I have been leading my church through a Bible memory exercise the past several weeks. I am not exactly sure what this is doing for them, but it is refreshing my spirit. I used to be a fanatic about Bible memory, and have just slipped horribly in the past several years.

Now, I am challenging my church, so I know I need to step up. We are memorizing some verses that reveal the character of God. This week it is from Lamentations 3:21-24. The first phrase is significant when it comes to Bible memory:

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.”

If it is not in there in the first place, it is incredibly difficult to RECALL it! Jeremiah had the character of God deeply embedded in his spirit. He needed that because Jerusalem had just been ransacked. Sitting on a pile of rocks that was once a great city, he recalls something to his mind and finds hope!

“The Lord’s lovingkindesses indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

He can’t hope in the temple. It’s gone. He can’t hope in the sacrifices. They’re gone. But he recalls something to his mind and finds hope.

“The Lord is my portion… Therefore I have hope in him.”

Bible memory is powerful because when we have things crashing around us, we can find something that gives us hope. We need not despair.