Memorising scripture

Our home group has been memorising Psalm 91. This is a step up from Psalm 23. My memorisation app says there are 273 words in Psalm 91. I can now recite all of it! That's a lot of words to remember in precisely the order they appear! What has struck me as I have been memorising these psalms is two things :

First, words come alive. I have found that the words I struggle to memorise are words that I miss easily when reading the passage. Words that unlock the mean of passages or even the entire psalm. For example as I have read psalm 91 I kept missing a key word in these two verses :

"Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent" (v9, 10 ESV).

The word I missed repeatedly was "allowed". It speaks to the sovereignty of God over all that comes near him! And once you focus on that word the entire psalm fits into place. For example, because God is the one that permits or allows things to happen, he is already victorious even against the lion and the serpent!

Secondly, prayer comes alive. I have found that when I now have a moment to pray, I am not lost where to start. I don't always want to just pray me, me and me prayers. Of course God is interested in me, but what I really want is to pray according to his words. With memorising scripture I have now found myself praying a variety of prayers.

Recently when I was commuting to work, rather than read, I felt like being lost in prayer. And immediately the words of Psalm 23 appeared and I was able to pray through them expositionally. It allowed me to digest the words again and own the words. At the same time as I pray, I preach to myself! This is particularly so when I am driving. I now increasingly switch off the music and recite a psalm! In short not only is my prayer life growing fuelled by memorisation, but living in the word is growing!

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An Empty Page

I am nothing without you I am not ashamed to say But sometimes still I doubt you along my way I am nothing without you An eagle with no wings If I forget about you, I lose everything My heart is an empty stage O let your play begin My life is an empty page for you to colour me with your love It’s such a common feeling to be misunderstood But from you there’s no concealing You know my bad and good So I am not pretending my story never fails But I have already read the ending And your love prevails My heart is an empty stage Let your play begin My life is an empty page for you to colour me with your love The words are from Jonathan Veira’s song Empty Page. One of the tracks off ‘ Rhythms of the Heart’ album. I like his music, and especially this song. Sadly, I couldn’t find the lyrics online, so I had to write them down word for word. I have had this song for many years and it has always spoken me at many lev...

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7 fascinating facts about Bexleyheath

I just finished reading Bexleyheath : A History by John Mercer as part of my effort to know a little about the history of our new local area. We have been living here for the last four months and it is a wonderful area indeed. Here are seven fascinating things about Bexleyheath mentioned in the book. 1. Two hundred years ago much of Bexley Heath was an area of wide-open land largely uncultivated. It was not until 1894, that the two words were put together. 2. On 5 June 1739, George Whitfield, a prominent preacher associated with John Wesley, came to the highway and preached by the pond opposite the Golden Lion. He was welcomed to the district by Henry Piers, Vicar of St Mary's (Bexley), who was a supporter of the new evangelical movement which was to become later known as the Methodist Church. Over 300 gathered to hear Whitfield preach from his horse: travellers, labourers, gypsies and villagers from Bexley village. 3 . One of the early inhabitants of Bexlyheath w...

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The Art of Dying By Rob Moll (A Review)

Death may not be an exciting topic but it is certainly an important, if often overlooked subject. Which is why Rob Moll's recent book The Art of Dying is a welcome publication. The book has been written to address the question of the good way to die. Moll believes our culture does not know how to approach death because we have become so removed from experiencing it. This is a problem because we can't live well unless we are intimate with death and know how to die well. The Christian approach, Moll argues, is that death is both evil and mercy wrapped in one. Therefore there are significant benefits from knowing how to die well. At the surface we should all be capable of dying well because people take longer to die than before which should offer plenty of preparation. The reality is exactly the opposite. For many Christians the allure of modern medicine has meant greater focus on self preservation and surviving at all costs than preparing well for death. Dying as a spiri...

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