Scripture Song Game

Since camp, my scripture study one day a week has been a little different to how I normally study. It was at camp that I was introduced to a game of sorts by a member of our Stake Presidency. The game, as the title of the blog post suggests, was a Scripture Song Game and we were encouraged to find references in the scriptures for every line in a hymn. The point of the game, other than having fun, getting to read different Scriptures, getting used to reading the Scriptures and using things like the Topical Guide was to show how even the hymn we sing each week in our meetings or in our Family Home Evenings or our family Scripture study sessions teach doctrine.

At camp, the song we attempted to find references for was "I Am a Child of God". You can follow that link to hear a sung version, but the lyrics to the first verse and chorus are;

I am a child of God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.

(Chorus)
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.


Line by line, the small groups of young women diligently worked to find references in the Scriptures. For the first line, someone found Psalm 82:6:

"I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High."

For the second line, someone found Jeremiah 1:5, for the third line, someone found 2 Corinthians 5:1, for the fourth line, someone found Colossians 3:21 and so on. At the end of our allotted time, several girls shared scriptures they had found that had stuck out to them or had resonated with them and that backed up the claim in the song. What was amazing was that almost none of the scriptures were repeated, everyone had found different scripture references for the different lines.

That evening as I wrote in my journal, I was able to share how thankful I am for the hymns and for the songs the children sing in Primary. I was thankful because they are such a great way to worship our Heavenly Father. As I wrote, I realised that hymns and the songs in the children's songbook are prayers and promises and ways for us to express our testimony when we don't have the words. They help us to be reverent, to bring the Spirit, they bring comfort and peace and all while reminding us of the doctrine we follow.

I must admit, despite having been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over twenty years, my knowledge of the Scriptures is really quite bad, I mean I know the stories that we all learnt at School and have probably heard 1000's of times but I couldn't tell you as much as both my children could and unlike Dan Jon, I am so not able to memorise Scriptures at the drop of a hat!

I think that this is why I sometimes struggle with studying my Scriptures on my own because my knowledge is limited. However, finding "proof" of what we sing has really changed my attitude to my Scripture study, and is helping me to find scriptures for things that I know are true, helping me to increase my knowledge of the Scriptures and seeing as I know the words of the hymns fairly well, I'm also able to memorise the Scriptures more easily as they often mirror each other.

I'm so grateful for having been taught this game and I'm so excited to see if it will help my Scripture study or even mean my favourite hymn changes!