God Speaking

“Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced…” (1 Chronicles 16:12)

One of those small irritating things that seem to beset those of us approaching old age is how often our memory fails us. Just recently I was reminded of this when I met an acquaintance who obviously knew who I was and greeted me effusively by saying brightly, “Remember me? “I was forced to lie and to reply just as brightly, “Of course.” and then had to spend the next ten minutes racking my brain for her name so I wouldn’t insult this sweet lady. My husband and I have resorted to making little notes and then placing them in strategic parts of our apartment so we are sure to see them and remember to phone that person/ make the doctor’s appointment/ buy the milk etc. Strangely enough some memories stay fixed permanently in our minds, especially happenings in our children’s and grandchildren’s lives and nothing pleases our family more when we are altogether to recount the funny ones. Often a granddaughter will prompt me by saying, “Nana, remember when I …” and will listen with rapt attention to hear me tell a story she already knows off by heart. These memories are so precious they are fixed in our minds and the telling of them over and over again just makes them more precious and as well, our grandchildren are acquiring a rich heritage of family traditions and stories that form the fabric of who we are as a family and gives them a great sense of being part of the narrative.

The Lord God Almighty knew the importance of precious memories and knew his children would need to be reminded of all his beautiful promises to them and equally important to know that he would never forget his promises to them.

“I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind…..” (Genesis 9:15)

The psalmists knew that remembering the Mighty God they served and remembering his great works, was a great panacea when troubling times threatened to destroy them. I love reading the psalms as all the raw emotions known to man can be found within their words. They unashamedly admit their shortcomings, but also know who to run to when in distress.

Psalm 77 is a wonderful example of a man in distress, unable to sleep. Haunted by things in his past, thinking perhaps God has deserted him when he comes to his senses and remembers to go back to those memories to sustain him,

“Then I thought, “To this I will appeal; the years of the right hand of the Most High”. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:10 – 12)

Just remembering how powerful his Master was proved to be the answer to this Psalmist’s troubled night of sleeping.

It is also so easy for us to forget how powerful our Lord and Savior is. When the terrors of the night attack us we can be swamped by despair. We begin to think we are helpless. We forget the many times the Lord has stepped into other situations. This is when we need to emulate the psalmist. Mediating on God’s word is a good place to start. Repeating his promises to ourselves, reminding ourselves of his great love, reminding ourselves of his faithfulness has an amazing affect upon our troubled minds.

When we have a store of memories of how a loving Savior has answered our needs we then need to share our memories with others in the family of Christ. Just like any earthly family, sharing of memories strengthens the whole body. Recounting the miracles in our lives fixes them firmly in our minds and how reassuring to exclaim, “Of course I remember now!!”

Jesus himself knew how important it was to remember and gave us the most loved of all our rituals, the Eucharist, to be a constant reminder of the huge sacrifice he made for us.

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)

Related articles

• Psalm 57 (asorensen.wordpress.com)
• Psalm 42 (asorensen.wordpress.com)
• Patience in the Psalms (resources.wcrossing.org)