Memorize Psalm 139:9-10

NET Bible

If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea, even there your hand would guide me, your right hand would grab hold of me.

Psalm 139:9-10, NET Bible

37 words · a five-day project, a phrase or two at a time ·

Start memorizing Psalm 139:9-10 →

Free, no account, nothing to install. The path opens with this verse already in it. Or print it: a copywork sheet to write it out by hand, a sheet of wallet cards, take-home slips or bulletin cards for a church's verse of the week, each with a code back to this page.

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 139:9-10 in context

Psalm 139 marvels at complete knowledge and inescapable presence across home, road, height, sea, darkness, and earliest formation. Wonder becomes moral invitation: search the heart and lead it along an enduring way.

Read Psalm 139:9-10 in its chapter · Psalm 139, in the NET Bible.

Verses that keep it company

Psalm 139:9-10 is on Bible verses for loneliness.

In other translations

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

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright © 1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved. More at netbible.org.