Memorizing Scriptures

In the last general conference Brother Devin Durrant of the Sunday School Presidency encouraged us to both ponder and memorize the scriptures.  He encouraged us to “ponderize” the scriptures, which he described as “80 percent extended pondering and 20 percent memorization” (My Heart Pondereth Them Continually).  The invitation to memorize scriptures is one that Elder Scott recently gave as well.  He testified, “Great power can come from memorizing scriptures….  A memorized scripture becomes an enduring friend that is not weakened with the passage of time” (Elder Scott, The Power of Scripture).   In a talk from many years earlier he also invited us, “I suggest that you memorize scriptures that touch your heart and fill your soul with understanding. When scriptures are used as the Lord has caused them to be recorded, they have intrinsic power that is not communicated when paraphrased” (Elder Scott, He Lives).  President Benson also invited missionaries to memorize verse from the Book of Mormon.  HE shared this vision: “I have a vision of thousands of missionaries going into the mission field with hundreds of passages memorized from the Book of Mormon so that they might feed the needs of a spiritually famished world” (see here). 

While the scriptures themselves don’t speak specifically about memorize scriptures, they do come close.  The Lord told Joshua as he took over command of the Israelites: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night” (Joshua 1:8).  Surely this following this invitation meant memorizing the words in the Law of Moses.  In the Doctrine and Covenants we have  commandments to “treasure up” the words of the scriptures.  Hyrum was told, “Treasure up in your heart” the words of the Lord (D&C 11:26).  Similarly Oliver was told, “Treasure up these words in thy heart” (D&C 6:20).  The Lord also invited us, “Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life,” and surely if we are to treasure up continually His words that will involve some memorizing of the scriptures (D&C 84:85).

                Some stories in the scriptures also show clear examples of those who had scriptures memorized in a time of need.  As Abinadi stood before King Noah and his priests he quoted the words of the 10 commandments as well as a whole chapter of Isaiah, and it seems unlikely that he was reading this to them—he must have had the passages memorized (see Mosiah 13-14).  In Acts 2 when Peter was “standing up with the eleven” he “lifted up his voice” and taught the people in response to their mocking, and he subsequently quoted Joel 2:28-31 and it seems unlikely that he was reading anything—he knew those words of the Old Testament by heart.  When the devil came and tempted the Savior in the wilderness, all three times the Lord replied to the temptation by saying “it is written” and then quoting scripture (Matt. 4:4, 6, 10).   

I’m sure that other examples could be cited as evidence that there is power in memorizing scriptures, but those are enough to suggest that memorizing scriptures can be a great blessing and way to prepare for whatever lies ahead.  It also brings understanding that may not come otherwise.   Elder Gene R. Cook said, “I have discovered that many times you don’t fully understand a scripture until you memorize it” (Searching the Scriptures: Bringing Power to Your Personal and Family Study [1997], 114; see here).  Perhaps as we strive to really understand the scriptures, we must also memorize them from time to time in order to internalize the spirit and phrases of the scriptures.