Mnemonics

July 21

Daily Bible Reading: Psalms 34 – 35

Verse of the Day: Psalm 34:1 – 3 – “I will bless Jehovah at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah: The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad. Oh magnify Jehovah with me, And let us exalt his name together.”

This is one of the acrostic Psalms (Psalms 9; 10: 25; 34; 37; 111; 112; 119; 145). An acrostic poem was one that each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (in Psalm 119 every 8 verse started with the same letter). So, why would they do this? Some ideas are that it may be an artistic device used to add a certain beauty to the psalm, as rhyme does in our poetry. It may indicate that the subject is being covered completely, from A to Z, as we might say. It may have been a mnemonic device designed to assist the young in learning the psalms. Any of these reasons make sense.

Prayer: Lord of Creation, help me to determine to memorize Your Word. Encourage my mind and heart to start today. Amen.