Memorizing Bible Verses: Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV-English Standard Version)

An important part of keeping God’s word in your heart and having it available for when you need to quote it to fight against the devil’s temptations is to memorize scripture. There are many ways to do this including singing verses, using pneumonic devices, and old-fashioned look and don’t look as you try to say the verse. Here is a technique that I learned from memverse.com. Try it out and see if it works for you. I recommend that you focus on these two verses every day for a week before going on to the next two. My goal is that you will memorize all of Psalm 42. There are only 11 verses, which would take you about a month and a half to memorize at the rate that I am suggesting. There is a beautiful song called “As the Deer” based on verses one and two. Here are the lyrics:

“As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship Thee. You alone are my strength, my shield. To You alone may my spirit yield. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship Thee. I want you more than gold or silver. Only You can satisfy. You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye. You alone are my strength, my shield. To You alone may my spirit yield. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee. You’re my friend and You are my brother, even though You are a king. I love You more than any other, so much more than anything. You alone are my strength, my shield. To You alone may my spirit yield. You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship to Thee.”

Step 1: First read or sing or chant the verses several times.

(Verse 1) As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 
(Verse 2)  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Step 2: Now try saying the verses with words missing.

(Verse 1)  As a deer ___________ for flowing streams, so ___________ my soul for you, O ___________. 
(Verse 2) My soul thirsts for ___________, for the living ___________. When shall I come and appear before ___________?

Step 3: Try saying the verses with more words missing.

(Verse 1)  As a ___________ ___________ for flowing ___________, so ___________ my ___________ for you, O ___________. 
(Verse 2) My ___________ thirsts for ___________, for the living ___________. ___________ shall I ___________ and appear before ___________?

Step 4: Try saying the verses with even more words missing.

(Verse 1)  ___________ a ___________ ___________ for ___________ ___________, so ___________ my ___________ for ___________, O ___________. 
(Verse 2) My ___________ ___________ for ___________, for the ___________ ___________. ___________ shall I ___________ and ___________ before ___________?

Step 5: Try saying the verses with only blanks.
(Verse 1)  ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________, ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________, ___________ ___________. 
(Verse 2) ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________, ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________. ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________?

Final Step: Try saying the verses without blanks: Psalm 42:1-2.