Memorizing the Psalms, Psalm 1 - Reflections
For the past few months, I have enjoyed memorizing scripture. I have gained a lot, mentally and spiritually. Mentally, it's challenging to memorize text perfectly—especially the nuances of the "literally accurate" ESV translation. Spiritually, I like to meditate on the wisdom of the text. Prior to this practice, I find myself ruminating on the past or future. Granted, I still recognize the importance of planning and reflection, but scripture provides a structural support to meditate and contrast those ruminations.
For this reason, I have set a goal to memorize the Psalms. The first one describes it best: blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (my paraphrase).
Derek Kidner Commentary on the Psalm 1
Thus, this meditation has required me to pick up a commentary. For the Psalms, I found the Scholar Derek Kidner's work very clear and enjoyable. Kidner explains the themes, messages, and nuanced translations with wit and warmth.
I'll describe some takeaways from his commentary on Psalm 1 that I appreciated.
First, Psalm 1:
1Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, no stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3He is like a tree, planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season. In all that he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5Therefore, they will not stand in the judgement, nor sit in the congregation of the righteous;
6for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
The Psalm is rich. I did not fully appreciate it until I read Kidner's commentary. Kidner provides three insights for me: (1) the how straying from the Lord can take form, (2) the imagery of the righteous as a tree, and (3) the chaff, or strawman, of the wicked.
First, the ways away from the Lord come in three forms: (1) walking, (2) standing, (3) sitting. With sitting described as the worst, specifically sitting with scoffers. In this state, I could find myself criticizing those who pursue the righteousness of God, with no desire to find fault in myself.
Second, I enjoy the imagery of the "tree planted by streams of water", but I did not initially know why. But Kidner describes the tree, not as a means of channeling water from one place to the next, but as a living organism transformed and growing with waters from a pure, running stream. Through this metaphor, I am encouraged in my desire to consume nourishing ancient scripture.
Lastly, Kidner describes the fate of the wicked. The Psalm writes that the ways of the wicked are like chaff, like straw. Kidner describes this as the straw man. One that does not have structure to stand in the judgement, for their works are like straw. It is a brutal commentary on works and ways that are not centered with a heart towards God. I have to be careful not to judge unfairly here. I recognize myself in as the strawman in many ways, in several seasons of my life. Perhaps, for me, I can find motivation here to embody the way of the righteous—to desire to be transformed and bear good fruit.
These points give me rich avenue to engage and reflect on the Psalm. Kidner's explanations provide depth to these verses.
On memorization
Beyond the spiritual nourishment, I've really enjoyed the cognitive benefits of memorization. The slow and methodological practice has been a rewarding use of my leisure time—one that I share to everyone I can. Often, my friends may think this practice is difficult, but I found a couple of helpful techniques.
First, I started with an acronym technique with three steps—three appears to be a common theme—(1) read the text aloud three times; (2) form an acronym using the first letter of each word in the passage, then recite the text from the acronym three times aloud; finally, (3) recite the text from memory. Step 2 is an interesting one, it somehow rewires the neural pathways to easily commit the text to memory. Surprisingly, step 3 was a lot easier than I expected.
Second, the usage of spatial memory. In my personal studies on memorization, humans, apparently, have strong spatial and visual memory. So, the technique I use to take advantage of this is visual notetaking. I chunk the components of the passage into blocks and doodle elements around them. When it comes time to recall the notes, I easily recall the position of the block and drawings. On a side note, this is related to another technique I am going to learn: the memory palace
Concluding thoughts
Altogether, the passage memorization practice has been rewarding. I find myself enjoying both meditating on wisdom and improving desire and capacity for learning. My next goals are to share this, potentially contagious, joy with others, beginning with improving my writing.