What are you memorizing these days?

For about a year, I worked on memorizing Psalm 91. I’m not sure why I gravitated to it, but it found a home in my heart and mind.

Then came the unexpected.

In a matter of minutes, a violent storm took everything we owned. We were left with little more than what fit into the bed of a friend’s pickup truck.

In the overwhelming aftermath of great loss, the words of Psalm 91.1-2 surfaced again and again:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and fortress, God in whom I trust.”

The psalmist painted a picture of the Master, who later would rest in the back of the boat, trusting the refuge of the Father, in the middle of an unexpected storm. The disciples questioned His compassion: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4.38b). I don’t know if any of them had memorized Psalm 91, so I won’t judge them for their fear and unbelief.

When we memorize God’s Word, it gives the Holy Spirit material to work with during times of testing and trouble. He brings up those truths we have stored in our hearts.

Your present season may not be trouble. Then again, maybe it is trouble that threatens to capsize your life. The ministry can be hard. And discouraging. A significant percentage of pastors consider leading the ministry in any given year. We know we are called by Christ, but the demands, expectations, and unexpected storms take their toll. Our boat fills with fear, anxiety, and even anger that the Lord seems to be asleep in the back of the boat.

As I write this, I’m not in a time of trouble, but it feels like the Lord has me on a rigorous training schedule! And the Spirit has taken me back to something else I memorized years ago: “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life…” (Matt 6.25).

It may be time to wait quietly before the Lord and meditate on His words in Psalm 91. Memorization as a contemporary learning tool is dismissed. Why memorize? Just Google it. But storing God’s words in our hearts is valuable because it trains our minds in godly thinking.

Then, even when we can’t think straight, when a storm swirls around us, disrupting our plans, the Spirit can bring back those words of comfort and reassurance that we stored in our heart:

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him” (Psalm 91.14-15).

For further study and encouragement, read Psalm 91 and Matthew 6.25-34.

ABOUT

Jeff Blackburn has been proclaiming Christ for over 43 years. He served Friends congregations in Indiana and Kansas. His most recent pastoral assignment was with Greensburg Mennonite Church, Greensburg, Kansas, where he enjoyed nearly 30 years of ministry before being called to coordinate the Friends Preaching Initiative in 2024. He works with aspiring preachers and ministry students on campus, often preaches in churches in the region. He developed three new courses for a preaching certificate offered through Barclay College, and he created a preaching lab for Barclay students to work on their communication skills.

Jeff grew up in small-town Indiana, attending Quaker Haven Camp every summer before counseling and directing camps. He is a graduate of Barclay College and Huntington University. He wrote for Adult Friend and The Fruit of the Vine (Barclay Press, Newberg, Oregon) for many years. Jeff enjoys music and singing, although he can’t read music very well. He continues to serve as the moderator for local schools’ spelling bees.

Jeff has written one book, Light at the End of the Funnel (Amazon, 2017) recounting the experience of surviving an EF5 tornado that devastated his town in 2007. He and his wife live in Greensburg where they are near enough to play with their grandchildren on a regular basis. The Lord put it in his heart to help train the next wave of preachers and to encourage active ministers to “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).