So much of a walk with Jesus is remembering all he has done. It’s easy to focus on the negative things in life, especially as a culture that is crazed with pessimism, but our God calls us to remember all his wondrous works. Multiple places in the Old Testament (narratives and psalms) reference the parting of the Red Sea. God’s people were to remember his rescue – how he saved them from slavery and brought them into a land where they were free people – just as God’s people now are to remember the ultimate rescue of Jesus and how he saved us from the bondage of sin and death and calls us to live as free people.
I was studying Psalm 106 the other day and noticed all the ways the Israelites forgot God. Read through the list below not only realizing how the Israelites messed up but how each point in the list is applicable to our lives today. We do the same things they did. They did and we, too, can
- not consider his miracles (v.7)
- not remember his kindness (v.7)
- rebel by not trusting him and blaming him (v.7 referencing Exodus 14:10-12)
- forget his works (v.13)
- not wait for his counsel (v.13)
- give into their/our cravings (v.14)
- put God to the test (v.14)
- exchange his glory for something else (v.20)
- forget the God who saved them/us (v.21)
- despise the new place he brought them/us to (v.24)
- not believe his promise (v.24)
- grumble (v.25)
- not obey (v.25)
- yoke them/ourselves to other things instead of him (v.28)
- provoke the Lord to anger (v.29, 32)
- rebel against the Spirit (v.33)
- not destroy what they/we should in their/our lives (v.34)
- mingle with who they/we shouldn’t causing them/us to adopt the ways of others (v.35)
- worship idols which become a snare (v.36)
Was that convicting? I hope so. It’s why we need Jesus every moment of every day. If you have a moment, go back through the list and pray. Ask God to forgive you of how you fail at each bullet point then ask him to give you the strength, through the person of Christ, to remember him and turn to him.
The summary of Psalm 106 is the Israelites defiled themselves by what they did (verse 39) and were bent on rebellion (verse 43) all because they did not remember God’s kindness. They forgot him. They exchanged him for an idol because they forgot him (vv.20-22). They chose to forget him and ended up wasting away in their sin (verse 43). What’s beautiful, though, is that even though they forgot him, he did not forget them. He did not forget his covenant with them (v.45). He remembered his Word spoken since Genesis 3:15 that he was bringing One through the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. If God gave the Israelites what they deserved, he would have destroyed them. If they were destroyed, there would have been no multiplication within the tribes of Israel, there would have been no Perez, from the tribe of Judah, who fathered Hezron, who Boaz came from generations later (the Boaz who redeemed Ruth and fathered Obed). If there was no Obed, there would have been no Jesse who fathered King David, and if there was no David, there would have been no Joseph generations later. And if there was no Joseph and Mary, Jesus would not have been born. Jesus, the One who’s death and resurrection crushed the head of the our enemy. Jesus, the One who’s return will decapitate our enemy forever.
Don’t forget. Don’t forget that God is the God who keeps his covenant, his Word, his promises. Don’t forget that God freed his people from slavery in Egypt, had the Israelites walk through parted waters on dry ground to reach freedom, gave us his Word to abide by and in, came to this earth as a baby for our salvation, died, resurrected, and promised that he is returning! Don’t forget that God sent his Son to crush our enemy. Don’t forget that God created the universe, made human beings in his image, placed us in families, made us relational, and designed us to function in community. Don’t forget that God gave us a world to explore. Don’t forget that he gave you people, not objects, to love. Don’t forget that he gave you gifts and talents to share, a purpose, and his glory. Never exchange any of it for an image, an addiction, or anything that could never take his place. He is our best, and we are our best when we are in him.