The Aspen Grove

Memorizing the Psalms

6 min read

🌱Seed 😁Strongly-Agree 🟢Conviction 📊Project 📓Journal 🥾SpiritualPractices-EmbodiedLiving

The Big Idea

I have decided to work toward memorizing the whole book of Psalms. But not just a rote memorization, actually having it functionally memorized for meditation and retelling. So that I can actually use what is memorized and not just have it recitable.

This idea started to form in me after reading/listening through the whole Bible in 40 days. My journal of that is here: Shredding Spiritual Muscles

I am still trying to get my head around how I want to approach such a large memorization project. I have decided that I will undertake practicing memorization of things with the basic texts of the catechism and have started journaling about that here: Memorizing the Lords Prayer Memorizing the Ten Commandments

Similar Notes: Memory, the Things We Keep with Us Psalms-The Language of Our Heart

Foundational Texts for this Project

These are books the influenced me as I have been getting my head around this project:

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible

    • A powerful yet short book on how to see Jesus praying the Psalms with us and for us and how we can pray them faithfully.

  • Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, trans. and ed. Joel C Elowsky. New Haven, CT: ICCS Press, 2021.

  • Timothy Saleska. Concordia Commentary on Psalm 1-50

    • Introduction has a ton of resources and well laid out information about how to read and apply the psalms.

  • Martin Luther. First Lectures on the Psalms: Psalms 1-75. Luther’s Works, Vol. 10. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub., 1974.

    • Started to read through and am surprised I have never hear this part of Luther quoted much.

Suggestions from Dr. Joel Elowsky

These are potential texts that Dr. Elowsky suggested to me:

  • Blaising, Craig and Harding, Carmen, eds. Psalms 1-50, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2007.

  • Homilies on the Psalms: Codex Monacensis Graecus 314 by Origen, trans. Joseph Trigg. Fathers of the Church, Vol. ___ Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2020.

  • Didymus Lectures on the Psalms, trans. and ed. Jonathan Hicks. Ancient Christian Text Series. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024.

  • The Homilies of Saint Jerome, Volume 1 (1–59 on the Psalms) (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 48). Trans. Marie Ewald. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1964.

  • Theodoret of Cyrus: Commentary on the Psalms 73-150. Trans. Robert C Hill. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2000.

  • Cameron, Michael. Essential Expositions of the Psalms by Augustine. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2015.

  • Martin Luther. Selected Psalms. Luther’s Works, Vol. 12. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub., 1974.

Suggestions from Dr. Timothy Saleska

These are potential texts that Dr. Saleska suggested to me. They are especally focused on Biblical Poetry as a whole:

  • Robert Alter. “The Art of Biblical Poetry,”
  • Adele Berlin. “The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism.”
  • Wilfred Watson. “Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques.”

Other Possible Reads

  • Martin Luther. Selected Psalms. Luther’s Works, Vol. 11,13-14

An Experiment: Memorizing the Psalter

One way to approach things is using the peg method. If I chose this I will memorize handles for each Psalm as a way to start to navigate them within my memory and recall them when needed.

Step one is to come up with a sentence or phrase that captures a key theme or element of that Psalm. this will be the kind of “tag” that I start to memorize

Once I have all 150 tags memorized then we will see how deepening it can go and the way I can use that mental navigation.

I has been my experience that the more I am in the word the more easily things bubble up in my memory.

I think that focusing on individual books will help make things more manageable. I still need to figure out the large picture structure that I can use to help organize it all in my head. Pegs is one but that seems like i will get overwhelming quickly. I think that a story or image or memory palace is the way I want to go I just need to figure out how I want to plan that.

Major Recurring Themes

Not sure how helpful this will be for memorizations sake.

  • The King
  • The Temple/Sanctuary
  • The way of the Righteous vs the way of the wicked

Peg Words

Book I

(Psalms 1-41) 1 - Tree 2- Kiss 3 - Hair 4 - Bed 5 - Morning 6 - Bones 7 - Sword 8 - Stars 9 - Throne 10 - Net 11 - Bird 12 - Lips 13 - Face 14 - Bread 15 - Tent 16 - Cup 17 - Wings 18 - Rock 19 - Sun 20 - Banner 21 - Crown 22 - Worm 23 - Shepherd 24 - Seas
25 - Paths 26 - Altar 27 - House 28 - Pit 29 - Voice 30 - Dancing 31 - Fortress 32 - Summer 33 - Harp 34 - Crazy 35 - Shield 36 - Clouds 37 - Grass 38 - Arrows 39 - Tongue 40 - Mud 41- Sickbed

Conclusion 41:13

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.

Book II

(Psalms 42–72) 42 -

Conclusion 72:18-19

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

Book III

(Psalms 73–89) 73 -

Conclusion 89:52

Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

Book IV

(Psalms 90–106) 90 -

Conclusion 106:48

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!

Book V

(Psalms 107–150) 107 -

Closing Hallelujahs

146 - 147 - 148 149 150

Backlinks

Graph View