Memorize It!

I lift you high in praise, my God, O my King! and I'll bless your name into eternity. I'll bless you every day and keep it up from now to eternity (Psalm 145:1,2).

Many of us think that repetition and memorization are for the birds. We don't want to put the work into memorization and we get bored easily. Yet, God's people have long observed that developing our spiritual selves is significantly aided by both repetition and memorization.

Consider Psalm 145, an acrostic. In its original language, the poem had twenty-two lines; each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This was done to aid in the work of memorizing the song.

I wonder how long it took the composer to put this all together. It was put together to be learned, even memorized. Things we memorize shape our thinking and character. As such, this psalm invites us to seriously contemplate a life given to praising God.

Such a life does not come naturally. There are barriers, the biggest one being ourselves. I suspect that sloth is one of the more significant stumbling blocks. We don't talk much about spiritual sloth these days; we probably should.

We want our spiritual growth to happen like making coffee with a Keurig machine: stick in pod and press button. But the thing is, spiritual growth is more like making coffee from scratch; I mean from scratch: plant the seeds, tend the plants, harvest the beans, roast them, grind them, etc. Spiritual maturity takes time and effort. The move from selfishness to unbridled praise of God does not happen instantaneously or without sustained effort.

As an aid against sloth, let me suggest this: for one month read or sing or pray this Psalm in the morning and again in the evening, each day. Who knows, by the end you might have it memorized. After a month, you may find this beneficial enough to choose a different psalm.

Praising God is more than silent prayers. It impacts how we work and how we entertain ourselves. It influences our spending habits and how we relate with friends and strangers. But do we really think that God is worthy of our praise? The praise of God is rooted in His character. As you read through the Psalm, note what it says about God.

Often, we think that God is only concerned with "His people" or with "saving souls". Here we are reminded that God is concerned for everything that He has made. Is our Christian witness hampered because we don't care enough for "everything" God has made? Is our selfish way of living hindering our witness?

Many of our evangelistic methods begin with calling people to be introspective. We want them to acknowledge their sinfulness. What if we began with God? What if we invited people to consider our God? If God is concerned with His creation, should Christians not care as well? Invitations to join us in caring, can be a way of opening spiritual conversations.

Someone once wrote, "If Christians praised God more, the world would doubt Him less."

(Due to the Holy Weekend of Good Friday and Easter, Wilderness Wanderings will return next Wednesday).

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn.