x Memorizing Psalms

I have a little problem with insomnia. It comes and goes. There are times I sleep wonderfully (at my age, now, there is always at least one bathroom trip in the night; I never used to have). There are times I don't sleep very well at all (thankfully, this is rare). Most times, when I have trouble, I have an hour, at least -- sometimes as long as two or more hours -- that I awaken and just cannot get back to sleep. I used to think it was related to work stress, but now that I'm retired, it's perhaps somewhat better. But the occasional insomnia is not gone, so the work stress theory didn't fully account for the reason for my insomnia.

If you have this issue, you know. It can be miserable. Time crawls. You are asking yourself: What can I do to get sleepy enough to fall back to sleep? After a while, I began reading. I read on a Kindle, mostly. So, I don't need to turn on a light and disturb my wife. However, you never know which night will be sleepless, and if you don't have the Kindle ready, charged, and nearby, it will be the night nothing is prepared that you don't sleep. No problem, though, I have a Kindle App on my phone and keep a copy of my library there. But my wife insists (rightly so!) that reading your phone only contributes more to sleeplessness. So this did not help with the problem.

At some point in time, I thought about scripture meditation. I had been compiling lists of verses. I had, as a child, memorized quite a few verses (mostly in VBS). I began to put notes on my phone of verses that I had previously memorized (and needed to work on again), and some others that would be good to memorize. So I sort of began to connect this with the insomnia. I know I'm saying lists on my phone, and I've already said reading on my phone wasn't good. But the idea here was you take a quick look at a portion of the verse, say it to yourself and turn off the phone, and then repeat it and meditate on it. I don't want to make this sound organized. It wasn't. Somewhere in here I chose a translation for memorization (something close enough to the KJV I learned as a kid, but more contemporary and definitely something that reads smoothly -- especially in the poetical works; I settled on the NRSV). I didn't plan all of this, but it evolved. So I had or was working on notes with verses to meditate upon when I was sleepless. At the same time, I also made a list of Psalms I thought would be good to memorize (these were longer, and so I didn't do much with the lists of Psalms).

I made various feeble attempts to organize these scriptures I wanted to memorize, and I had a little success. Perhaps I should just see it as a slow start. I may not have really memorized a lot of scriptures, but maybe I had something better to do during the sleepless hours. In the middle of this, something happened. A friend of mine began having trouble. He was, after many years, clean, struggling to stay clean from his addiction. We hadn't really been close, though we had a couple of intersecting interests. When I learned of his troubles, I knew he needed a friend. I vowed to be his friend; to be a good friend to him in need. I remember telling my wife, "[His Name] needs a friend." I didn't know how to help. The truth is, as a friend, I felt rather helpless. We were meeting for lunch or coffee, and we would talk and share, etc. I didn't really know what to say; I didn't feel like I was helping him much. I kind of watched my friend spiral into some pretty bad times (he did get much better, but he still struggles).

I won't go further into my friend's story, but it intersects. At one point, I really don't remember why or what prompted me, but I suggested to him that we memorize Psalm 1 together. This was one of the Psalms on my list (most of the ones I thought I could memorize were short, like Psalm 1 [6 verses]). After suggesting this to my friend, I made the connection. I had not connected memorizing Psalms with my insomnia (I was kind of trying to re-learn verses I learned as a kid). But I began to think that I should work on memorizing these Psalms I had put on a list. I began with Psalm 1 since I suggested my friend and I work on it together. That led me to really get serious about making a list of Psalms to know. And by Psalms to know -- I mean know by heart.

I began to really work on Psalm 1 when I had sleeplessness. I would say it -- a section at a time. I would pull out my phone to look at it if I got stuck. I did this until I knew it by heart. And thus began my journey to memorize Psalms. I don't want to say it has made me spiritually deeper, and I don't know if I sleep better (but I have something definite to do when I am sleepless). And perhaps, God uses this memorization/meditation to tenderize my cold, uncaring heart. And just maybe I am sleeping a little better.

Here are the Psalms I currently KNOW (and I know them with confidence; if someone asked, I could recite them pretty well. They are currently 14 in number: 1, 2, 8, 23, 46, 98, 100, 103, 117, 121, 122, 126, 130, 146 (and I review them regularly -- sometimes when not sleeping). I can say I have a newfound appreciation for the Psalms as MEDITATION LITERATURE.

Post Script:
I took a little detour. I wanted to memorize the 4 Servant Songs of Isaiah -- 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-11, and 52:13-53:12, after attending a little seminar on this part of Isaiah. I am in a little plateau. I did memorize the first two Servant Songs, and am working now on the third song (and this one is proving time consuming for some reason). When I have finished with these, I am working on expanding my list of Psalms to memorize.

Further update about 1 month post publish date. I did finally succeed in memorizing the third Servant Song. It took a while. One just must stick with it. The extra meditation it takes makes the difficult passage more meaningful (I experienced a very similar block/delay on Psalm 2). I’m currently working on the 4th and longest Servant Song, and have stanza 1-3 well mastered and am working on stanza 4 (there are 5 total stanzas with stanza 3 being the key point of the Chiastic [X] structure - focusing at the key verse [53.6]). I’ve been trying to keep reviewing the Psalms I’ve memorized while working on these, but there are parts of them that are likely rusty.

Further, further update — again weeks hence. While on this holiday, I am getting very close to mastering the 4th Servant Song of Isaiah (it’s kind of been a long haul to memorize these 4 songs). I’ve been reviewing songs 1-3 as I work on the 4th song. The ancient Hebrews memorized so much, and I am gaining a great appreciation for memorizing as a meditation technique. The songs cover the message of this section of Isaiah (in ways I understand but would have great difficulty expressing). Gods servant, Israel, is the target of the meaning, yet there is such a slight disconnect as if something is missing; something unfulfilled, or (using New Testament eyes) something only partially fulfilled in Israel which will be finished and completed in Messiah Jesus. I’m just pausing to add to this post about memorizing to just add this thought here on the blessings of meditative memorization and additional thoughts about a potential topic to study/write about regarding the nature of the words of prophecy in scripture and God’s methodology when it comes to fulfillment.