Sola Scriptura, Part 2
In chapter 8 of When I Don’t Desire God, Piper discusses how to “wield the word” in the fight for joy. One key strategy is Bible memorization. He quotes author Dallas Willard:
Piper then says,
A few pages later, Piper explains why he places so much emphasis on this practice:
Like chapter 7, this chapter is acting as a catalyst to increase my passion for God’s Word. And since I’m not the greatest at memorization, I think I’m going to work on a relatively short passage: Psalm 86:8-13.
I’m rather excited about memorization as a whole and this passage in particular—for reasons that I will explain in a future post. For now, suffice it to say that it’s exciting and humbling to see God’s grace at work. And a great means of this grace that I’m receiving is When I Don’t Desire God. If you’re like me—naturally apathetic to God’s Word and disinclined to memorize portions of Scripture—I encourage you to check this book out!
Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our mind with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.
Piper then says,
The joy-producing effects of memorizing Scripture and having it in my head and heart are incalculable. The world and its God-ignoring, all-embracing secularism is pervasive. In invades my mind every day. What hope is there to have a mind filled with Christ except to have a mind filled with his Word? I know of no alternative.
A few pages later, Piper explains why he places so much emphasis on this practice:
I spend this much time on Bible memory because I believe in the power of the indwelling Word of God to solve a thousand problems before they happen, and to heal a thousand wounds after they happen, and to kill a thousand sins in the moment of temptation, and to sweeten a thousand days with the “drippings of the honeycomb.”
Like chapter 7, this chapter is acting as a catalyst to increase my passion for God’s Word. And since I’m not the greatest at memorization, I think I’m going to work on a relatively short passage: Psalm 86:8-13.
I’m rather excited about memorization as a whole and this passage in particular—for reasons that I will explain in a future post. For now, suffice it to say that it’s exciting and humbling to see God’s grace at work. And a great means of this grace that I’m receiving is When I Don’t Desire God. If you’re like me—naturally apathetic to God’s Word and disinclined to memorize portions of Scripture—I encourage you to check this book out!