What is Memorization For?

Reviewing and rethinking the purpose of Bible memorization.

In Hebrews 3, the Hebrews writer uses the faithfulness of Moses in leading the unfaithful Israelites to make an appeal for those in Christ to do something the Israelites failed to do: heed the Spirit’s voice.

There’s a lot more going on in Hebrews 3. The Hebrews writer is using Moses’ pattern to show how much greater Christ is, and the argument is also laying a foundation for the topic of entering God’s rest (the subject of Chapter 4).

But at the heart of Chapter 3 is a lengthy quotation from Psalm 95, which the writer prefaces by saying, “as the Holy Spirit says,” and then proceeds to quote this same line twice: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

From the opening Chapter, the Hebrews writer makes it clear that our God is a God who speaks. He spoke to his people through the prophets in the past. Now, in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. Chapter 1 goes on to quote text after text from the Old Testament, several of which reveal words from the Father directed toward the Son—a divine conversation recorded for our enrichment.

And if the point of God’s continuing communication with his people hasn’t already sunk in by Chapter 3, the writer makes it clear: Hear what the Spirit says, and don’t harden your hearts.

I once heard the analogy that Bible memorization is like putting arrows into the Holy Spirit’s quiver; a way of aligning your heart with the Holy Spirit’s work. I wasn’t totally satisfied with the analogy, but I understood the intent. If the Spirit who inspired Scripture is the same Spirit who has been given to us, then there is certainly a strong connection to be found between the work of the Holy Spirit and the intake of Scripture. Hebrews 3-4 gives some of the strongest support for this.

But in hearing this, I’ve heard faithful Christians argue, “If the Spirit wills to put a Scriptural word on a believer’s heart, can’t he do that regardless of whether that person has the Scripture memorized?” Certainly he can.

But this brings up what I believe is one of the strongest appeals for Bible memorization, and the answer comes from Job 33:14 — “God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it” (ESV).

The Holy Spirit must certainly be at work constantly in the lives of believers (and in the mystery of God’s ways, even at work in the lives of unbelievers — or why else would we pray for them?). The problem is this: because of the effects of sin, we are in desperate need of discerning God’s voice. In a word, we need to know what he sounds like.

For me, this has been one of the major joys of Scripture memorization. When a word of Scripture comes into my heart, I recognize it as a word that has been memorized, and I can place it—the Psalms, Hebrews, Philippians, one of the Gospels. And in doing this, I experience the fellowship of the Spirit—the Paraclete—at work in my heart and mind, compelling me to speak, encouraging me in prayer, or drawing me into meditation.

I often hear people presume that the major benefit of Bible memorization is recall, that is, being able to bring passages to mind. And while this is certainly true, it hasn’t been the primary joy of memorization for me. In fact, I think too much focus on recall can serve to feed our pride, either internally (Look how well I pulled that passage out of my mind!) or externally (he/she sure knows a lot of Scripture!).

Instead, I’ve found that one of the greatest joys of Bible memorization is in discerning why the Spirit brings a certain passage to mind. There are certainly times when a passage comes to mind for the purpose of sharing it with someone in the moment. But on many occasions, I have found that a passage comes to mind just for me. And often, it is not a passage I would’ve otherwise given much thought to (which is why I strongly encourage you to memorize whole chapters or sections, not just verses). It is as if the Spirit is pulling out a fine wine, saying, “I know you’ve tasted John 3:16, but have you tried Hebrews 9:24?”

It is like what Jesus said about scribes and teachers of the law who, in addition to their knowledge of the law, add to that knowledge the new knowledge of becoming a disciple of Jesus in the kingdom: “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matt. 13:52 NIV).

Hebrews affirms time and again that we worship a God who speaks, and who has spoken chiefly in Jesus Christ. Now, the Spirit carries out the ministry of Christ in our hearts, completing the sanctifying work of giving us ears to hear what the Spirit says. Bible memorization is not a chore, or a task of works-righteousness—it’s a joyful surrender to the Spirit’s work.