus have been laid away in the mind if one had begun at ten years of age, and when thirty-five could repeat the entire Bible from memory! Of course, much might have been forgotten in that time, but as we shall see, provision could be made to guard against this, and at any rate, there would have been gained a familiarity with the Scriptures far beyond what is common to persons of thirty-five. And now, in the flower of life, with judgment becoming more mature, the student could begin at that age a systematic and careful review, mingling with the memorizing of our English version possibly many excellent emendations in the text and full quotations from the originals. Should life be prolonged up to fifty years, we have no hesitation in saying that the Bible would be practically stored in the mind, and a chapter could be "read" aloud in the dark by the bedside, in the hospital, or wherever one might be. And how much time would have been required each day, to have reached this most desirable end? Scarcely more than five minutes!

Persons who have reached a mature age, who might shrink from coming into competition with younger and brighter minds, can go along at their own quiet pace, learning a few verses each week with very gratifying and profitable results. Let us then begin, if we have not yet done so, to learn verses by heart, and with the determination by God's grace to continue this as we do our Bible reading, throughout life. Our blessed Lord, we may be sure, had God's word hid in His heart. He had its letter as well as its spirit, and when assailed by the tempter during His time of fasting, could quote — we may be quite sure He did not read — passages from the word of God.

In closing, then, we would suggest that older persons take up the first chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians and commit it to memory. It may take them considerable time, but will encourage them to go on in what will prove a happy and profitable employment for a few minutes of each day. As we go on the train or street cars, we see perhaps three-fourths of the occupants busily engaged in the morning with the newspaper, spending perhaps half an hour over it. Returning in the evening, we find the same absorption. How much of the word of God could be memorized in the daily journey to and from work!

We are approaching our subject from the end of extreme simplicity, and can imagine that some of our readers will smile at a place being given to such a childish proceeding as learning verses by heart. Be that as it may, we trust that none of our readers will finish this little section without having impressed upon them the importance, and almost necessity, for this exercise which should be continued, as well as Bible reading, throughout life.

We will suppose that our reader has been brought up in a Christian home, and had the advantages of training in a Scriptural Sunday-school. There has probably been the memorizing of at least one verse of the Bible for each Lord's Day in such cases. We know of Sunday-schools where this is still practised, though perhaps it has become too old-fashioned for some of the more "progressive" ones. By the time a pupil has reached the age of twelve to fifteen, he has in memory possibly as many as one to two hundred verses, embracing the great fundamental truths of sin, judgment, salvation, the love of God, the person and work of Christ, the necessity of faith, and many other blessed facts. Here is an arsenal supplying weapons ready at hand with which to meet the adversary, and small portions of meat in due season, and refreshment for weary saints or needy sinners.

Has the reader ever felt at a loss for a suited word of warning to some careless scoffer, or failed to find ready at hand the exact verse which will give assurance to an anxious soul? Why should this have been the case? Why should we not have ready at hand, stored in memory, an abundant supply for immediate use of various portions of God's precious word?

We have also already alluded to the great value of filling the minds of the young with the word. of God, so that when the Spirit of God has awakened them to their true condition, He will have abundance of material with which to act upon. them. This, of course, applies to the memorizing of verses.

We are now launched,we will say, down the great, broad stream of divine truth, with abundance to engage mind and heart and to absorb all the time that we can give to it. We will suppose that our readers have it settled in their minds, and are, with purpose of heart, reading through the New and Old Testaments regularly and systematically in such a way that there is an increasing degree of familiarity with them. We also hope that they are daily committing a verse or two to memory. Abundance of material is thus at hand, and the work of analysis and arrangement must therefore be begun. We approach this subject, too, from the standpoint of simplicity.

First of all, analysis will require more minute and careful study, much more attention to details, and therefore more time than the ordinary. careful reading of which we have already spoken. It can very profitably be connected with memorizing. Let us suppose, for instance, that we have begun to memorize Ephesians. Now is the time to endeavor to thoroughly analyze the epistle. For instance,we have learned the first verse and can repeat it without an error. We now take up each phrase and word and seek to get its meaning and relation to the rest of the sentence.

I knew an old Christian woman who, soon after conversion when young, learned the whole Psalm by heart. It formed her character right through life, and placed the stamp of the fear and love of God upon her spirit in living power. I knew another who, at seventy-five, did the same. It passed quickly from her memory, but at seventy-seven she learned it again!

We worked sums upon boards drilled with small holes, fitted with pegs, the metal heads of which represented different numbers, according to the way in which they were turned. We were taught geography by the use of raised maps. Needlework and knitting were afternoon occupations, and some of the girls knitted really beautiful lace, or shawls in the finest and softest wool that could be bought. Twice a week we had a singing lesson, and as my voice again attracted attention, I was told that I had been one chosen to sing in the choir of the church we attended on Sundays; but before I could be admitted to it, a long lesson must be learnt, the whole of the Book of Psalms, one hundred and fifty in number, committed to memory. I was to attend the “practice class” for an hour daily for the purpose of learning and repeating some verses every day. I set to work with a will, and though at the time I understood very little of the meaning or beauty of my wonderful lesson-book, I have often been thankful in later years that my mind was stored with so large a portion of the word of God. When trials have gathered thickly around me the Holy Spirit has often brought to my mind some long familiar passage such as “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”; it has flashed into my mind, and brought with it an untold flood of joy and comfort, and the answer of my soul has been, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

This will furnish an illustration of what we mean by analysis. It consists largely in disengaging each phrase and word from its immediate setting and seeking to ascertain its place and importance in the sentence. As will be noted, this will prove a most valuable help in memorizing; and conversely, memorizing will enable us to meditate upon such details. After each verse is thus analyzed, we can endeavor- to put it together in somewhat the way that has been suggested above. We go on thus, verse by verse, and find that each one can be, not only analyzed, but that it forms a part of a group or paragraph. Thus, for instance, the first two verses of Ephesians stand together as a salutation; in like manner, verses 3 to 8 form a group in which the fulness of our spiritual blessings in Christ is unfolded.

We have now, let us say, gone throughout the entire epistle to the Ephesians, having analyzed each verse and committed it to memory, and gained a fairly clear knowledge of its contents and the current of its thought as set forth in its outline. In a similar way, we could next take up the other epistles, devoting a portion of time daily and regularly, no matter though it be but a few minutes, to this branch of our work.