Showing posts with label Psalm 34. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 34. Show all posts

Sunday

Top 10 Ways To Learn Scripture. Bible Memorization.


I could never do it!

          Do what?

Memorize Scripture!

          Yes you could.








Many people think they could never manage to memorize one verse of the Bible let alone 4 verses or a whole Psalm.

But it can be done if you really want to do it.

I'm going to Teach you how you can memorize any verse you want to.


When someone asks me which is my favourite Psalm I normally have not trouble in replying because I have always loved Psalm 34 since I was a teenager.

But no I have never tried to memorize the whole Psalm, that would be 22 verses and I'm not sure I would ever have the will power to learn all 22.


There are verses within the Psalm that I have memorized simply because I have liked them and read them so often that I do know them off by heart.


That is my first words of advice to anyone wishing to know how they can memorize any bible verses



1.  Read the verse often, every day, multiple times in the day.


Let's take verse 1 of Psalm 34 as an example.







This verse is easier to memorize than other verses because it is not a long verse and the two parts of the one sentence flow easily together.
Just read it out loud to yourself right now and you will see what I mean.

Yes?

Leave your bible open at the verse and come back often to lift up your bible and simply read the verse a few times.

Come back to it tomorrow and do the same thing throughout the day.

I am sure that you will have memorized that verse in a few days and will be saying it to yourself even as you are reaching for your Bible.




2.  Write out the verse.

It is well-known that writing something out helps us to remember better so use that now to help you memorize the scriptures.


Look at Psalm 34 v 2 


My soul shall make her boast in the Lord:
the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

Get a notebook and turn to a new page.

Write the verse on two lines - it easily falls into 2 sections so one section to each line.
As you write it read it out loud.

Leave a line and repeat and repeat until you are at the bottom of the page in your notebook.

By now you will have seen the flow of that verse (this is one of the reasons that the Psalms are easier to learn than other passages because it feels like they have a flow to the words, remember they have a rhythm because they were originally songs) and this rhythm or beat will help you as you speak it out.

Think of that verse doesn't it make you feel glad because when others hear of our trust in the Lord they will be glad too - in other words we will have encouraged others.





3.  Feel the excitement of a verse that is an exaltation to praise the Lord.


Psalm 34 v 3  is a good example of this.

The Psalmist David was urging united praise to God in this verse, what better than having the sense of others praising God with you.

If you and I are both praising His Name we are united.









4.  Personal Testimony - Action from you and Result from God.


Psalm 34 v 4 is a great verse to know when sharing your testimony because it is so much a part of our testimonies.

Haven't we all been in this position of being fearful of something and when we take it to God we have proved that He has answered our prayer.

It certainly was part of David's testimony because he wrote this at a time when he had been very afraid for his life.







This is an example of a verse where once you have learned the first part of the verse the second is natural follow-on.


So always think of the meaning of the first part of a verse and in a lot of instances it will help you to remember the second part.





5.  Instruction and the reason why it is good advice.

This time we are going to look at Psalm 34 v 8


When we instruct or teach or tell someone the way to do something  or what is good for someone we normally then give them the explanation of why this is a good instruction or teaching or the result that has been seen in the past.






The instruction or recommendation here is to taste and see that the Lord is good.

The explanation is that we know people have been blessed when they do this. 

So if a verse has an instruction mostly it will also have that reason why it is a good instruction and they go hand in hand so we have another help to memorize.




6.  Question and Answer within a verse.

If you ask a question you expect an answer to that question and in some verses we see that pattern so use it to your advantage when memorizing.

When the first part of the verse poses a question check if the second part answers it and if so then learn it as a question and an answer - it really will help.

I'm going to go to another Psalm here to use 2 very well-known verses to help you see my point.


Psalm 121 v 1 & 2






In verse 1 we have the question

From whence does my help come?

and

 in verse 2 we have the answer.


My help comes from the Lord who made
Heaven and earth.

Logical to have an answer follow a question and hence verse 1 is not complete without verse 2.

Listen to anyone quoting from the start of this Psalm and they never quote verse 1 on it's own.






7.  Understand the meaning of the verse.

Let's Look at Psalm 34 v 1 again 


A verse like this one has only one sentence which is in two parts.

Things are always easier to learn if they are logical or make sense to the learner.

The first part of the verse is a statement

I will bless the Lord at all times:


You say this to yourself even 3 times and you almost have it learnt off by heart.

I say almost here because for the rest of the next hour you will remember it and maybe for the rest of today you will remember it but perhaps you might not be so fluent in it by tomorrow.

But you are on your way to memorizing this verse.


The second part of the verse is another similar statement which is a logical follow-on from the first part

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.


it's a natural follow-on statement because if we want to bless God all the time then we will have to have words of Praise and Adoration and Love for Him coming to our thoughts throughout our waking hours and hence we will be speaking out words that represent that.


By now you know the meaning of the verse and it is always easier to learn a verse when you understand it.

That is not to say that if we do not understand a verse fully we cannot memorize the verse and hopefully we will try to learn verses we don't understand and pray that through the memorizing of the verse God will give us understandng of it.


Also when a verse has the words  AND  or  BUT  in it then we will have two parts of the verse in accordance with each other or in opposition to each other.

So a follow-on coming naturally from the first part,  or two parts in agreement using the AND, or two parts in opposition using the BUT give you clear definition and meaning in a verse and make it easier to learn.








8.  Make it easy to see the verse clearly &  regularly each day.


We cannot have our Bible at hand every moment of the day so if you feel you need frequent readings of the verse like pop-up reminders then do the following:

Get a post-it pad and write the verse out clearly on it then tear off the post-it and stick it on
  • the mirror you will use first thing each morning and last thing each night
  • the front cover of your Bible
  • the front cover of the book you are currently reading
  • the door of the fridge
  • the door of the cupboard where you go to get your favourite mug for that cup of coffee


Psalm 34 v 1 and 3  (see pics above)  are great ones for the mirror.




9.  Make or Use Bible Verse Graphics

A.  The verses you have seen above are all graphics that I have made and I can tell you that in making the graphics I learn the verses.

In making and working with something we spend (a good deal of) time thinking about the words and especially with the shorter verses we tend to end up learning them. 

So if you want to try your hand at making a graphic or writing the verse and illustrating it then this can help you learn it and you can put it in all the places you could put a post-it note.


I post a bible verse graphic every morning on my Facebook Page for Sandra's Ark  so if you want to be encouraged by a verse each day or have a graphic you can Save in Facebook then click through to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and follow the page to see those graphics in your feed each day.



B. Another way to use a graphic is to set it as wallpaper or lock screen pic on your phone - then you always have it on hand.

For this you will need it to be a suitable portrait shape and size so most of the normal verse graphics you see will not suit.

I have a few verses made out for screen savers & you can download them from









And now for the last Way to learn your Bible Verse and I have to say it is my favourite way.



10.  Sing It.

For years we have known that singing is one of the easiest ways to learn and memorize.

When we were teenagers my husband Fred and I learnt a song and loved it and it is one of the ways I have always remembered the start of Psalm 34.

Many others have benefited in memorization from putting words of scripture to music so


if you can find a song based very closely to the scripture passage then use it.

If you want to learn the song I used to memorize the first 4 verses of Psalm 34
 you can hear it in the video below.










Sunday Scripture - Psalm 34 v 1


Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.


Today I am looking at Psalm 34 v 1






This verse happens to be one of my favourite verses but I am not focusing on it today for that reason.

Today I have chosen this verse because it chose me; I woke up with this verse on my lips this morning and so I want to share it with you all.






I have mentioned this Psalm briefly in a previous Sunday Scripture Post in July this year but it was not the main focus of my post that time however if any of my church friends are reading this it may be of interest to them to read it as well.


I also wrote a Pondering the Psalms Post on this Psalm 3 years ago but in that case it was an overview of the whole Psalm but you may like to read it as well.


Today this verse kept repeating over and over in my head as I lay in bed and it impressed on me that no matter where I am this can be true for me.  Oh I have thought that at times before but normally I am thinking about the necessity of praising the Lord continually.


Today I'm on this other train of thought


Wherever we are this can be true for us, 

                whatever situation we are in this can be true for us, 

                              whatever frame of mind we are in this can STILL be true for us.



Of course no matter where or when or in whatever frame of mind we are we must always keep any verse in it's context so let's consider the first 10 verses.


Psalm 34 v 1-10
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.


As I was lying in bed thinking on this first verse two other verses joined my thoughts





which is of course the third verse of the Psalm.

As good as it is to Bless the Lord on our own as our personal act of worship it is also good to do so with others who love and trust Him too.  As we exhibit the right behavour of speaking verse 1 and then acting on what we have said and keeping our word others will be heartened and encouraged and there will be that bond between us as well as our bond with God.

And then

the 8th verse





Here we go that step further and make a plea to others to step out in faith and trust God, test His Word and find that it is True and He will Bless us as He has already promised in His Word.


In this Psalm we see how we go through from making a commitment to Bless the Lord ourselves, to encouraging others to do the same and then being an example and witness to others that they can trust Him too and all of us see the


Blessing and Goodness of God.













Sunday Scripture - Psalm 145:1-3


Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.






In the Prayer Meeting at church last Thursday evening I was thinking on one of my favourite verses which is


     Psalm 34 verse 1   
         I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.


Now this is often a verse I think about during a prayer time but the next day I opened some notes I had forgotten I had written down about a year ago and there straight away I saw my few lines about Psalm 145 and it so described how I felt our prayer meeting had been even more than Psalm 34 did.


In Psalm 145 v 1-2  the Psalmist says:





This seems to be more intense than Psalm 34 and this is how I am sure our church members felt as we prayed together from the tone and content of their prayers.

We were exalting and extolling God, we were blessing Him and we were praising His name and we want to do that for ever.  It is good to be in such unity wanting to completely praise the name of the Lord together.

This was our ADORATION to the Lord our God.


But why would we want to give our adoration to God?


Well taking these two verses on their own is not enough, we should always look in the context around the verse and when we look at the next verse you can see the very reason we had felt as we did.



In Psalm 145 v 3  the Psalmist gives us the reason why we act as described in verses 1&2:




So why do we extol, bless & praise Him?



Because God is Great and no-one or no-thing can ever outdo Him or overshadow Him in Greatness.



How Great is Our God?


And

The Greatness of God is limitless, no end to it can be found.












Pondering the Psalms - Psalm 34


Each Sunday I am going to choose a Psalm and write down some brief thoughts on  it.


Today I'm looking at Psalm 34 


Another one of my favourites from when I was a teenager.







This Psalm falls into six parts:


V. 1-3
Exaltation of the Lord





V. 4-7
Testimony of Deliverance from fear & the enemy






V. 8-10
Encouraging people to seek the Lord for themselves







V. 11-14
Advice on how to come before God



V. 15-18
The Reaction of God towards the Righteous & the Unrighteous







V. 19-22
The Results of the Righteous & Unrighteous Life


To me the whole psalm is written because of the knowledge found in these verses 19 - 22

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.




Exaltation
The Psalmist desires that everyone would worship the True God.
He starts by giving His Adoration but then comes to wanting everyone to experience what he has.


Testimony & Encouragement
He tells what God has done & encourages people to turn to God.


Advice
He gives basic advice on how to have the proper awe and reverence towards God.






God's Reaction
How God treats us as righteous in His sight when we have truly turned to trust Him, compared with how He must treat us if we do not.


Results
The hand of comfort, healing & protection is on us.
God will bring us through all the tribulation others will put on us.


Basic Good Advice to Start your Christian Life



Surely when all of this Psalm is understood and acknowledged then you and I can truly say with the Psalmist: