How Bible Verse Songs Can Benefit You
As a young Christian we sang Bible songs such as “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” “Behold, Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock, Knock, Knock,” and “I Know Whom I have Believed”. Many times I was unaware that I was really singing the words of the Bible. Later, when I came across the verse in my reading, I was surprised that I already knew it.
Yes, help in memorizing Scripture is one of the main benefits of Bible verse songs. When the words of the Bible are locked into the rhythm of a song, this makes it much easier to learn them. Television advertisers have used this for years to get the name of their product into the minds of the public. I can still sing commercials I heard 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. Methods for writing tunes to match Scripture words is the subject of another article. When it is accomplished, however, the meter of the song dictates the next word and locks it in.
Learning Scripture songs also helps us remember the verses. I can recall numerous times when I think of a verse while speaking and can quote it exactly. In my mind, however, I am really singing the verse quickly. The rhythm and accents of the song was the aid to remember it.
Several years ago I taught third grade in a Christian school. I was especially challenged as to how to teach the memory verse to the slower students. I found music provided that aid. By singing the verse, they were much quicker about learning and remembering it.
This has also been for me a means of meditating on the Bible. A Bible verse song runs over and over in my mind and, of course, so do the words. Many times just the right verse I need for a given situation comes to mind through a song.
A song can actually clarify the mean of a verse. An example of this is found in a verse that, in the KJV, contains a misplaced modifier, 2 Corinthians 5:21. The verse reads, “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. Through repetition of the phrases, the song makes this clear.
Bible Songs can also be a way to present the Gospel. One year I taught my class all the verses for the Roman’s Road plan of salvation and they sang them for a parents’ assembly. Any unsaved people who were present heard God’s way of salvation without a sermon.
Finally, Bible verse songs are a means of retaining Scripture as I get older. I find it much more difficult to memorize anything and retain it now than I did when I was younger. However, I can still remember a song and through this means can learn and retain verses.
