Shakespeare & the Bible

Tonight, Jeremy & I attended our third play at the Texas Shakespeare Festival. So far we've seen Tartuffe, Romeo & Juliet, and Love's Labour's Lost. We headed home after a late-night dinner at McDonald's that reminded me why I don't like McDonald's. On our drive, we discussed how difficult it must be to memorize such archaic language. Memorizing Shakespeare, just because it's Shakespeare, must be rather daunting, and Tartuffe is a comedy written in rhyming couplet. Holy moly. There's just no way!

During our conversation, I made a comment about not being able to easily memorize even one verse of scripture. And then it happened. (You know, like when you pray for patience, and then it happens.) I felt convicted to actually try to memorize scripture. As I scrolled through comments on this blog about favorite scripture verses, I came across a verse that didn't seem familiar: Zephaniah 3:17. I grabbed my Bible off of my nightstand. And I couldn't find it. Probably because I turned to Zechariah, not Zephaniah. But that has to be a common mistake. I mean, they're two "Z" names separated by one, super-short book. And the fact that I did it twice proved my point. It happens often. I'm sure of it.

Alas (a lil' S-peare lingo), I found Zephaniah 3:17. Oh. I love it. Here goes:

The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.

Wow. I mean, really? The Lord takes delight in me? He will rejoice over me with singing? It just goes beyond my comprehension! And then it makes me think, if he takes delight in me, and if he quiets me with his love, and if he rejoices over me with singing, how can I not claim his Word and memorize it and let it seep into every part of my life?!