Don't Forget to Remember

Psalms 77:7-11 Has the Lord rejected me forever?

Will he never again be kind to me?

Is his unfailing love gone forever?

Have his promises permanently failed?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

And I said, “This is my fate;

the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;

I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.

They are constantly in my thoughts.

I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. (NLT)

There are times when we wonder if God has forgotten all about us. The threat of circumstances are like dark clouds killing any thoughts of God. The Psalmist expresses this here. He talks about the absence of God—his sense of God’s presence and power and goodness has utterly gone.

So what does he do? He remembers. It may well be that in the present God seems powerless and distant. But he remembers that it was not always so. While his immediate circumstances cause him to doubt God’s power, he remembers God has been powerful in history. Even if his own personal history says otherwise, the bigger historical picture establishes the power of God.

We can so easily get swamped by our problems which push God to the sidelines. At such times it is important to have a good talk to ourselves about the mighty works of God recorded in the Bible. Yet another reason to regularly read the Bible! And it is also a good time to remember the goodness of God in our own past.

Just because our life situation is not good doesn’t mean God has failed to be good. The God who made the world, who empowered the Exodus, who sent Jesus to show how much he loves us, will not change. Having a healthy memory of God is essential to our ongoing life in God. We must never forget to remember.