September 15 2020 update - I found out today that Leona was confirmed in 1932! She still remembers most parts of most of the Psalms she memorized then - her favorites were Psalm 23 and Psalm 91.
An Introduction to “Leona’s Psalms” – from October 2000 AD (slightly edited):
“Psalm” is a Hebrew word meaning a “song” or a “hymn.” The Book of Psalms in the Bible is the hymnbook of God’s people, used to praise and worship their Lord at home, in private, and in public celebrations. It reflects the joy and sorrow of God’s people; their struggles and fears and angers, and their reliance on the Lord for every aspect of life.
And it is our hymnbook, too. People of God throughout the centuries have taken comfort in these words of David, Asaph, Moses and others as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some may be very familiar to you – you may read others for the first time here.
From [early August through mid-October this year] ten of these Psalms will provide our worship themes on Sunday mornings. We’ll read them, sing portions of them, and praise God with them! But of the 150 Psalms in the Book, which ones to use? The top ten Psalms that provide our worship themes were ones that our friend Leona Biefelt was required to memorize in Confirmation class a few years ago (!) – and she still remembered them in 2000 AD!
So here’s our challenge to you – try to memorize “Leona’s Psalms” this fall. We’ve provided them in the New International Version translation, the one we use in church – but if you like King James or another translation, that’s fine with us. Memorize them in any order you like – they’re listed below in numerical order, and that’s the sequence will take them up in our worship services. Maybe better still, start with the shorter ones and work up to the longer ones.
If you’ve never done this before, start with Psalm 1 or Psalm 23 and learn one verse each day in a week. Repeat them a lot to yourself, or to others at the dinner table, and in six days you’ll have learned the whole thing! You’ll end up seeing that not only is it fun to memorize God’s Word, but it will stick with you for a long time – just ask Leona!
August 2020 update on “Leona’s Psalms”
We did this series at Christ the King twenty years ago, when Leona was in her 80s. At that time she still remembered all ten of these Psalms and could recite any one of them, even though she had learned them over 60 years earlier. These days, Leona is over 100 years old! I haven’t asked her if she can still remember these, but it seems like it’s a good time right now to bring them back and at least look at them together in worship – and if you and I can memorize some of them, so much the better!
Here’s the schedule:
August 9 – Leona’s Psalm #1 – Psalm 1
August 16 - Leona’s Psalm #2 – Psalm 19
August 23 – Leona’s Psalm #3– Psalm 23
August 30 – Leona’s Psalm #4 – Psalm 46
September 6 – Leona’s Psalm #5 – Psalm 51
September 13 – Leona’s Psalm #6 – Psalm 90
September 20 – Leona’s Psalm #7 – Psalm 91
September 27 – Leona’s Psalm #8 – Psalm 120
October 4 – Leona’s Psalm #9 – Psalm 121
October 11 - Leona’s Psalm #10 – Psalm 130
God bless us everyone!
Pastor Cahill
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW for a downloadable file with all "Leona's Psalms" in both the King James and New International Versions
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW to go to a website that will help with memorizing these Psalms (and other Bible verses!)
