Memories
READ: Psalm 25:4-9
“Don’t forget to...” “Don’t forget your...” “Remember about...” Our memory is valuable to us. If we didn’t have a memory, we wouldn’t be able to recall important facts, remember special dates, keep our schedule and deadlines in mind, or store some of the most important information, like our own name and where we live. Our memories are a VERY good thing.
Of course, our memory is, at times, something we wish we didn’t have. We wish we could forget pain, violence, injustice, trouble, hardship, separation, failures, and much more. Indeed, if we didn’t have a memory, we wouldn’t have to carry with us the negative experiences we’ve had and the memory of the sins we’ve committed.
In Psalm 25:4-9, David asks or explains seven times that God teach him His ways and truth. God’s ways are IMPORTANT! Remember the first three verses of this Psalm? God’s ways are important because “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.” If we follow God’s truth, this life and the next have a great outlook. But if we rebel against God’s truth, a grim future is all that awaits us.
The truth, of course, is that we haven’t followed God’s truth. As hard as we try, we fail time and time again. That’s why verses 6-7 of this section are SO important. David invokes God’s memory. He says, “Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.” You see, God has chosen to have a “selective” memory. Though God has every right as the holy and just ruler of the universe to remember our sins and punish us for them, he doesn’t. Because of his great love and mercy, displayed in the sacrifice of his Son Jesus in our place, we have hope, we are released from guilt and fear, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to listen to God’s instruction. The way of the LORD is love! He promises us, “I will forgive [your] sins and will remember [your] wickedness no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). He declares to us “...as far as the east is from the west, so far [have I] removed [y]our transgressions from [you]” (Psalm 103:12). He assures us, “Because of [my] great love [you] are not consumed, for [my] compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).
The ways and paths of the LORD are not that of work righteousness, but of looking in faith to the cross where Jesus paid for our sins in full. What joy! What peace! What hope! May God lead us in the paths of his love, by which he has chosen to remember us, all the days of our earthly lives. May we have the same prayer as David, “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” (Psalm 25:4-5). May we never forget to look to Jesus!
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: Is it possible to fully grasp how complete God’s love is for us? How important is it that God chooses not to remember our sin? Why is it important to pray repeatedly, as David prayed, that God show, teach, guide and instruct us? How does God accomplish that?
THINGS TO PRAY ABOUT: Ask God to send a rich measure of the Holy Spirit so that you search His Word regularly. Thank God for his unfailing love for you, and for his goodness in sending Jesus as our Savior.