Psalm 1:1–2
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Having been baptised in the Jordan, Jesus is then driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where he is tempted by the deceiver (Matthew 4:1-11). The disarmed dragon, known best for his greatest hit – taking down the first image bearers through subtle whispers that sowed doubt – now takes his shot at the Messiah before the tour gathers any heat. Unlike Adam, Jesus is not tempted. He holds fast to the plan of God, and lives only for the Father’s glory. To do so, each time the forked tongue offers the path to exaltation without the need for suffering he responds by quoting the word of God.
Jesus does so, not by pulling out a backpack of scrolls and flicking through, but instead he quotes that which is hidden in his heart. The scripture he has memorised!
Psalm 1 says that the blessed man mediates day and night on the instruction of the Lord. Unless all of us are scholars who can sit at a desk with every waking hour, how can we possibly do this unless we have memorised God’s word so that we can meditate on it?
As a shield of faith against the fiery darts of the evil one, as a comfort in times of weariness and trouble, as proclamation of grace to the friend who needs hope, as an encouragement to lift our heads and drooping hands, or as a gospel balm for our sinful desires – at all times, we all need God’s word hidden in our hearts!
Let this be a challenge to you, where can you start committing God’s word to memory? Maybe start with a portion of scripture you at least vaguely know. Or if you have no idea, and have never memorised something before, start with Psalm 106:1 – Because that’s what we are doing as a church!
God’s Word for Young and Old!
Over the last year we have been working our way through the New City Catechism, encouraging families to use it as a means of engaging and teaching our children and equipping all of us with the foundational truths of our faith.
As we come to the end, though we love the NCC, we also recognise that it is very succinct and approachable… sometimes. Several of the catechisms are very long or hard, and don’t create a platform for teaching really young ones. Secondly, because there are 52, (which nicely fits across a year), the pace is very fast, not allowing for a great deal of repetition and truths to sink in.
Therefore, what we have decided to do is change from using The NCC for families and children, and YOU, but instead move to gathering around a monthly memory verse.
Therefore, starting in a couple of weeks we will be using a different Bible verse for each month as part of our gathering. We have chosen verses that have songs to go with them. Firstly because we know that this is a great way for young minds to learn and it allows us to incorporate them into our musical worship on a Sunday.
We trust that storing up God’s word will be a benefit and a blessing to you and a great tool for our families in discipling our children. We have planned our next 12 months so that the verses or passages chosen follow a broad gospel shaped arc.
Grace to you, Glory to God