Aaron House
to the goodness of God proclaimed by the truths in this passage , we grew closer to God and to each other .
Emily memorized Psalm 34 as well and continued to let the intense grief drive her to more and more Scripture , drinking in God ’ s promises of hope . She clung to passages such as Romans 4 , praying for faith like Abraham : “ In hope he believed against hope . . . . He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body , which was as good as dead . . . . No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God , but grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God , fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised ” ( Romans 4:18 – 21 ).
As Emily soaked her mind in God ’ s truth , I saw her begin to transform from the inside out . She chose hope when she felt hopeless . She sang praises to God in her grief and felt peace rush over her as she fixed her eyes on our unchanging , glorious Creator and Father .
She became a firmer believer that God is good all the time than she was before experiencing such poignant personal loss . Only the Holy Spirit can cultivate such dynamic change in a soul . I watched Emily continue to cling to God ’ s Word as she cradled our firstborn son in her womb , preaching Psalm 34 aloud to her anxious heart . Now , years later , God has redeemed every tear in the beautiful faces of our three healthy children . And these days , if you could sneak a peek into the moonlit nursery , you just might hear Emily or me whispering the truths of Psalm 34 to the little bundle nestled in our arms . “ I will bless the Lord at all times . . . .”
This is what memorizing Scripture is all about . You may at first think that memorizing the majority of the New Testament and reciting Revelation before a public audience was the climax of my Bible memorization journey , but it wasn ’ t . If anything , the climax of my Bible memorization journey has come in the dirty realities of life when my boots hit the ground .
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