Sing to the Lord!
Rebecca Harkins
God has made us in such a way that through song, our brains amazingly remember words and tunes. Whether it is Jesus Loves Me or Handel’s Messiah, hearing these songs and words in repetition imprint them on our minds. Songs are often attached to memories so deeply that when you hear or sing a song, you may have a meaningful and important memory tied to it. You may have heard stories or witnessed yourself where a person having dementia, who could remember hymns like Amazing Grace. What a gift singing is! We not only glorify the Lord in singing his praise but we can also remind our own hearts of what is true when all else fades. Singing God’s praise throughout our lives is preparing us for eternity to sing around the throne before the Lamb of God.
Psalm 148 tells us, “Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord..”. One of the most effective ways of teaching children to memorize Scripture is through songs. Music and words together create an impact when it comes to children having the words of truth written on their hearts. A great place to start working on memorizing the truths of the Bible is using singing in a church setting in Sunday school or other programs during the week like Wednesday nights or summer camps. Incorporating a large portion of time with children to singing Bible verses will imprint on their minds life giving words. The repetition of singing songs creates a lasting and enduring grasp of the words of Scripture. Another helpful way is for parents at home to sing songs around the table as a prayer, in the car, or at bedtime. Getting in a routine of singing songs and hymns in the home is a nourishing and fun way to teach your children. There are many resources available to help in this effort that include verse memory as well as catechism memory work in song which I have included at the end of this article.
Singing portions of Scripture in praise to the Lord is giving his words back to him and also uplifting the soul by the working of God’s Word in heart and head. For me, over the years, something that I have been so thankful for in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is the beauty of singing and knowing the Psalms from the Bible Songs book. Many times I have been thankful to be able to recall Bible verses and sing praise to God and truth to myself from when I learned those songs as a child at church. Singing helps us to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. It is so comforting to hear the words of Scripture tell us that the Lord “exults over us with loud singing” and he gives us the words to sing back to him. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”.
Resources for Singing Bible verses and catechism:
(All of these are available on Spotify)
-Simple and easy listening for children: Steve Green-Hide Em in Your Heart. There are multiple volumes of this on Spotify.
-Seeds Family Worship. If you click on the album it shows you all the songs on that album. :https://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/store/music/
Seeds Family Worship also has some free Bible Verse Memory cards: https://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/memory-cards
-Catechism memory: "Ask Me Whooo" Children's First Catechism on Spotify. Here is the website as well so you can see what it looks like: http://askmewhooo.com/series.html
-Some other catechism memory resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9KM-trvQc