Would you like to use some of the extra time you have right now to memorize Scripture? I have previously written about the importance of memorizing and engaging with Scripture. But I realized a few years ago that there was a gaping hole in my own memorization program—the book of Psalms. I was facing some difficult life challenges that required me to draw deeply from the well of God’s resources found in Scripture. It turns out that the kind of resources I needed were more abundant in the Psalter than anywhere else in the Bible. But at that time, I hadn’t yet memorized enough psalms to be able to draw widely upon those spiritual resources throughout each difficult day. So I decided to read through the Book of Psalms once again and carefully select psalms that I thought would be especially helpful to know by heart (some of which I already had significant familiarity). I offer the list to you, not because I have yet memorized all these psalms myself—I haven’t (…but I have memorized some of them…). I offer this list because I thought that those of you who are considering possible psalms to memorize might appreciate seeing the list. Here are 23 psalms that would be fantastic to learn by heart!

  • Psalm 1 (6 verses)
  • Psalm 8 (9 verses)
  • Psalm 13 (6 verses)
  • Psalm 15 (5 verses)
  • Psalm 16 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 23 (6 verses)
  • Psalm 24 (10 verses)
  • Psalm 27 (14 verses)
  • Psalm 29 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 34 (22 verses)
  • Psalm 37:1-11 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 40 (17 verses)
  • Psalm 42 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 46 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 51 (19 verses)
  • Psalm 57 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 63 (11 verses)
  • Psalm 90 (17 verses)
  • Psalm 96 (13 verses)
  • Psalm 98 (9 verses)
  • Psalm 100 (5 verses)
  • Psalm 111 (10 verses)
  • Psalm 139 (24 verses)

That’s 269 total verses if you were to memorize them all. By way of comparison, that is approximately the combined lengths of the books of Ephesians and James, both of which would be excellent books to memorize themselves!

This post and other resources are available at Kindle Afresh: The Blog and Website of Kenneth Berding.