Sparks of a Memory

"I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words." Psalm 119:16

Emma pressed her face into her hands. How come she could watch a movie once and remember every single line for the rest of her life but she had to work for hours to get one Bible verse down? She opened her eyes and read the passage one more time, but it never stuck.

Have you ever felt like Emma? Maybe it's time for a renewing of your delight.

Psalm 119 is probably my favorite passage in the Old Testament. It's title in my New King James Bible is "The Glory of the Word", and what a fitting name!

Psalm 119:16 says, "I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your words." In other words, we remember what we love.

A friend of mine was recently telling me how much he hates memorizing terms for his biology. He says that he just can't remember them well enough. This is the same person who can spit out dates of all the significant battles in World War II without blinking. The same person who still knows dozens of verses about every basic Christian doctrine. He just doesn't delight in Biology.

I have a friend who can't seem to remember when you use the word 'cord' and when you use the word 'chord'. But she memorizes piano pieces without any trouble at all. She just doesn't delight in spelling.

God loves us. He can remember all of our names. He knows our deepest secrets, our darkest fears, our brightest hopes, our most precious souls. That's because He delights in us. Proverbs 3:11-12 says that the LORD loves us in the same way a father does a son in whom he delights.

If you can't remember God's word, maybe it doesn't thrill you. Maybe it doesn't delight you. So, maybe what we really need is a way to renew our delight in the Bible.

Paul says in Romans 7:22, "For I delight in the law of the Lord, in my inner being." So, delight begins in the heart. We have to learn to love God in our hearts before we can even begin to appreciate the Bible.

Psalm 119:12 says, "Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!" So, after acknowledging that God is the delight of his heart, the psalmist asks God to teach him His statutes. So, next we should have a delight in the presence of God. You can't be taught if you're not around your teacher. You also can't be taught if you don't listen to your teacher. Matthew 17:5 says, "He [Jesus] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him."

Then, once God is our delight, we are delighting in His teaching, you'll begin to realize, it begins to settle in your heart. That's when it begins to delight us. The Spirit begins to teach us from his word and we marvel at the word. NOW, we don't forget his word. We can't, because we love it so much.

Emma from the beginning of the story could remember her movie quotes because she loved movies. My anti-Biology friend loves history. My cord vs. chord friend loves music. You always have enough memory space for the things you love.

So, if you want to better memorize God's word, start with something you love. Have a favorite verse? Start with that. Have a favorite book of the Bible? Pick some verses from that book.

Just remember, God loves you. He remembers everything about you. So, let your memory be a spark of the Greatest one in the universe.