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As a new believer, I was introduced to some children’s Bible songs like “Behold, Behold,” “The Lord is My Shepherd,” and “I am the Resurrection and the Life”. For many of them I didn’t even know I was singing Scripture. Later I would find the verse in my Bible reading and would be surprised I had already learned it.

Bible verse songs are a wonderful means of memorizing Scripture. When the words of the Bible are locked into the rhythm of a song, this makes it much easier to learn them. This is why songs on commercials are easy for children to remember. I can still recall advertising songs I learned as a child over 50 years ago!

Of course, the Bible is not written like poetry in a metric pattern, and thus it is more difficult to set it to music. Ways to do so successfully is the subject of another article. When it is accomplished, however, the meter of the song dictates the next word and locks it in.

Scripture memory songs not only help us memorize verses, they also help us remember the verses. When I am speaking, I often think of a verse set to music and am able to quote it accurately. In my mind, however, I am really singing the verse quickly. The rhythm of the song helps me retain the Bible words

Several years ago I taught third grade in a Christian school. Some of my students had difficulty learning the memory verse for the day and I wanted to help them. The answer was music. When I sang the memory verse to them, they could pick it up and remember it much more quickly.

Meditating on the Bible is also aided through music. As the song runs over and over in my mind, so do the words. Verses have come to mind in this way that were just what I needed for a given situation.

Since words of songs are often repeated, it is a means of even clarifying a verse. One example is 2 Corinthians 5:21 that contains a misplaced modifier in modern English. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” The verse is obviously not teaching that we are sinless but that Christ is. The meaning is clear; the song helped to clarify it for instruction.

Bible songs can present the Gospel in a way that is not offensive to unbelievers. One year for a parent meeting in our Christian school, I taught my class the entire Roman’s Road of verses and they sang them as their part of the program. The plan of salvation was presented to the audience in a way that was hard for any unsaved relatives to ignore.

The final advantage of Bible verse songs is their aid to those of us who are getting older. It is much more difficult for me to memorize Bible verses and remember them now, than it was when I was younger. But I can still remember a song and thus, music, for me, helps me learn and retain what I am learning.