How often do we hear the first few notes of a song we have not heard in years, and immediately we remember the words. Whether it is a childhood hymn, a pop culture song, or an advertising jingle, music helps our brains recall the words.
In our home, no words are more important than scripture, and I long for my children to hide those words in their hearts, but memorization can be tricky. Sing The Bible, combines the scripture with music to aid students (and parents) in memorizing scripture.
What is Sing the Bible?
Sing the Bible is a 52 week devotional book that is based around using music to memorize scripture and discussing and understanding those verses as a family.
Each week features a new scripture passage (generally short passages of 1-3 verses, though a few are a little longer). The book also includes seven days of short activities to talk about, think about, and do together.
There is a playlist (accessible by QR code) that includes a song for each verse. These aren’t songs about the verses, but the words of the song set to music.
Generally, the words come directly from Scripture (they list the versions in the back, but many are ESV, NIV, or NKJV), but some are paraphrases that combine several versions to make them easier to set to music and memorize.
As you practice the verse each day of the week, the song’s rhythm and tune can help the words stick in your memory.
Once you have practiced the song for the day, you complete the activity to help students understand the verse more and hide the truth of the words in their hearts.
You can also pray together as a family using prayers related to the verses.
An Example of a Week of Sing the Bible
Week 25
Verse: Isaiah 53: 5-6
Day 1:
Talk About It: “How do Isaiah’s words match what happened to Jesus?”
Prayer: “ Dear God, thank you that you had a plan to rescue me from my sin from the very beginning.”
Day 2:
Think About It: This discusses how Isaiah knew about the Messiah’s death long before it would come to pass.
Talk About It: Do You Know Why Jesus Endured All of That?
Day 3:
Do Together: A simple craft idea for making a crown of thorns.
This continues on for the other four days of the week, with each day including similar activities, discussions, and prayers.
How We Used Sing the Bible in Our Homeschool
Memorizing Scripture has been an important part of our homeschool, but I felt I needed a better plan and to be more consistent in my efforts. Sing the Bible offers a great layout that makes it easy to incorporate into your day in just a few minutes, without much extra planning.
We started adding this into our homeschool morning time each day. Most days, it takes only about five to ten minutes to review the memory verse and do the devotional activity. There may be a few of the activities that take you a little bit longer.
One of my sons absolutely loved having the music to aid in his memorization and would just sit and listen to the songs. My twelve-year-old was not as fond of the songs, but still enjoyed working through the devotional activities and participating with us each morning. He chose to work on his memorization in other ways, outside of our time together.
Sing The Bible
Overall, I think this book is a great way to add some structure and fun to your family scripture memorization. The music helps the words stick in your brain and the activities help children (and adults) really internalize the meaning and implications of the verses.
While we used this book for our homeschool morning time, it could also be used as an evening family devotional, done during breakfast to start the day, or any time what works for your family.
You can find out more and purchase your copy of Sing the Bible at Timberdoodle.
