Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Friday, March 6, Psalm 34:1-7 Review

Well, another Psalm under our belts! Kind of. I'm still working on it, and am determined to work on it daily until I master it. I've got some of it to music, and am in the process of finishing that, because I've learned that for me, singing Scripture solidifies it in my long-term memory. Physical movement helps me a lot as well, so I'll be reciting them with hand actions as much as I can.

For the weekend, I'm going to divide the Psalm into thirds. Today I'll review 1-7 and spend time with them. I'll go back to my memory helps as well. Some verses I know better than others, so when I find my trouble verses, I'll spend a lot of time on them until mastered, just like I do with a music piece, isolating the tough verses into exercises until mastered, then fitting them back into the piece.

1: Aleph: "I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

2: Bet: "My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad"

3: Gimel: "O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt his name together."

1-3 is a great introduction, and follows the pattern that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6 by first glorifying our Heavenly Father: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

4: Dalet: "I sought the LORD, and he heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

5: He: "They looked unto him, and were lightened: And their faces were not ashamed."

(Note: if you want to memorize the alphabet along with the verses, "Vav" is the next letter, the only one missing in it. So, just say "HEY VAV, Zain here!" (Zye-in) and it might help.)

6: Zain: "This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles."

7: Het: "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."

I think here of "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:13a). Evil men try to intimidate the saints of God, but the saints know that there is a greater evil, a whole spiritual network bent on hindering the purposes of God in His people (Ephesians 6). When we recognize this, we realize that the world may destroy our bodies, but not our souls. And those bodies they destroy will be put back together and glorified into better ones, spiritual bodies, meaning immortal bodies that will function perfectly, just like the Lord's resurrection body! (1 Corinthians 15). Note Philippians 3:20-21:

"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

I'll close with one of my favorite passages: 1 John 3:1-3.

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure." (NIV)

And if you have not been born again into the Kingdom, hear the call of the Holy Spirit today!

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

*KJV used*

Memory Helps

I print out my devotionals each day, so I will pull these out and review the "Helps" to further etch the passages into my brain. And then I pray that the knowledge I have been given will drop into my heart and I learn "wisdom" as I apply them in my life. (you can pick them off as well on my FB page)