How often they defied him in the wilderness
and caused him pain in the desert!
Yet again they put God to the test
and grieved the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his deeds
nor the day he saved them from the foe;
(Psalm 78:40-42)
Often among the psalms there are short references or even long lists, like this one, of the deeds and powerful interventions of God on behalf of his chosen people—deeds which seem to have been forgotten among the discouragements, dangers, and even despair of later years.
The psalmist bewails their feeble and forgetful faith; his regret is that they don’t remember the so many interventions of God and his guidance in their lives.
Be careful! It’s not just a criticism of ancient Israelites—it’s also a criticism of the feeble and forgetful faith of you and me!
This long, lengthy psalm, and others like it, are powerful reminders of the continued interventions and guidance of God in the history of his people.
Oh, how we forgetful ones need someone or something like the psalmist to remind us of the so many interventions of God in our own lives.
What’s wrong with you and me that we so easily forget or fail to recognize the so many extraordinary, unexpected, and powerful acts of God in our lives?
Oh, Lord, forgive me for not remembering!
As I write this, certain half-forgotten memories are coming back to me, and I’m ashamed to admit how forgotten I let them become.
These moments and experiences may have altered the course of our lives and led to significant decisions. How could we forget!
It’s not some small thing that slips from our memories—it’s the direct actions of God in our lives!
Martin Luther King used to say, “I’ve been up the mountain!” It’s a reference, of course, to Moses’s experience of God on Mt. Sinai.
Moses never forgot his experience of God, nor did Dr. King—nor should we. We’re meant to remember such things for the rest of our lives, and it’s not for God to constantly remind us.
We shouldn’t live in the past, but it’s vital that we remember the past key interventions or manifestations of God in our lives—and we have all had them, even if we failed to recognize them for what they were and are.
From time to time, we need to stop wrestling with our lives, stop allowing its daily diet of distractions and duties to overwhelm us, and, worst of all, stop forgetting what God has done for us.
If you wonder whether or what God has done for you that you should remember, for starters, think about some basic things like:
Why am I?
How is it that I even exist?
What’s my purpose?
How have I survived life’s vicissitudes of live?
Am I grateful for my survival or entrapped by my past?
Why am I still here?
Do I dwell more on God’s blessings in my life or my failures?
Do I celebrate the saving interventions of God instead of blaming others for, or brooding over, my regrets and failures?
What can I do to compensate for my imprudent and unsuccessful decisions?
Do I entrust every day and thing to God?
No matter what, don’t fail to remember!
15 January 2023