Scripture Memory Expresses Desire
Psalm 119:12
"Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!"
Worship! It's what happens to a person who pursues God with their whole heart by hiding His Word there. And that is exactly what happened to the psalmist. He declares, "Blessed are you, O Lord!" Did you know that you can bless God? Too often we think that we are the only ones blessed by worship, but this is not true. When a Christian worships with a heart that is overflowing with scriptural joy, God is blessed. Scriptural joy is a great way to describe the psalmist here. Read Psalm 119 in its entirety and you will notice his passion for God's word. In nearly every verse he mentions God's word. He uses terms like word, statutes, laws, precepts, and commandments just to name a few. He is worshiping God by focusing on the beauty and worth of scripture.
But notice that it led him to a desire to learn more. He asked God to teach him more and more. He had tasted and seen that the Lord is good and he wanted to know more. The psalmist shares with us here an important truth; we cannot learn about God apart from God. Without the ministry of the Holy Spirit illuminating our minds we cannot even begin to understand who God is. It is said that many of the reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin said that without the Holy Spirit the Bible is a dead book. That may sound extreme, but it is a true statement. When we embark on the journey of Scripture memory we must ask the Holy Spirit to affix the meaning and application of the verse upon our hearts.
When we commit scripture to memory we are expressing to God our desire to know Him better and bless Him through our worship. Do you desire to know God better? If so, then express it through committing His Word to your heart. Remember this, in some ways the mind is the portal to the heart. We process information through our minds, but it is our heart that affects many, if not all, of our decisions. Make the head-heart-hand connection when you hide God's Word in your heart, it will make a difference in your life and most certainly your worship.
(Exalting God Blog)