Memorize Psalm 46:1

Darby Translation

God is our refuge and strength, a help in distresses, very readily found.

Psalm 46:1, Darby Translation

13 words · about five minutes a day for five days ·

Start memorizing Psalm 46:1 →

Free, no account, nothing to install. The path opens with this verse already in it. Or print a practice sheet: the verse, its blanks, its first letters, and lines to copy it out by hand.

The five steps

  1. Meet the verse. Hear it read aloud, then echo it phrase by phrase, with a small hand motion for each phrase.
  2. Fill the gaps. About a third of the words become blanks. Say it out loud, supplying them; peek if you need to, trying is the point.
  3. Half hidden. Most of the words are gone now. Say it once more at bedtime; sleep locks it in overnight.
  4. First letters. Every word reduced to its first letter. Recite it with only those to guide you.
  5. All by yourself. Nothing but the reference. One confident recite, then it goes into your Verse Book to come back for review.

Each step makes a fine "tonight's step" spread over five days, and nothing is locked: the numbered dots jump anywhere. How to memorize Bible verses walks through the whole method.

Why it works

Three of the most replicated findings in learning science: retrieval practice (pulling a word from memory strengthens it more than rereading it), spacing (short tries on separate days beat one long one), and sleep (a verse said at bedtime is consolidated overnight). The blanks grow in stages so that every try is hard enough to count and never so hard that you give up.

Psalm 46:1 in context

Psalm 46 declares God a present refuge when earth, mountains, seas, nations, and kingdoms convulse. A life-giving river steadies the city, warfare is brought to an end, and frightened people are summoned into stillness.

Read Psalm 46:1 in its chapter · Psalm 46, in the Darby Translation.

Verses that keep it company

Psalm 46:1 is on Bible verses for strength, Bible verses to memorize.

In other translations

BSB · Berean Standard BibleKJV · King James VersionNET · New English TranslationWEB · World English BibleASV · American Standard (1901)YLT · Young's Literal Translation

The reference is the same in every one; the path lets you switch mid-way, and pasting any wording you like works too.