I pretty much finished up Psalm 37 last night and was able to recite it with only a couple minor mistakes! I will spend time reviewing over the next few weeks to solidify it.
I'm beginning to learn the value and importance of review when it comes to memory work, whether for Psalms or any other text that you're trying to memorize. There was a guy online who described it as weeds growing in a garden. Each thing you've memorized is a garden plot. If you ignore a garden plot for a long time, weeds will spring up (actually it only takes a short time in my experience - this is the only flaw in this metaphor). Similarly, if you don't review and practice something you've learned by heart, little mistakes will begin to creep in, especially if you've only just (barely) memorized the thing. So while I want to spend time continuing to learn new verses, I also need to spend significant memory time just practicing the old ones. And the more you learn, the more time needs to be spent in review in order to not lose what you have.
But, like so many things in life, it's amazing how simple and straightforward (but not easy) the memorization process is. You just practice the thing enough times, and you get better at it. It doesn't matter as much whether you're writing it out, reading it silently, reading it aloud, listening to it, reading along, thinking through it, etc. Making wise choices between those options will affect the speed at which you memorize, but the big picture is that you just get in the reps, and the memory will come!
It's like the lesson every runner needs to learn. You might improve a little faster or a little slower by doing certain types of training, particular workouts, and tinkering with this and that. But if you want general improvement, all you need to do is get in the reps: get out the door and run consistently.
Keep it simple, focus on the reps.
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