Remember!

Remember!

Scripture exhorts us again and again not to forgot, but to remember who God is, what He has done, what He has told us.

This Sunday we noted the command the man in dazzling apparel gives the women looking for His body:

“Remember how [Jesus] told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (Luke 24:6b-7)

We focused on Paul’s command to Timothy in his final epistle, looking in detail at what we are to remember, and when we are to remember:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel (2 Timothy 2:8).

Consider then some of the many other times God commands us in Scripture not to forget, but to remember:

Exodus 3:15 “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

Numbers 15:38-40   “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.  And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Deuteronomy 7:17-19  “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Deuteronomy 8:18  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth

Deuteronomy 9:7  Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 15:15  You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you

Joshua 1:13  “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’”

1 Chronicles 16:11-15  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations.

Nehemiah 4:14  “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

Psalm 42:6  My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you.

Psalm 45:17  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Psalm 63:5-7  My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Psalm 77:11-12   I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Psalm 78:5-7  He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

Psalm 103:2-5  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 105:5  Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.

Psalm 106:7   Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Psalm 119:16  I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119:55  I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.

Psalm 143:5-6 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Proverbs 3:1-2  My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

Proverbs 4:3-5   When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.  Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Ecclesiastes 12:1  Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.

Isaiah 17:10   You have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.

Isaiah 46:9-10  “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Mark 8:17-21  “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?  Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”  “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

John 15:20  “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

John 16:4  “I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Ephesians 2:11-13  Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands– remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

2 Peter 3:1-2  In both of [my letters] I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Jude 1:17  But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:2-3  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.

Ponder these statements. Let them serve to remind you of who God is, of what He has done, and what He has promised; of who we are, and what we deserve; of the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice on our behalf, His resurrection, and His future return; of our right response to these great truths: To turn, to trust, and to treasure.

[All emphases are added. See also this devotion from 2013 that categorizes verses on remembering according to topic. The audio from the April 1, 2018 sermon will be available at this link soon.]

Keep Your Soul Diligently Lest You Forget

How is your memory?

Some of us remember every movie we have seen. Others remember details of meals they have eaten.

But all of us tend to forget God. All of us tend to forgot who God is, what He has done, and what He tells us to do.

Thus the repeated warnings in Scripture:

  • Do not forget!
  • Set up memorials!
  • Remind yourselves!
  • Teach your children!
  • Remember!

This file includes a compilation of dozens of Scripture passages about forgetfulness. I encourage you to read them over and meditate on them. Here is one way to summarize these warnings and exhortations:

We Naturally Forget God Over Time and Over Generations:

Deuteronomy 4:9   Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.

Psalm 78:5-7 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,  6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,  7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.

Wealth and Ease Especially Lead Us to Forget God:

Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-18  Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,  12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,  13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,  14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. . . . 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Hosea 13:4-6   But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.  5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;  6 but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

Forgetting God Leads Necessarily To Some Sort of Idolatry:

Judges 3:7  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

(In the Deuteronomy 8 passage above, the people’s own power and might become their idols, the source of their welfare.)

Thus, Forgetting God Leads to Our Deserving Punishment:

Jeremiah 13:24-25  I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert.  25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

Ezekiel 23:35  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.

Yet In His Mercy We Are Ransomed for Him, Redeemed by Him – And We Must Not Forget!

Isaiah 51:11-16   And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  12 “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,  13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?  14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking.  15 I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar– the LORD of hosts is his name.  16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.'”

So the Lord Jesus Gives Us the Lord’s Supper to Help Us Remember:

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,  24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

So May We Say With the Psalmist:

Psalm 119:93  I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.