How Songs Written From The Bible Can Be Useful To You
As a new believer, I was introduced to some Bible songs like “Behold, Behold,” “The Lord is My Shepherd,” and “I am the Resurrection and the Life”. Many times I was not aware that I was actually singing a Bible verse. 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. Music has a rhythm and when that rhythm locks the words of the Bible into it, the verse is much easier to recall. Television advertisers have used this for years to get the name of their product into the minds of the public. It works too for I can still remember commercial tunes I learned over 50 years ago! However, though poetry is easy to put to music because of its meter, Bible verses are not so written. 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 songs also help us remember the verses we memorized. I can recall numerous times when I think of a verse while speaking and can quote it exactly. However, mentally I am actually singing it in my mind 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. Singing the verse aided them in both learning and retaining 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. The Spirit has thus used this to apply the Bible verse to my life in numerous situations.
A good song will, in fact, bring out the meaning of a verse. An example of this is found in a verse that, in the KJV, contains a misplaced modifier, 2 Corinthians 5:21. It says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” Obviously, Paul is not teaching that we are sinless, but Christ is. Through repetition of the phrases, the song makes this clear. Bible Songs can also be a way to present the Gospel. Several years ago I taught my class all of the verses in the Roman’s Road set to music and then we sang them for a parent assembly. The plan of salvation was presented to the audience in a way that was hard for any unsaved relatives to ignore.
Finally, Bible verse songs are a means of retaining Scripture as I get older. It is much more difficult for me to memorize Bible verses and remember them now, than it was when I was younger. However, I can still remember a song and through this means can learn and retain verses.
