A Life in Exile

In our study on the importance of remembering, we have talked about how God remembers events, people, and places, while choosing to forget certain things, like our past sins, when we seek his forgiveness. Before we move on to what the Bible says about our need to remember, we will close this portion on God by a final thing he remembers—his words.

What a comfort to know that when God says something, he remembers. I cannot count the times a friend has repeated to me something I said, and I have no memory of ever saying it! Our God has no faulty memory. What he says he remembers.

Does God need reminding?

There are a few passages in Scripture where a person calls on God to remember, like he could ever forget.

As King Solomon prayed during the dedication of the temple, he took the opportunity to call on God to remember his promises to his father, King David. Perhaps he said this in a desire to retain God’s favor on his own reign and the future of the kingdom.

“Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness. Lord God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant.” (2 Chronicles 6:41-42 NIV, emphasis added)

Nehemiah knew what the consequences brought on by those sins, and as he wept over the state of Jerusalem after the exile, he cried out to the Lord to remember all he had said to Moses.

Yes, the kingdom of Israel would be shaken due to the sins of her kings, but God would remember his promise to David and retain a remnant and ultimately bring the Son of David to reign for eternity. We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses. Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” (Nehemiah 1:7-9 CSB, emphasis added)

As we find strength and hope through the Word of God, we can echo the lover of that Word and author of Psalm 119, as he prayed:

Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it. This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life. (Psalm 119:49-50, emphasis added)

God never forgets his word, but we can call on him to remember it as we look to him for strength, help, and guidance.

God remembers his words of covenant and promise.

Promises made—Promises kept. There is only One for whom this statement truly holds, and that’s the Lord God Almighty. Not only does God remember what he has said, but he is able to fulfill his promises and see his plans through to completion.

In a psalm of thanksgiving to the faithfulness of God, we find these words:

He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he ordained for a thousand generations—the covenant he made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob as a decree and to Israel as a permanent covenant: “I will give the land of Canaan to you as your inherited portion.” (Psalm 105:8-11, emphasis added)

God promised the land to his people, and he has given the land to his people.

As his works are celebrated and remembered, all he has done is because he remembers and keeps his word:

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He has provided food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works by giving them the inheritance of the nations. (Psalm 111:4-6, emphasis added)

With the birth of John the Baptist, we see the beginning of the ultimate fulfillment of God’s word in the coming of the Messiah. Zechariah, the aging father of this miracle child, spoke this word of prophecy under the power of the Spirit.

Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets in ancient times; salvation from our enemies and from the hand of those who hate us. He has dealt mercifully with our ancestors and remembered his holy covenant—the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant that we, having been rescued from the hand of our enemies, would serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness in his presence all our days. (Luke 1:68-75, emphasis added)

What he said he would do, he has done. The Lord has not forgotten his covenant but has kept every promise spoken. He is true to his word, and we can find comfort and encouragement in that, for there are words yet to be fulfilled, and it will be glorious when they come to pass. Praise God—he remembers and keeps his word.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Friday Focus post, click HERE, or start from the Beginning.