How to Meditate on and Memorize Scripture

What Meditation Is and Is Not

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1:2-3 (KJV)

To meditate on Scripture is to fill your mind with what God has said and think it through until it reaches your heart and hands. God told Joshua that the book of the law should not depart out of his mouth, but that he should meditate therein day and night, that he might observe to do it (Joshua 1:8). The psalmist said, O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). He grew wiser than his enemies and his teachers because God’s testimonies were always on his mind (Psalm 119:98-99).

That is the opposite of what the word often means today. Eastern religion, and much of what is sold as mindfulness, aims to quiet or empty the mind. Biblical meditation does not empty the mind. It fills it with something outside yourself. Paul names what to think on, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, and lovely, and he tells you to think on these things (Philippians 4:8). Nothing is truer or lovelier than the Word of God.

The Shorter Catechism puts it in one phrase. We are to lay up the Word in our hearts (Q&A 90). The Larger Catechism says Scripture is to be read with meditation, and it gives Psalm 1 and Psalm 119:97 as its proof (Q&A 157). The Puritans took this seriously. Thomas Watson wrote a whole treatise on it, A Christian on the Mount, and pressed it on ordinary believers as a daily duty. Richard Baxter gave much of The Saints’ Everlasting Rest to teaching Christians to set their thoughts on heaven and press its truths on their own hearts.

The Tree by the Rivers

Psalm 1 uses a picture. The man is not a tree. But what the tree pictures is real. A tree by a river does not go looking for water. Its roots already reach it, so it keeps drinking when the season is dry, and shall not be careful in the year of drought (Jeremiah 17:8). So the man whose mind lives in God’s Word is fed by it when trouble comes. He bears fruit in his season, which means steady growth over years, not a show every morning.

This is no promise of wealth. It promises that a life rooted in God’s Word is never wasted. Only one man ever delighted in God’s law perfectly, and that is Christ. Those who trust him are planted in him, and his Word is the river they drink from.

How to Meditate on a Verse

1. Read it slowly, more than once. Read it aloud if you can. Lean on a different word each time.
2. Ask what it says of God, and of Christ. Every verse shows something of him.
3. Ask what it commands. Is there a duty here, or a sin to leave?
4. Ask what it promises. What has God bound himself to do?
5. Turn it into prayer. Give the verse back to God as thanks, confession, and asking. See How to Pray.

One Verse Worked Through

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1 (KJV)

Of God. The Lord is his covenant name, the God who bound himself to his people by promise. A shepherd leads, feeds, and guards. And he is my shepherd, not only the church’s in general.

Of Christ. Jesus took this name for himself and said, I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep (John 10:11). The shepherd of this psalm died for his flock and rose again.

The command. There is no command in the words, but one lies under them. I am to trust him and be content with such things as I have (Hebrews 13:5).

The promise. I shall not want. Not every wish, but nothing that I truly need for body and soul. My God shall supply all your need (Philippians 4:19).

The prayer. It might run like this. Lord, you are my shepherd. Thank you that Christ laid down his life for me. Forgive me for worrying about money this week as if I had no shepherd. Give me what I need today and make me content with it.

That takes a few minutes, and the verse goes with you all day.

Why and How to Memorize

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 119:11 (KJV)

Memory is the storehouse meditation draws from. You cannot think on a verse at a red light if it is on a shelf at home. Paul says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16). When Christ was tempted in the wilderness, hungry after forty days, he answered Satan three times with It is written, each time from Deuteronomy (Matthew 4:1-11). He fought with words he already carried. You will need them too.

You do not need a great memory. You need a small amount, done often.

1. One short verse at a time. A verse a week is plenty. One that stays beats ten that leak out.
2. Write it out. Put it on an index card in your pocket, or make it your phone’s lock screen.
3. Say it aloud. The mouth helps the memory. Say the reference too.
4. Hook it to something you already do. Say it while the coffee brews or while you lace your boots.
5. Use the Catechism’s proof texts. Learn a Shorter Catechism answer with one of the verses given to prove it. Each holds the other in place.
6. Review the old ones. Once a week, run back through what you have learned.
7. Learn it with your family. Say the week’s verse at supper or in family worship. Children learn fast and will hold you to it.

Use the Small Moments

Most days will not give you a quiet hour. You do not need one. God told Israel to talk of his words when thou walkest by the way (Deuteronomy 6:7). For you the way may be the drive to work. Turn the radio off for five minutes and say your verse. On a break, look at the card instead of the news. On a walk, take one phrase and ask the questions above. When you lie awake, meditate on him in the night watches (Psalm 63:6).

Your mind will wander. That is not failure. Notice it and bring your thoughts back to the verse without scolding yourself. Each return is part of the work. If you miss a day or a week, do not try to catch up. Start again today. He knoweth our frame (Psalm 103:14).

Meditation does not earn God’s favor. It is how a forgiven child listens to his Father. If you do not yet know him, begin with the gospel. Meditation grows out of steady reading, so see How to Read the Bible too.

This Week

1. Pick one verse. Psalm 23:1, Psalm 119:11, or a verse from this Sunday’s sermon.
2. Write it on a card tonight. Put it by your keys.
3. Work through it once. Use the five steps above, ending in prayer.
4. Choose one small moment. The commute or a break, and say the verse there every day.
5. Say it to your family. At supper on Friday, see who can say it.
6. Start the review list. On the Lord’s Day, write the verse in a notebook. Next week, add another and say both.